Award-winning author Scott Thomas returns just in time for Halloween with his new novella, The Boy in the Woods. The story is billed as a combination of Wonder and Friday the 13th, showcasing Thomas’ flair for both terror and poignancy. Thomas’ previous releases include the critically acclaimed Kill Creek and VioletKill Creek won horror book of the year from the American Library Association, went to Showtime for television, and is approaching 100k units sold in English with versions released in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and countless other countries. Scott built on this success with Violet, which is now fully financed for film and which you can expect out in 2022 along with Kill Creek.

The Boy in the Woods will be available this Saturday, October 31st exclusively through Inkshares, a digital publishing market. While the page itself is somewhat scarce for now, there is a synopsis available from the back cover: Today was supposed to be Eddie Reicher’s last day at summer camp. But when his parents can’t make it to pick him up, Eddie must spend one more night at Camp Cottonwood. At first, he’s thrilled. Not only does he get to hang out with the older counselors, but his secret crush is staying over until morning too. Best of all, the other campers– the ones who mercilessly made fun of Eddie’s disfigured face– are long gone. But as the sun sets, an unholy terror creeps in. Something evil has infected the counselors, and Eddie will have to do everything he can– even kill– if he hopes to survive the night. 

This one sounds like a fun mix of slasher and coming of age stories. There’s a little bit of early Stephen King blended with R.L. Stine going on in the premise, albeit anything by Scott Thomas is going to be much scarier than the latter and likely more introspective than the former. Given the author’s penchant for atmospheric creepiness, it’s easy to look forward to a terrifying trip to the woods on Halloween.

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