That Night in the Woods is a great read. It follows the story of a group of high school friends who go out on Halloween expecting to have a memorable time in the forbidden woods better known as the Suicide Woods. During their night out, tragedy strikes and they were never the same again. Years later the death of one of the friends makes them all reunite and they finally talk about what happened on that night that changed everything. I wasn't expecting the twist at the end!

This book gives all the creepy vibes and makes you not want to go to the woods ever! It is a great story to read anytime but especially around Halloween. The story unfolds really well and I can picture this becoming a movie at some point! Thank you Netgalley and Cemetery Dance Publications for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

🕸My Thoughts🕸

This is my third Kristopher Triana book and my second five star(other was 4.5). I always seem to be attracted to books where a group of adults meet back up because of something that happened when they were kids, so this book was like dangling candy in front of a small child. Loved the story. Loved the writing. I can never fully believe that the author is indie/small pub because his writing is top tier.

Thank you to @netgalley and @kristopher_triana for the advance copy of this book.

Wow, okay. I have some thoughts.

One of my favorite novels is IT by Stephen King; I read it in high school and I've been chasing that first-time-read feeling ever since. This novel scratched that itch.

A group of high school friends have to come together as adults to understand what happened *that night* once and for all? YES, PLEASE.

The whole time I'm reading about that night from the teens' perspectives, I'm feeling only slightly anxious about what's going to happen. They end up being adults, right? They'll be fine...ish. So when they're adults and the scary stuff starts happening, my anxiety for them skyrockets. Now I don't know who is going to be okay or if anyone will walk away from this...and man, I love that feeling when reading.

There are some saying the last third or so of the book was underwhelming because it was so different. Maybe it's because we all were feeling that nostalgia for 80s/90s teens getting involved with scary monsters and then going back as adults to revisit it. Personally, I liked the direction that Kristopher Triana took the story. It made it different, made it stand out. It kept me guessing.

I loved this and wish I could read it for the first time again.

That Night in the Woods is a standalone horror thriller by author, Kristopher Triana. My only other book by this author was Gone to See the Riverman which still stays in my brain as one of the most horrifying books I’ve ever read. I’m happy to report this one is not extreme horror, and more of an ‘old-school’ horror featuring an incredibly creepy and nightmare-inducing setting. More of a spooky than gory, this one will make you want to leave the lights on. The story follows a bunch of adults returning to their home town for one hell of a reunion. I enjoyed the multiple POV and split timeline. This one was a race-to-the-finish which I couldn’t put down. I read it in one sitting. The book is well-paced and sucks you in from the beginning. The wood scenes were heart-pounding and atmospheric and make you want to keep reading to find out just what happened that night in the woods. I’d highly recommend this fun-to-read horror novel. Thank you to Cemetery Dance Publications for a copy of the book to review.

This book was definitely interesting. It took a turn that I didn’t expect, but it was a good read. It had a super spooky feel to it throughout the first 2/3 of the book that would make this a great read for Halloween season. The last 1/3 threw me off a little bit, but was still pretty intriguing. It did give off classic Halloween vibes, which I really enjoyed. I would say give this book a read if you’re looking for something spooky to scare you a little bit 😉

I have seen so many amazing reviews of Gone To See The River Man, but have been hesitant to read it because I don't want to be disappointed. Well the joke is on me because if it is written half as wonderfully as this one I'm a fool. This story kept me guessing the entire time as to what in the world was happening and what motivation Scott truly had.

There's nothing like memories of childhood friends and the secrets they hold tightly. Going home again came be healing for some and a nightmare for others. The character development was spot on and I felt connections with the friends from the beginning. This story kept me guessing what happened that night, what had Robin really said to Corey, and what role did Traci truly play.

Do demons truly walk amongst us or is it the ones we love most out to deceive and threaten our very grips of reality? Can the woods really come to life? Can you fully trust any old friends or their intentions?

What a fantastic story.

