Into the Forest - by Christina Henry (Paperback)

About the Book

"A collection of new and exclusive short stories inspired by the Baba Yaga. Featuring Gwendolyn Kiste, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Mercedes M. Yardley, Monique Snyman, Donna Lynch, Lisa Quigley, and R. J. Joseph, with an introduction by Christina Henry."--Publisher marketing.

Book Synopsis

" Perfect for horror fans who can't get enough of folklore and fairy-tale retellings that veer in unexpected directions." - Booklist, STARRED Review
2023 Bram Stoker Awards(R) Nominee
2023 Silver Falchion Awards Winner
" Fans of folklore retellings will find plenty to enjoy." - Publishers Weekly
A collection of new and exclusive short stories inspired by the Baba Yaga. Featuring Gwendolyn Kiste, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Mercedes M. Yardley, Monique Snyman, Donna Lynch, Lisa Quigley, and R. J. Joseph, with a foreword by Christina Henry.
Deep in the dark forest, in a cottage that spins on birds' legs behind a fence topped with human skulls, lives the Baba Yaga. A guardian of the water of life, she lives with her sisters and takes to the skies in a giant mortar and pestle, creating tempests as she goes. Those who come across the Baba Yaga may find help, or hinderance, or horror. She is wild, she is woman, she is witch-- and these are her tales.
Edited by Lindy Ryan, this collection brings together some of today's leading voices of women-in-horror as they pay tribute to the Baba Yaga, and go Into the Forest.
" Lyrical and brutal; each story unfolds hidden truths about the all-devouring witch. The stories in Into the Forest collect the guts and bones of some of the world's oldest witch tales and refashion them into something new, beautiful, and gruesome." - Foreword Reviews

Review Quotes

"Edited by Lindy Ryan, a champion of women's voices in horror, this is a sharply imaginative, diverse anthology of dark fantasy and horror stories.... Readers who love to tread the dark and treacherous paths of the human heart will happily lose themselves here." -Shelf Awareness

Winner of the 2023 Silver Falchion Award for Best Anthology

"Interpretations vary with delicious wildness., But what links the stories is a folkloric power located on the outer edge of our consciousness, yet which seems to burrow right into the centre of our souls." --Daily Mail UK

"This collection is weighty both in mission and volume, and with most stories running at only a few thousand words, it's a great one to, erm, peck at while you dream of running wild deep in the forest." --Lauren McMenemy, Horror Tree

"A powerful literary reflection... Outstanding in its diversity and interpretations, Into the Forest is very highly recommended not just for horror collections, but for libraries strong in women's literature, as well as for reader's book groups who would study the legend and realities of the Baba Yaga folktale as it journeys into the heart and soul of women's experiences and psychology." --Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review

"The stories in Into the Forest collect the guts and bones of some of the world's oldest witch tales and refashion them into something new, beautiful, and gruesome." -Foreword Reviews

"Into the Forest explores the folklore of Baba Yaga through new tales, filled with transformation and retribution, from a masterful group of authors. We travel back and forth in time, from Europe to the American South as violence and madness drive the used, abused, and betrayed into dense stretches of trees. There we find a path to strength and power, to unearthing or becoming the otherworldly Maiden, Mother, Crone." --Linda D. Addison, award-winning author, HWA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and SFPA Grand Master

"A lovely, thorned, haunted gathering of tales of what it means to occupy a woman's body. Baba Yaga serves a reminder of the wildness sleeping within all of us. This collection brings her roaring to life." --Kristi DeMeester, author of Such a Pretty Smile

"Perfect for horror fans who can't get enough of folklore and fairy-tale retellings that veer in unexpected directions." --Booklist Starred Review

"These are stories about what it means to be a woman fluent in darkness. Each of these authors speaks Baba Yaga's language. It's the language of starlight, shadow, bone, and blood. They have borrowed the witch's spirit, blended it with their own and created a grimoire from which all of us can draw upon." --Angela Yuriko Smith, multiple Bram Stoker Award(R)-winning and Elgin Award-nominated author

"Fans of folklore retellings will find plenty to enjoy." --Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Lindy Ryan is an award-winning author, anthologist, and short-film director whose books and anthologies have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist and Library Journal. Several of her projects have been adapted for screen. ?Ryan is the current author-in-residence at Rue Morgue. Declared a " champion for women's voices in horror" by Shelf Awareness, Ryan was named a Publishers Weekly Star Watch Honoree in 2020, and in 2022, was named one of horror's most masterful anthology curators. ?She previously served on the Board of Directors for the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA).