January 31 - "The Woods Be Dark"

“The Woods Be Dark”
by Bentley Little
The Collection (2002)

* * * (Good) Supernatural

After her brother begins to return each night from death, Beth is forced to venture into the dark woods to complete the ritual. Having fulfilled the ritual once before, she now hesitates to revisit the deep woods.

Written with an attention to realistic speech, it takes a moment to acclimate yourself to the colloquial Southern dialogue. But once you do, these characters – especially the narrator, Beth – feel all the more real. And the supernatural circumstances and superstitions surrounding them become all the more startling. However, the “ritual” was nothing new and fairly routine. There were moments and settings (the ruins and the shack) that could, and should, have been explored more deeply. In his introduction to the story, Little mentions that at the time he was working on a “slew of interconnected Southern Gothic stories,” and it is my hope that these neglected moments are explored further in other tales. Tales in this same collection would fantastic.