And the Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich (review)

Silla and her little sister run away from their abusive father and land at the rambling, creepy home of their aunt. Even though the whole house is painted red (never a good sign) and it’s surrounded by ominous woods, things there at first seem promising for the damaged, traumatized girls. The situation quickly turns very, very bad, however, and the aunt locks herself in the attic, the little sister plays with invisible beings, and Silla grows frantic about them all starving and dying—and that’s if they can survive whatever awfulness might come from the house or woods. Terse storytelling heightens tension, with journal entries, short poems, and old memories of the aunt and her sisters all mixed in with Silla’s increasingly panicked narration. There are too many twists to even make a guess at what the ultimate mystery is, but Kurtagich is careful to plant just enough hints throughout that it’s not a complete shock, and there’s an immediate sense that this is a story to just dive into rather than carefully analyze for exact plot predictability. Horror fans will be caught by the gripping cover image, and there’s plenty to scare them here, even during the second reading that the surprise ending might encourage them to undertake.