The Thing in the Woods (2024)

Very solid B-movie monster tale, and that's a compliment. I enjoyed the pacing and character development in this one. Will be reading more from this author, too!

This tale of a Lovecraftian cult in the backwoods of a rural Georgia town is both suspenseful and frightening. The creature being worshiped by the cult is an ancient, multi-tentacled monster that lives in a lake in the middle of an isolated tree farm. When high school student James Daly stumbles upon the cult and watches the monster devour a rival classmate, things go downhill fast. Matthew W. Quinn blends together small-town politics, Civil War legends, and more profanity than Lovecraft himself would be comfortable with. This is not Mayberry. Highly recommended for fans of eldritch horror in a realistic, modern-day setting.

Disclaimers: The author provided me with an e-book of this novel, but this is an honest review. Also, I’m originally from Louisiana so crazy swamp cult stories have a special place in my heart.

If you enjoy teenage coming of age stories mixed with town-threatening primordial horror, then this is the book for you! I know I had a great time reading it. I never realized that in a horribly racist and sexist world that the worst insult you could throw at someone would be “carpetbagger,” but man did the cultists hate on the people they viewed as such. About 25% of the way through the novel I realized the real monster wasn’t the creature in the woods or the crazy cultists kidnapping and sacrificing people, but rather it was the economic downturn and housing crisis that caused the main character’s family to end up trapped in this small town.

I enjoy a good modern Cthulhu-esque horror novel written with good pacing; thus, The Thing in the Woods felt like a 4-star read for me when – about 30% into the novel a crazy cultist named Brother Zebulon entered the story and I realized this novel deserved to be bumped up at least half a star. I was already engrossed in the strange swamp cult meeting taking place and thinking that these small-town people couldn’t get any stranger when Brother Zebulon entered the page; his name told me so much about his life story, the type of crazy cultist parents who must have raised him, etc. without any need for an info dump backstory. Then the story got even better and I absolutely loved the climactic monster battle.

video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv2hi...

Mix a rebellious High School Senior and a Creature from the woods, and sprinkle in a Cult and you have the makings of "The Thing in the Woods."

After having to move away from Atlanta with his father, James gets involved with something more than he expected in his new town. Now with the help of a couple of friends, James has to survive being tortured by the cult and sacrificed for the creature living in the pond.

This book is fun. The story isn't spectacular. There isn't anything groundbreaking here. But the story is still fun. Nice descriptions of the tentacles reaching out from the pond to grab the people for food.
It's a decent blend of various other cosmic creature features.

I couldn't really get behind the character development too well. I didn't feel any real connectivity with James. He seemed a bit one dimensional.

Pacing was a bit sporadic for me also. I'm not sure if I ever found the proper pacing by the time I finished it. I found myself rereading several choppy sentences and paragraphs from time to time. This is definitely a book that would have benefited from better editing.

Overall, it's still a decent fun Creature Feature. Sort of like going to the Movie Theater at a young age for a double Creature Feature afternoon. Enough to hold your attention.

I obtained this book through the Kindle Unlimited program.
I do NOT read horror. It's on my list of exclusions. However, the person who asked me to read & review this book wasn't aware of that, and asked so cordially, that I decided to give it a shot.
It wasn't bad at all. Yes, there is a monster, and yes, it eats people, but I wasn't creeped out in the same way I would be if somebody attempted to tell me a ghost story. I say 'attempted,' because they would NOT be successful, whether I had to leave the room or throat-punch them.

The setting is quite authentic, in a fictional city just outside metro Atlanta. I've lived in places much like this, both on the north side and on the south side of the city, and Quinn does an excellent job of describing the countryside, as well as the economic plight faced by smaller communities absorbed into the metroplex. In fact, the villain of the piece has a quite sympathetic introduction; he's a BBQ restaurant owner who has lost significant business to the chain restaurants that have moved in. He, on the other hand, hires locals, and buys supplies from local merchants. He probably serves better BBQ, too.

The author has also done his historical research, too; the 12th Michigan Volunteer Infantry, who are eaten by the monster, was an actual unit that fought down from Tennessee, Kennesaw Mountain, fought in the Battle of Atlanta, then headed west chasing General Hood into Alabama, from whence they were mustered out unless eaten by monsters). The enlisted soldiers suffered 102 fatalities from enemy fire, and 94 deaths from disease; no count of monster-related deaths is recorded.

Other noteworthy accuracies that I had to look up: the throttle on an ATV is NOT like the twist-grip throttle on a motorcycle. I'm now trying to recall if I have ever actually been on an ATV, and can't recall; but, the throttle works like he says it does. Secondly, the Bad Guy recalls worthless draftees (with some exceptions) in his MARINE company in Viet Nam; I could not remember any Viet Nam era draftees to the Marine Corps, only the Army, BUT I checked it out, and there were 42,000 drafted Marines during that time, and likely most of them went to Viet Nam.

