Wildwood - by Ashley Woo (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A chilling debut gothic mystery in the vein of Jason Rekulak and Stacy Willingham about a house with dark secrets beneath its floorboards.

It seems like divine intervention when newly pregnant and freshly unemployed Elinor unexpectedly inherits Wildwood, her family's estate. She convinces her husband to move to the sprawling wilderness of rural Vermont to make a home and raise their baby.

Estranged from her extended family since childhood, Wildwood is a mystery to Elinor--she's an outsider to the townsfolk and to the prominent Brook family who control the town and its history. Knowing little of the house or its past, save for snapshots of childhood memories, she becomes entranced by an eerie nineteenth-century mural in the primary bedroom she calls "the Forest of the Dead."

But instead of growing more settled in her new home, Elinor feels increasingly isolated and uneasy. She begins to have dreams that feel like memories, phantasmagorical visions of something terrible that happened long ago. Haunted by the mystery of why her family fell apart, she's determined to uncover the secrets of her ancestry buried deep in the past and even deeper in the woods . . . secrets kept by powerful forces within the house and within the town.

Obsessed with finding the truth, Elinor knows she must answer when "the Forest of the Dead" calls her. Someone wants her to know they were there first, and someone else is trying to get in. As the nightmares creep into her waking hours, Elinor embarks on a journey that takes her back and forth in time, to the dark recesses of memories, to the streets of modern Salem, and to the haunted corners of this otherworldy house.

The Forest of the Dead is calling. Can you hear the whispers?

Review Quotes

"Woo does a remarkably effective job building an escalating sense of dread. . . . Fans of the slow-burning domestic horror of Rachel Harrison and Paul Tremblay will want to seek this out." -- Publishers Weekly

"[An] atmospheric fall debut." -- Booklist

"Nice and spooky. . . . Debut author Ashley Woo introduces herself with an old-school gothic mystery." -- Goodreads

"With its haunting atmosphere, buried family secrets, and history that refuses to stay buried, Wildwood is gothic suspense at its most patient and unsettling." -- Best Thriller Books

"Wildwood provides a supernatural horror tale illustrating the connections between past and present." -- Novels Alive

"A chilling debut gothic mystery in the vein of Jason Rekulak and Stacy Willingham about a house with dark secrets beneath its floorboards." -- That Bookish Life

"Downright chilling. . . . The novel's well-crafted plot suggests a witchy twist on Rosemary's Baby, with enough gaslighting to illuminate a Victorian block. . . . Wildwood offers satisfying spookiness and ample surprises in the Jennifer McMahon vein." -- Seven Days

"A surprise inheritance unearths long-buried secrets in Ashley Woo's bewitching debut. With lush prose, an immersive setting, complex characters, and an intricate, smoldering mystery, Wildwood marks a talented new voice in Gothic suspense." -- Andrea Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Ferry Out and We Were Never Here

"A mesmerizing and haunting debut." -- Sarah Pearse, New York Times bestselling author of The Wilds and The Sanatorium

"A Gothic story that blends elements of the supernatural with a modern-day mystery, Wildwood is an atmospheric, witchy read perfect for those who enjoy haunted houses, historical suspense, and a sense of place that comes alive on the page." -- Stacy Willingham, New York Times bestselling author of Forget Me Not

"Readers who love rambling old houses, eerie and atmospheric settings, creepy woodland, witches, hauntings and mysteries, will feel their skin prickle reading Wildwood. A perfect and accomplished gothic debut." -- Holly Craig, internationally bestselling author of The Rip and The Shallows

"A lush, spellbinding page-turner, Wildwood is also a complex, powerful story of land and legacy. I couldn't put it down." - Flynn Berry, Edgar Award winning author of Under the Harrow and Northern Spy

"Wildwood is a haunting, urgent, and unforgettable read. Ashley Woo's stunning debut is a spine-chilling mystery with the emotional depth of a family drama, weaving masterfully plotted suspense with a story of generational trauma, family legacy, and the secrets that outlive us. Wildwood is the rare thriller that is both gripping and profound, haunting you long after its final pages." -- Carly Hillman, author of The Refuge