“The Forest” is a 2007 speculative fiction novelette by Laird Barron. It is about a Hollywood film-maker who visits old friends on a very strange New England farm.
Scary Sci Fi
So, this was the first story I’d ever read by Laird Barron, and I must say that his writing style is very cool! I loved the detailed descriptions he gave of what was going on and what was being seen. And his story telling style was very unique but I found it enjoyable. There was quite a bit of a “Lovecraftian” feel to this story, so if you are a fan of the Cthulu mythos then you’ll feel right at home with this excellent short story!
Non-spoiler Summary in a Nutshell
Mr. Partridge has just been invited by some old friends to visit their newly acquired rural farm. So like the true friend that he is he drops everything and flies across the country to have a look. But after his arrival he begins to notice some strange things – like constant references to NASA first contact procedures, perfectly preserved ghost town buildings and satellites pointed at the ground! Oh, and there is his old flame – who gives him a bit of sad news. But there is something else too, something bigger. And Partridge is about to discover something much worse than he had ever imagined!
Interesting Tidbits About This Story:
- Page Count: 20
- Word Count: 12,188
- Did you know that Laird Barron raced in the famous Alaskan Iditarod 3 times? Yep. You can learn more about this fascinating horror author at Wikipedia.
- Special thanks to Free SF Reader for pointing me towards this story.
Where You Can Find The Forest:
- This story was originally published in Ellen Datlow’s 2007 anthology Inferno: New Tales of Terror and the Supernatural
.
- You can read “The Forest” for free online at the wonderful world of Webscription!
- This story is also included in Laird Barron’s own horror collection Occultation
.
If you enjoy scary / occultish science fiction stories then be sure to check out The Colour Out Of Space by H.P. Lovecraft and The Concrete Jungle by Charles Stross. Enjoy!
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3 users responded in this post
Hi Rusty,
Is this one really SF, or is it more horror or fantasy?
Hey Omphalos,
Yeah, it’s not really SF – more of a horror story. But I figured it was close enough for me to mention on this site.
What did you think of it?
Haven’t read it yet, Rusty, but I did read that Robert Reed story that you reviewed recently. The Last Invasion, IIRC. I thought it was well put together but really anti-climactic. Reed is a great author of short fiction though.