I could have used more character development of the teens in the book, especially since it IS primarily their story. We get some insight into the primary male character, and a bit less into the primary female character, but the others, not so much. Exception: the two girl friends of the the main female character.

Of particular value to me is the respect given my redneck kin. Usually, country Southerners are depicted as stupid and slow. and that happens not to be the case. Yes, SOME of us DO have accents, as noted in the book, but most of us do not. Even the teens are given credit for having brains; the main character has been accepted at UNC-CH, which is quite rare for an out of state student, while two others have been admitted to Georgia Tech, one of the foremost engineering schools in the country. Furthermore, the protagonist is seeking a business degree, and recognizes that Georgia State is an excellent choice. (Admittedly, I'm not impartial, having earned three degrees there myself.)

Dim opinion, based on 45 year old knowledge: the Claymore mine IS a remarkably effective ambush and defensive weapon, but I don't believe it would do as much damage as described in the story. However, I've only fired one of them, and that was in 1972, and I'm not an expert. That IS my only weapons quibble, and I'm pretty much death on firearms mistakes. (NOTE: a character refers to them as 'land mines' which they AREN'T, but that's the character's ignorance, not the author's.)

While I will NOT venture further into Spook Land, this wasn't bad. I would like to point out, however, that were such a monster existing in a pond near Atlanta, it would NOT be worshipped and fed human sacrifices. Instead, businessmen would be lining up to build a theme park around it, and raking in the tourist dollars like crazy.

This was a ton of fun!

If you're into creature feature, small-town-claustrophobic type of books, this is a good one to pick up! Matthew W. Quinn's writing style is both fun and easy, but conveys so much of his characters in so little sentences. I also enjoyed the fast paced nature of the story. I was pretty sure I was gonna have a rollicking good time before I picked this up, and it didn't disappoint.

A short book that was so easy to get into, as well as reminiscent of Lovecraftian beasts and small town America horrors. Recommended for indie horror fans!

I received a review copy courtesy of the author.

Cults, secret rituals, and monsters, OH MY!

The author requested a review. I purchased a copy with my own personal funds.

James Daley has just moved to a small town in rural Georgia. After being forced to move, he is a little resentful. Supporting his family's mortgage with his Best Buy wages, having his father be out of work and his non-existent social life makes James more than a little resentful. But when a local boy challenges his to an ATV race, James realizes how horrifying living in this town truly is!

This was a very entertaining Lovecraftian creature feature horror novel. Perfect read for a lazy summer day!

Matthew W. Quinn has managed to write one of my favorite main protagonists, and one of my favorite villains into this excellent horror novel. He is not a journeyman author, and it shows with his great pacing, and some of the best action scenes I have read in a horror novel in years (remember the atv scene).

The dialogue seems real between these characters, and the main characters have believable flaws which makes them all the more relatable. James relationship with the small town his family has moved to seems so relatable that it seems very familiar in feel, and I appreciate that depth that is written into James.

Mr. Quinn has written a horror story that brought me along for a great ride, and I am here for the journey until the end (book 3 will be out fairly soon). Part cosmic horror, part creature feature, part folk horror, The Thing In the Woods has something to please any horror fan. Highly recommended!

5/5

As someone who has grown up in South Georgia i found this tale to be quite comical. There were a lot of things about this book that i found could’ve been fleshed out more (one being the characters), another being the actual story. I felt as if the story jumped around way too much and that it didn’t catch my attention until about sixty pages in but then in the last sixty pages it lost my attention again. I didn’t find this story scary in the least and i was slightly let down.

Lovecraft Would Be Proud

James is about to turn 18 in two months and he can't wait to get out of the small town he's living in.
James and his family used to live in Atlanta but because his dad lost his job the family had to move to Eddington.
However, things change when James gets into a pissing contest with the locals that involves an ATV race at some local tree farm.
But during the race, James learns the hard way why this particular tree farm is out in the middle of nowhere. These woods hold secrets...and one big one is about to emerge from a very deep swamp to feed.

This was a very enjoyable read! The characters were well developed and the LovecraftIan elements were amazing.
Author has a witty dark sense of humor that balanced the horror well.
Highly recommend!!

Once in a while I’ll venture into a reading genre far outside my interest range. Almost always, I’m sorry for the change of direction. Matthew W. Quinn’s “The Thing in the Woods” is no different. The story of a monstrous squid-like figure that lives in a dark pond being summoned by a murderous cult to devour ”sinners” failed my smell test.

