​It has to be difficult for orphans when they are growing up, not knowing where they came from. The search for their history can lead them in wildly different directions than they originally thought when they first set out on their quest, but once they find out about their origins, are they happy that they have done so? Knowing where you come from is something that many of us take for granted, but if we were put into the same situation, would we want to know about our family’s past, or would we be content following in the footsteps of our guardians?

Sir James Monmouth has been traveling the world in the footsteps of his hero, Conrad Vane. Without knowing much about his history, Monmouth is looking to put the missing pieces together in his travels. Being brought up by a guardian when he was a young man, he tried to find someone different that he could emulate later in life, and after finding the diaries of Vane, he has never looked back.  

With his next trip taking him to England, James is looking for the old book store Vane spoke about in one of his adventures. After meeting the owner, Monmouth is invited to dinner and although the family seems nice enough, they seem to want the man to stop with his hunt for information on the old traveler. Being told that there was a dark side to Vane’s story that no one is willing to tell outright, Monmouth is more intrigued than ever on his hunt. Thanking the family for their hospitality, Monmouth moves on to the place where he is guaranteed to find some information, Vane’s old school.

Meeting with the Dean of students, Monmouth is welcomed with open arms and given all of the access to anything that has a listing with Vane’s name on the grounds, but his quarters seem out of the ordinary. When arriving in his room that he will be staying in until his studies are done, Monmouth notices that the mirror will not show his complete reflection. Thinking that it has to do with the cold weather outside, he continues his hunt on information about the old adventurer. On the first night however, Monmouth has a hard time sleeping and follows the sounds of a weeping boy into the library. Not being able to pinpoint where the sound is coming from, he then discovers that he is not alone in the old building, but there is someone walking on the levels above him, wielding a lantern. Once again, Monmouth believes this is a normal person, perhaps the school's porter making his rounds, but when leaving the library, he finds that the only footprints in the snow are his own.

As Christmas rolls around, Monmouth has received an invite from the Quincebridge family to be their guest for the holiday. With no family of his own to speak of, Monmouth decides to attend and finds that they are very happy to receive him. Although they do not have much information on Conrad Vane, they too try to deter his studies into the old man, saying that only evil follows what he has touched. When saying at their home, Monmouth falls ill and has to stay with them for some time. As the weeks turn into months, Monmouth wants to get back on his feet and continue his investigation of Vane’s life. But a letter comes in from a family friend that is out in the country informing him that there is possibly another person from his family line living in a further away town. With them having the last name Monmouth, James turns his gaze from the adventurer to a possible family member who may be able to tell him something of his original heritage. 

Susan Hill is able to suck you into the story by giving you some subtle scares before tying it all together in the end. Although you get detoured, just like your main character, you are not able to see what is hiding around the corner. I really enjoyed how this book starts to pull you in on this one main storyline but takes a different turn altogether once you think you have figured it out. I could almost feel the pain of Sir James as he is only trying to find out the truth about his hero, then his family, both elements in his life that have been lost in time, with nobody willing to give any insight. Stay Scared.

​Love can be a very powerful emotion, as it causes us all to do crazy things. When you are not able to control what it does to you, you can find yourself in more trouble than you have bargained for. But when you are able to keep it contained enough to not do anything foolish, you will find that its power can help you move mountains and anything else that stands in your way.

Adam Senft, a writer, is looking to create this next masterpiece. After his first novel hit it big, he decided to pursue his new career. Although his following novels were not as successful as the first, he has gained plenty of followers that read his books religiously and with his wife’s help, he is able to concentrate purely on his writing and nothing else. Even though Tara is continuing to work to keep a steady flow of income coming into the household, she is proud of her husband and his success.

But not everything in the household is as good as it seems. After Tara has suffered two miscarriages, the couple is moving further and further apart. With very little intimacy between them, spring is in the air and that always has an effect on people in their community. When walking his dog, Big Steve, Adam runs into one of his cute, young neighbors in the local forest. Thinking very little of the meeting, Adam starts to hear a Shepard’s pipe playing over the breeze, but what he sees next will change his life forever. Seeing his young neighbor servicing a statue satyr in the hollow, he sees the half goat, half man come to life right before his very eyes. Thinking he has lost his mind, Adam runs back home and tries to come up with some sort of explanation of what he has just witnessed, and deciding that his neighbor has a freaky side, he believes that she was experimenting with her new boyfriend in the woods.

Not being able to get the sight out of his mind, Adam talks with his neighbors about what he has just seen, asking them if they knew anything about the young woman’s relationships. Although the men had no idea about her, they do come clean about not going near the woods at any cost, as it is a haunted place. Learning about a family that lived near the middle of the woods, the LeHorn’s seemed to get along just fine, but when news of the mother of the household being killed surfaced, the woods seemed to gain a mind of their own. With stories about hellcats, ghosts and trees moving on their own, the other men bide their time when entering the area. Although Adam did not know anything about the history of these woods, he did recall hearing something in the woods back in his teenage days when trying to get his date to give him some loving, now he fears that he knows what it was...the satyr.

Before the men can get too drunk while talking about the woods’ tainted past, they notice a large amount of police activity down the street and come to find out that their neighbor’s wife has gone missing. Hearing the Shepard’s pipe play again, all of the men find themselves being aroused by the tune. After giving each other a hard time about the situation, they all go their separate ways when a new detective in the area comes knocking at their doors. Telling him what they know, the group is feeling good about themselves, but when going on a search through the woods to find the missing women, the place where the satyr once sat is now missing and the pathway has completely changed. Knowing something is not right about the situation, Adam has a crazy dream about the satyr standing outside of his window and playing his pipe. Although he believes it is just a dream, his wife had the same image in her head and when checking the backyard, and Adam is astonished to find hoof prints in the grass. When his neighbor Dale comes back with information about what the satyr’s purpose was in ancient times, the men figure out that they are in for a more dastardly fight, as the half man, half goat is able to woo women with its pipe and will take their affections at all costs.

Dark Hollow follows Adam Senft and his friends as they try to figure out what is going on in the local woods. With all kinds of rumors flowing around about them being haunted, the men find out that it has a much more sinister past. With people losing their lives and going missing in these woods, the group finds out that it has to do with a farming family that lived there twenty years ago. Finding out the secret behind the LeHorn’s tragedy, the men start to understand what they are up against and try to come up with a way to end it before the satyr comes back into the neighborhood and takes their women as well. With their only clues being locked in an old chest in the abandoned LeHorn house, the forest starts to move in on them and will stop at nothing to delay the men’s passage back home, in order to let the satyr work his magic once again.

This is a great read from author Brian Keene. I am a huge fan of his zombie stories and this is the first book of his outside of that genre that I have really gotten into. With the novel focusing on the relationships between the characters as much as the monster that is lurking in the woods, it is a great balance that keeps you intrigued until the end. With great interaction between the neighbors and laughs coming in handfuls, it is easy to picture yourself standing next to the group, as they seem to be just like your own friends. Stay Scared.