That Night in the Woods is a story about six friends from high school who decide to spend the night in the creepy suicide woods on Halloween night. After that night they lived with that trauma for 25 years. One fateful day, one of the members of the group died unexpectedly and the friends come together to memorialize him, or so they think.
The creepy setting created combined with all of the fall feels made the first 70% if this book a definite winner for me in terms of spooky season reads.
Then it got a little weird and I want to forget those little things at the end happened. I wanted to love this so much. I did enjoy it. But give me something different for the last few chapters.
Overall a solid 3.5 stars

This book has everything I love, which I don't want to say because I don't want to spoil anything. Kristopher Triana is easily becoming one of my favorite authors.

Thank you to NetGalley and Cemetery Dance Publications for providing me with my FIRST EVER ARC in exchange for an honest review! Not only was it five stars, but it’s Kristopher Triana, so I was super lucky with this book.

“That Night in the Woods” is so easy to get invested in. First of all, I love stories that surround “THAT night” or “THAT one time,” or “THAT incident.” Those unforgettable days where something dramatic happened, and there was no coming back from it. I know I had several of THOSE moments growing up, and now in early adulthood, I still do. It was easy to feel like you were right in the room with the high school friends turned middle aged adults. After Steven Winters unexpectedly passed away, the executor of his will, Scott, invites all the friends they used to hang out with back to their hometown to discuss Steven’s final wishes. But the visit is more than just a weekend retreat- slowly, more and more deadly secrets are revealed, and the group is forced to come to terms with what REALLY happened the night of Halloween 1995. The same night they thought it would be a good idea to go camping in the infamous “Suicide Woods.”

We get to know these characters on a deep level, which I will ALWAYS applaud. They all have their flaws, but most are likable. Jennifer is innocent enough and easy to relate to. Corey is gravely underestimated with a heart of gold. Traci and Mark are both a bit rough around the edges, but you can’t help but root for them and deep within, they carry great compassion and strength. I loved getting to hang out with all of them, and when the story was nearing its end, I wished I had gotten to do it for an even longer period of time.

I’ve seen some criticisms surrounding the ending. I don’t want to spoil this story (especially because I loved it so much,) to anyone, so I won’t be getting into too much detail. Nevertheless, the ending, and the cluster of emotions leading up to it, did make perfect sense to me. Sometimes, acceptance can take hold over one’s will to fight. That’s all I will speak on it for now, as you truly must experience it for yourself, but for me, it didn’t dull the book’s sparkle.

One of my favorite things about Kristopher Triana is how he can truly rip me out of my bedroom and make me feel like I’m in a totally different world. He’s definitely one of my go-to authors for reasons exactly like this one. He keeps the dialogue natural and interesting, and the atmosphere is vivid and inviting without being overly descriptive or redundant. Even when the unexpected twists do come- and boy do they- you can look back in the story and see where you might’ve missed some hints. He eloquently avoids plot holes and keeps a consistent storyline that still manages to surprise its readers.

I truly believe that this story will entice mystery fans, drama fans, and horror fans alike. With enough of each to satisfy even the pickiest of readers, Kristopher Triana has yet another winner on his hands, and I’m so happy I was given the opportunity to witness it early.

“That Night in the Woods” will be released into the world in October 2023. It’s definitely the perfect book to get you in the spooky spirit. Do yourselves a favor and keep an eye out for this one, which no horror enthusiast will want to miss!

That Night In The Woods was a really good book. Flowed well. The story was good but sadly the trope this year is a little over done and I personally am burnt out on it. Which shows the difference of each persons individual review because I'm sure someone who didn't read as many thrillers would be blown away completely. This book is so good but for me it missed the mark because this trope is so over done lately.

Couldn't get past chapter 3. I was just not engaged with either the story or the characters. I've heard excellent things about Gone To See The River Man, so I will certainly give that a try. This one was just sadly not for me. Giving it 2 stars because the writing is not be ad. And I would recommend to master readers of the horror genre. Maybe I'm still too green for this. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for making it available.

“Once you’ve experienced real terror, the desire to be scared for fun not only disappears, it stops making sense.”

