WHISPER OF THE WOODS

In Iurov’s graphic novel, a man goes on a quest to find his best friend in a forest where many people have disappeared.

The story, set in Transylvania, Romania, follows Adam on his quest to find his friend Vlad, who went missing on the edge of a forest called Hoia Baciu. It’s difficult to find a ride to a place that’s known as one of Romania’s most supernatural locations, but when he eventually gets there, he’s met with disbelief by locals—not over the fact that Vlad’s missing, but that Adam will ever find him. According to the villagers, men have been vanishing, almost on a weekly basis; the culprits, they say, are the Iele, supernatural women with a thirst for blood. Nearly everyone seems to know someone who’s been taken and killed or rendered insane. Adam receives a warning from the local supreme witch that Vlad is already dead and that Adam will suffer the same fate if he stays. He isn’t sure he believes the tales, and he insists on going through with his plan—even though he’s starting to have nightmares himself. Angelica, the witch’s daughter, decides to help him and introduces him to Carol, a survivor of the Iele. Before long, Carol asks him if he wants to come look at the Iele that lives in the basement. The author delivers an exciting work. Iurov’s page-turner effectively familiarizes readers with a Romanian legend as well as some Romanian language, sometimes translated (such as sub casă, which means basement), which makes the book even more immersive and engrossing. The full-color illustrations are an intriguing contrast to the haunting nature of the story it tells, featuring bright colors and scenes during the daytime, which precede the darkness of the Hoia Baciu forest and other, more off-putting imagery.

A well-illustrated and very satisfying horror tale.