The Witch in the Woods — Jennifer Killick

The must-read middle-grade novel from the author of the super-spooky Dread Wood series. Perfect for 9+ fans of R.L.Stine's Goosebumps and Stranger Things.

“Deliciously scary and hilarious comedy-horror, perfectly pitched for eight-plus.”

Guardian on Dread Wood

Welcome to Hazard. An ordinary town where strangeness is a way of life. A town where sink holes appear with no warning, where people go missing way too often and where things really DO go bump in the night …

To Travis and his classmates, Hazard is home. But when they're set a school project to investigate the history of the town, they soon realise that something strange and alien lies beneath Hazard. What can they learn from their investigations into the mysterious witch in the woods? And �" if the witch does exist �" will they make it home to tell the tale…?

Reviews

Reviews for the Dread Wood series:

“Brilliantly creepy fun for young horror fans, with an unexpectedly moving ending.” �" iNews

“Jennifer Killick's talent for horror and humour is blended brilliantly here as the spiky dialogue, unstoppable pace and genuinely menacing atmosphere build to a tremendous climax”�" Daily Mail

“Deliciously scary and hilarious comedy-horror, perfectly pitched for eight-plus.”

The Guardian

“This is Killick's best book yet; think ‘The Breakfast Club' meets ‘Stranger Things', making great use of her talent for comic dialogue and her astute eye for just the right kind of scary for this age group.” �" Editor's Choice, The Bookseller

After her last two books (the fantastically creepy Crater Lake and Crater Lake: Evolution), Jennifer has, yet again, upped the level of stylishly slick, sinister storylines and honed her clever range of shock / comedy techniques �" from the laugh-out-loud, nose-snortingly funny moments, to the cheekily edgy asides, to the poignant warm-hearted, gentle, fun scenes she does so well.

- ReadingZone (Book of the Day, February 16th 2022)

Not for the faint-hearted, this edge-of-seat horror is hard to put down, with many chapters ending on a cliff-hanger. But it's the humanity and backstories that stay with you when the trauma ends. BookTrust (Book of the Day, April 13th 2022)

Authors

“Sharp, scary and a whole lot of fun!”

Christopher Edge, author of Escape Room

“This is BRILLIANT! Creepy, pacy, smart, witty and just pure Jennifer genius.”

Vashti Hardy, author of Brightstorm

About the author

Jennifer Killick is the author of the Dread Wood and Crater Lake series. She regularly visits schools and festivals, was a World Book Day author in 2024 and her books have been selected three times for The Reading Agency's Summer Reading Challenge. She lives in Uxbridge in a house full of children, animals and Lego. When she isn't busy mothering she loves to read, write and run as fast as she can.