Josh Malerman’s It Waits in the Woods is the third instalment in Amazon’s creature feature series of short stories written by high-profile horror writers.
The story’s first problem is inherent in its title. Haven’t we seen enough of these monster in the woods stories? This time, the threat is a faceless creature – Malerman calls it an “imp” – that lures people and takes their faces. Add a bridge. Add a mirror. Insert enough of these tropes and hopefully the reader will assume some symbolic significance.
When her sister and another girl go missing, aspiring filmmaker Brenda travels into the woods and films her quest to find her sister. Her aim is to go where police and parents haven’t gone.
The story repeatedly reminds the reader that during a television broadcast, Brenda’s parents partly blamed her for her sister’s disappearance. All right already, I thought to myself, I get it!
There comes a point when hammering the reader over the head with the same information knocks you out of the story.
Despite these shortcomings, It Waits in the Woods gets more suspenseful as the climax approaches, thanks to Malerman’s strong storytelling abilities. His cinematic writing style makes it difficult to turn away. Alas, this strength is only exhibited for a brief portion of an otherwise banal story. Douglas J. Ogurek **
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