While her sisters are correct, she says, in that the stranger does have a wide-brimmed hat, and does wear a smile ("indeed, it looks impossible for him to do anything else"), it is obvious to her that he is no man. The only hint we get is from our narrator, level-headed middle child Beth. Who is the stranger? What does he want with the girls? We never even get a good look at him, only an arm or half an outline here and there. What makes the story so spooky is both the aspects of survival horror (each day more supplies go missing) and how it doesn’t explain the supernatural elements of the story. The colour palette is mostly earth tones and bleak shades of grey, with occasional shots of red as the story comes to an end. The story manages to marry creeping terror with the drowsy numbness of being stranded and bored, home alone with nothing to do. After that a tall man with a wide-brimmed hat and an ever-present smile starts coming to the house each night, charming the sisters away one by one. When he doesn’t come back on the third day, instead of setting out for their neighbor’s house like he told them to the girls stay put. An example of this is the first story in the collection, "Our Neighbor’s House." In it, three young pioneer girls, sisters Mary, Beth, and Hannah, are left home by their father while he goes out hunting in the wilderness. The five tales (and two bookend pieces) are very much slow burns and in the spirit of Victorian ghost stories. Through the Woods is a collection of short horror comics from Canadian artist Emily Carroll. But you also know that there’s something out there. Even as you stare into the pitch-black backgrounds you know you’re not going to see anything. It’s no coincidence that the author starts off the book with a story about being afraid of the dark as a child. There were many times when I felt myself craning my neck, peering deep into dark backgrounds or re-reading panels to try to see further into the gloom. Through the Woods is an equally engrossing experience.
In a story that’s been repeated so often that it must be true by now, audience members watching the film craned their necks, trying to peer around the edge of the door. There’s a moment in the film Rosemary’s Baby where a scene is partially blocked by an open door.
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