The Thicket
They heard the screams. They just didn't listen.
Norah is tormented by the night her brother vanished. A Halloween carnival, a childish fight, and her fatal decision to leave him alone in the shadowed woods. That's when the real monster emerged from the costumed crowd.
Weeks later, the infamous carnival reopens, stirring a media frenzy and reigniting Norah's desperate need for answers. She must return to the very place where her nightmare began, to trace her brother's last steps through the unsettling maze of macabre attractions and sinister trees.
But the woods hold more than just traumatic echoes. As Norah digs deeper, a terrifying suspicion takes root: the killer's hunting ground wasn't random. And this twisted game is far from over.
- Maren - Taylor and Jamie’s friend, Norah’s classmate
- Jamie - Maren and Taylor’s friend, Norah’s classmate
- Taylor - Maren and Jamie’s friend, Norah’s classmate
- Russ - Jamie’s boyfriend
- Norah - Brandon’s sister
- Aaron - Norah’s friend, pot dealer
- Tyson - Aaron’s friend
- Ben - Aaron’s friend
- Ryan - Aaron’s friend
- Brandon - Norah’s brother
- Spencer - Scarer at the Thicket
- Dave - Security guard at the Thicket
- Charlie - Security guard at the Thicket
- Bill - Security guard at the Thicket
- Tim - Scarer at the Thicket
- Norah takes Brandon to the Thicket so he can go on the wooded cabin trail, where each cabin is decorated like a haunted house.
- Norah leaves Brandon on the trail of haunted cabins alone and waits for him at the end.
- A masked man kills Spencer and takes his plague doctor mask.
- The man in the plague doctor mask kills Brandon and leaves him on the floor of the cabin Spencer was working in.
- The bodies are discovered.
- Five years prior, an actor named Tim died at the Thicket when a trick involving him being hanged at the gallows went wrong and he was hanged for real. Afterwards, the area was closed off permanently.
- Five weeks after the murders, the Thicket reopens with metal detectors and other security measures.
- While waiting in line to go through the metal detectors, the killer slips a knife into a girl’s purse.
- Security finds the knife and puts it in the contraband bin.
- Maren, Jamie and Taylor go to the Thicket.
- Norah walks the trail at the Thicket to feel close to Brandon.
- Maren, Jamie and Taylor meet Aaron, Tyson, Ben and Ryan while waiting in line for the wooded trail.
- Norah sees a man entering a staff-only tent but doesn’t think he looks like staff.
- The killer takes his hunting knife from the contraband box, as well as a tent stake and a plague doctor mask.
- Taylor and her group finish the wooded trail and head to the corn maze.
- The killer follows them.
- Ryan separates from the group and runs into the killer.
- The killer finds Ryan, leads him to the old mill, binds him with gorilla tape and leaves him there.
- The killer finds Maren and Aaron in the corn maze and takes them to the old mill.
- Maren fights back and is killed.
- Norah hears Taylor talking about being worried about Maren, so she goes into the maze with Taylor and Ben to help look for her.
- Charlie enters the maze to help search for Maren and is killed when he runs into the man in the plague doctor mask.
- Norah, Taylor and Ben stumble upon the old mill.
- They find Jamie, Tyson, Aaron, and Ryan.
- The killer shows up, and Norah stabs him repeatedly with a nail until she thinks he is dead.
- Police arrive.
- Ben and Maren are buried.
- The killer managed to escape and is planning what haunted house he will hunt at next Halloween.
- The killer was also responsible for Tim’s death five years ago; it was not a prop malfunction like everyone assumed.
The killer's perspective was easily the most compelling part of this story, offering a chilling look inside the mind driving the threat behind the scenes. Paired with a heavy autumn atmosphere, the narrative drips with spooky, Halloween-centered vibes that establish a promising mood right from the start.
However, atmosphere alone could not save this plot. The narrative drags significantly through the entire first half, offering very little movement until well past the 60% mark. Even when the story finally attempts to ramp up the suspense, the pacing remains drawn out and stagnant. Once people started dying I wasn’t scared, just relieved that something was finally happening other than silly teenage conversations. To make matters worse, the ending gives little to no answers and leaves far too much to be desired, making the overall experience feel like a chore that left me bored for the majority of the ride.
If you like atmospheric Halloween vibes, slow-burn suspense, and dual perspectives, then you may enjoy this book.
- Spencer - Dead
- Brandon - Dead
- Tim - Dead
- Charlie - Dead
- Ryan - Dead
- Ben - Dead
- Maren - Dead
- Norah - Alive
- Taylor - Alive
- Drug use
- Violence
- Murder
- Suicidal ideations
ISBN: 9780578946849
Publication Date: July 2, 2021
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
