1735. Leeds Point, New Jersey. A weary woman discovers she is pregnant with her thirteenth child. In a moment of despondence, she curses the unborn that it may be a devil. On the night the infant enters the world, no one in the room is left alive to recount the tale.
2005. Thirteen-year-old Patrick Shourds and his friend encounter a terrifying creature in the Pine Barrens. When only Patrick emerges from the woods alive, the residents of the small town blame and shun him. A pariah in his community, Patrick is ultimately driven away, vowing to never look back.
2025. Patrick reluctantly returns to Leeds Point after the death of his mother. Seeking to lay the ghosts of his past to rest, he soon discovers they refuse to go quietly. When a string of grisly events rock the small town, old suspicions resurface, and the residents again point their fingers at the prodigal son.
Patrick will learn that he can't run from the past. He'll have to confront his demons - the monster in the woods and the darkness that dwells within.
DISCOVER THE DISTURBING LEGEND THAT HAS HAUNTED THE PINE BARRENS FOR CENTURIES.
IN THESE WOODS, LEGENDS BECOME NIGHTMARES.
James Kaine, author of The Dead Children's Playground, brings you the next chilling tale in his American Horrors series where you'll learn fear always finds its way home.
The series
Dark legends don’t just belong to faraway places. In small towns across the United States, forgotten playgrounds, pine-thick forests, and quiet backroads hide stories no one wants to tell out loud. The American Horrors series peels back that silence, weaving unsettling tales where everyday landscapes become the stage for something far more sinister.
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The journey begins with The Dead Children’s Playground, a story rooted in chilling folklore and suffused with an atmosphere that unsettles long after the last page. It was praised for its bone-deep tension, a reminder that horror isn’t always loud—it creeps, waits, and settles into the corners of familiar places. The series continues with Devil of the Pines, turning rural myths into living nightmares that blur the line between truth and superstition.
What makes these books stand apart is the way they ground fear in places that feel real, drawing readers into landscapes they might recognize only to twist them into something uncanny. The stories balance folklore with human vulnerability, making every haunting encounter as much about the people as the monsters that stalk them.
For readers drawn to atmospheric horror, where folklore collides with modern dread, American Horrors offers a chilling reminder: the scariest stories are often the ones waiting just beyond your backyard.
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