Thank you NetGalley for the arc! That Night In The Woods was a wild, jaw-dropping ride. This isn’t my first read of Kristopher Triana’s work. If you want extreme horror that fills you with dread and leaves you feeling a little empty inside, I highly recommend this or any of his books! Truly one of my go-to horror authors! Be sure to check your content warnings!

This story follows a group of teenage friends and the eerie woods that have a horrid reputation. It jumps back and forth between the group as adults returning to their hometown, trying to make sense of what happened all those years ago and them as teenagers during a night in the woods that continues to haunt them. I loved that this book gave a Stephen King’s It vibe. Not only that, but there were many references that made this feel nostalgic at times.

My favorite thing is that Triana knows how to write characters that make you feel every emotion! That Night In The Woods definitely built up the anticipation in the first half of the book and left me at the edge of my seat because I just HAD to figure out what the hell was going on. The second half was fast paced and felt like a movie. This is a great intro book if you’ve been looking to get into horror or this author’s work!

Thank you for the ARC !
I loved the first 70% of this book. The ending seemed like it turned into a different book altogether, kind of threw me off which is why I have it four stars. The majority of this book was definitely top scariest books I have read to date, and I do tend to be hard to scare with books. The premise was amazing. Part slasher/part paranormal with a bit of mystery. I just wish the ending was a bit more of a twist that really tied everything together instead of going off course. Still a great book and kept me not wanting to put it down.

Thank you to Kristopher, and Netgalley for an ebook copy to review.

This was my 2nd book from Mr. Triana the first was 'Gone to See the River Man'. This book was just as fun and thrilling it is such a good thrill ride. I loved the setting in the woods with a group of friends. It really sets the atmosphere of horror. This will be a wonderful Autumn read for the Halloween season. Maybe take this on your next camping trip. (I used to camp as a kid...I don't anymore...no nothing strange in the woods happened.).
If you're looking for a good fright check this one out.

Since The Ruin Season was published in 2016 Kristopher Triana has released an impressive array of horror and mystery titles, including short stories, novellas and novels. I first read him a number of years ago with Shepherd of the Black Sheep (2018) and later They All Died Screaming (2020). However, he is undoubtedly best known for the stunning and Splatterpunk Award winning novella Gone to See the River Man, which was an absolute knockout and featured in my Horror DNA Top Ten Novellas of 2020. Once read this book is not easily forgotten.

Gone to See the River Man was nasty, lean and astonishingly mean and it is impossible not to judge Triana’s subsequent work against this very high benchmark. That Night in the Woods was a decent read, but its weakness was its length, 360-pages was ridiculously long for this type of story, doubled by the fact that for the most part was fairly predictable. It can be frustrating for a reader knowing exactly where a story was heading and then for it to take an age getting there. One can appreciate authors who normally write shorter stuff wanting to branch out into longer formats, Gone to See the River Man was a lean 180-pages with not an ounce of fat, and That Night in the Woods probably had enough plot to come in at a similar length rather than a cumbersome 360-pages.

The plot of That Night in the Woods is also built around a very familiar and probably overused trope; teenagers meeting up in the forties to revisit some terrifying incident from their past. We are all familiar with Stephen King’s IT, Ronald Malfi also used a very similar style in the excellent Black Mouth, with their being countless other examples. Even though this novel held my interest in regard to the secret the teenagers were hiding I could not help being disappointed and slightly underwhelmed by how things played out. This was not surprising as it was so obvious which of the six main characters was dodgy, with the way the story was framed making it tricky to pan out any other way.

The story kicks off with Jennifer, now in her mid-forties and lonely, receiving a message from Scott Dwyer after twenty odd years without contact, her first reaction is one of excitement as Scott was her first love. Now in her forties and in the middle of a divorce, nostalgia for her youth gets the better of her and she replies only to find out that Scott has also contacted all the other members of their old ‘gang’ to honour the memory of Stephen, another classmate from their clique, who recently passed away.