I’m not going to critique this book because I realize there are many readers who enjoy this type of story. I’ll leave it to them to decide on its merits. For me it was not something I enjoyed, although I stuck it out to the end, and am almost embarrassed by my tenacity.

Small town, monster in the water. A cult that worships monster. I've read this theme many times. I'd like to say it never gets old. This story had some redeeming qualities to it, and the characters were likeable (at least the ones that weren't racist), but the actual storyline felt awfully familiar.
It's still a good read. I just read so often that sometimes it feels like I've read this before, just with different locale and different characters.
It's still a good read. I'm sure there are plenty of people that enjoy this kind of cookie-cutter story. It's good enough that I would definitely read something else by this author

Horror/ thrillers are outside of my comfort zone, but I'm glad I dipped my toes into the murky, creepy waters of this piece! Not terrifying enough to keep me up at night, but scary enough to savor! It has the appeal binge-worthy of teen horror television. I particularly enjoyed the setting, having grown up near the primary location. If you want to cut your teeth- or just sink your teeth- into this genre, this feels like a good place to start.

A decent story more about the author's interpretation of 'rednecks' as cultists and a 17 year old coming-of-age hero than a monster. It's there, but only has three scenes. I would have liked to see more of it because it was pretty cool. There was lots of detail in the book... one might say... minutia... much unrelated minutia. That's why I can't give it more than 3 stars. It's a short tale though, so it's a decent read.

This is not a town you want to move to as James and his lawyer father find out. A racist cult serving a swamp monster are not the people you want to get on the wrong side of. The prologue immediately sucks you in and makes you wander what exactly the creature is. Great creepy creature read for the run up to Halloween. Does James save his father from the insane cult and its creature god? Read it to find out!

James moves from Atlanta to small town Edington his senior year of high school, and Edington locals don't seem to like outsiders. James is thrown into danger after a local challenges him to a ATV race threw a backwoods area that reveals an ancient evil living in the pond. Now James must take on a cult that worships the creature to save himself and those close to him.

This YA horror book is the first in a series that has a lot of bite. There are some typical high school problems, but I would only recommend this book to very mature teens that can handle swearing and gore. There was some racism that was not fun to read. It takes a while to get going, but this book turns into a really great creature feature with a fantastic showdown in the end.

I would recommend this book to fans of creature features with cosmic elements.

In my head I pictured a B list, sci-fi original movie. And there’s nothing at all wrong with that! Some of those movies slap.

I enjoyed the cultish backwoods vibe this story gave off. The monster itself sounded terrifying and I would’ve liked to have seen more of it.

It definitely could’ve been cut down a bit, and the characters could’ve used a little more depth but all around it was a decent story.

I still recommend checking this one out and as always, remember to support indie authors!

Suspense more than horror

This story is a thoroughgoing hot to read. It is taut with a brisk pace. When I think horror my mind wanders to the uncanny and unseen mystery; shapeless fears are the best ones. This book was suspenseful and gruesome.

Furthermore, the author is not afraid of guns as problem solvers. I can respect that. The paybacks in the story are deeply satisfying.

a bit corny and slightly overlong but alright

Quinn’s villains are a bit over-the-top with the mustache-twirling, and their dialogue and inner monologues are often belabored. Overall, though, it work well enough, and I quite liked the ending. It’s a worthy read, I’d say. — Recommended.

This is a generous review. A good story that would have benefited from a good editor and a writer. The plot was interesting and could have been very good. As it is, it reads like Stephen King wrote it- when he was fourteen.

A memorable, absorbing, fast-paced creature feature, featuring well-drawn characters and a persuasively-captured rural setting. If you’re looking for a satisfying fusion of Lovecraftian horror and small-town drama, this should scratch that itch.

Verry good book

It was very well written. I loved reading this book. The author kept the book interesting from beginning to end

Not the best story ever. And grammar errors were everywhere!!!

The Thing In The Woods

Whooo! Did this ever make my stomach jump. Well written and totally frightening! I read this one straight through from beginning to the to the end.

Cute story. Kind of hokey. Read many of this nature. Not really unique.

Decent

I liked it a lot in the beginning. The story was suspenseful and mysterious. I wasn't very fond of the way the end of the boo was written but overall it was enjoyable

I loved this book! It had a new and unique (to me) story that grabbed my imagination and took off with it. This is not just a GOOD Read, it is a GREAT one!!

Good book

This book gave me more chills than most books I read with its instresting story and plot I would recommend this book to people who would want a good scare now and then.

A good book

A
Very good book I would read this book many times more and it is honestly a gory book but it is a good book

Incredible. I really loved the writing style of Matthew. "The Thing in the Woods" It's has a great story for everyone. Highly recommended for these isolation days. Super entertained.