The Rootward Calling

In a mist-struck Victorian parish, a young narrator - new to town, late for a dinner, and desperate to appease a stern mother - chooses a forbidden shortcut through Blackbriar Wood. The villagers whisper of the cursed forest: offerings at the verge, church bells at dusk, old laws older than scripture. Sceptical, city-bred, and clutching a beloved bookshop find, the narrator steps beneath a canopy where silence feels deliberate and the air carries the iron scent of old stories. What follows is a slow-burn descent into folklore and cosmic dread: a haunted wood, eldritch hush, and a parish whose piety keeps pace with its fear.

A Gothic tale of atmosphere over spectacle - Victorian chills, creeping unease, parish superstition, and the unnerving courtesy of a forest that may not be empty. Perfect for readers of dark academia, folk horror, and cosmic horror who crave candlelit prose, uncanny landscapes, and the steady tightening of fate.