The reader quickly realises that Scott, Corey, Traci and Mark have not stayed in touch since high school for good reason as they were involved in a traumatic event which remains shrouded for most of the story but is revealed in extensive flashback sequences to when they were eighteen. Scott wants the group to face the horror from their past and revisit the
patch of forest encroaching his house, a place once known as Suicide Woods due to the high number of teenagers who inexplicably took their own lives there around the time they were teens themselves.

The story jumps from character to character, none of which are particularly likable, and have been ground down by life and failure. Mark tries and fails to maintain his tough-guy teen image, whilst Corey continues to be the outsider of the group (he read comics and was awkward with girls), was only included as he was a friend of Scott. Both women had shared history with Scott and after some awkward moments the group begin to ease up with each other. However, nobody knows anything about the death of Stephen, with Scott dropping hints as the evening moves on.

That Night in the Woods is set over a single night/day and things fall apart very quickly when, no nobody’s surprise, they venture into the woods again. There were some great scenes in the forest, particularly when the then and now sequences were contrasted with the excitement of teenagers doing dumb stuff morphed into terrified adults fighting for their lives. Although it had its moments That Night in the Woods lacked the bite of Khristopher Triana’s best work but if you are a sucker for forest horror and dumb decisions then it is worth a look.

This had a lot of promise, but I don't think it really amounted to much by the end. The premise was interesting, yet one that felt familiar: adults returning home to confront an emotional event from their teen years.

The book itself needed more trimming - pacing wasn't consistent and very heavy with exposition - especially toward the end.

The graphic descriptions felt wasted: it felt like there was more concern with shock value instead of a fully engaging narrative. This was also evident through the characters themselves because they didn't feel overly fleshed out and I just didn't care for them anywhere near as much as I should have.

It felt like there was going to be another level to the story, but it's pretty evident what's going to happen early on and it just trundles towards its inevitable conclusion.

As mentioned just now, the gore was fun, but really could've been pushed further! I read Triana’s ‘Gone to See the River Man’ and that has haunted me because of its level of depravity. This just felt like an attempt to explore some taboo content via a half-formed idea and connect the dots with quicksand-like exposition.

A classic trope of a group of friends coming together after decades apart to face an old horror. I quite enjoyed this read. Nothing particularly unique but a treasures old favorite. It was well-written with believable characters.

I love Triana’s work- Gone to see the river man is one of my all time favorites. So i think going into this, i thought i’d love it just as much but it just fell short for me. The writing was great, and the beginning really had me hooked but towards the end it lost me. The last couple pages really just spoiled it completely for me. Definitely didn’t like how it ended. I’m giving it 2.5-3 stars simply for the first half of the book.

Also, idk if it was just me but I could not stand Jenny. 😂

Complicated teenage friendships and relationships exacerbated by a frightful Halloween night decades ago because of what happened That Night In The Woods. Coming together to memorialize one that passed away too soon, a group of friends in their 40s face their inner demons and the complicated truth with bloody consequences. Loved the twists and turns and found the whole book to be delightfully spooky!

I absolutely loved this book — until the last 10 pages. If i were rating those last 10 pages alone, I’d go with 1 star.

The rest of the story is quite compelling. In fact, there’s only one exception. The character of Mark had heinous thoughts, yet everyone else decided he wasn’t bad, and was in fact a good guy. This part didn’t sit right with me. I could overlook it, though, if the book didn’t have the ending it does.

SPOILERS
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Okay, so I was willing to buy that there was a cult doing messed up stuff. I was even willing to buy that they were Christians, as there are several smaller factions that do messed up stuff in “service” to their god. But why in the hell did Traci suddenly change her mind and decide that she was supposed to be part of their cult?

She went from struggling to deciding “eh, why not? At least he loves me” in like literally one paragraph. And, by the book’s last page, it became clear that they all thought they were doing the right thing. The book had no moral conscience whatsoever. This was as disappointing as it was unlikely.

I like it when the bad guys win, but this one felt cheap. It lowered my rating from 5 stars to 2.5 (rounded up to 3).