My Experience with Shadow Witch: Horror of the Dark Forest by J. Thorn and Dan Padavona

Halloween nears, so I figured it’s a good time to turn my attention to something in the horror genre. And I couldn’t help but put a book that is self-described as “Game of Thrones meets The Blair Witch.” at the top of the list for this year’s scare. 

Shadow Witch: Horror of the Dark Forest is the only novel co-authored by J. Thorn and Dan Padavona (that I’m aware of). It follows Thom Meeks and his family as they struggle to survive an unnaturally long winter in the small, isolated village of Droman Meadows. But darkness descends as dread wolves attack and destroy the town, forcing Thom to escape into the forest with his family… But there’s something supernatural in the forest—something evil.

I loved the prose in this story. The tone and language were pitch-perfect, eliciting dread, fear, and anxiety. The descriptions and the distant, omniscient approach to the narrative made me feel like I was watching an actual horror film.

As I reached the middle of the story, it began to sag a little because I didn’t particularly enjoy Thom’s family. I had difficulty separating his four daughters. I easily forgot who the oldest was or which one was the twin. This happens to me with a distant narrator.

This story is more Blair Witch than Game of Thrones. It’s a pre-industrial, secondary world setting, but it doesn’t follow many of the high fantasy tropes that make other novels in the genre identifiable. The story’s scope is much smaller, and there’s little if any sense of adventure. But, that’s not what most people are looking for in a horror novel, so that’s not an issue for me.

If you’re looking for a book this week to get into the season’s spirit, give Shadow Witch a try! Oh! And Dan Padavona is Dio’s son! So if you’re into metal music (like me), that’s just one more reason to give it a shot.