Today is my spot on the blog tour for Into the Forest hosted by Black Crow PR, and I have a special treat for you all, an extract from the anthology.  ‘Storks Bite’ by EV Knight is one of the stories in Into the Forest, and EV Knight joins me today to introduce her story and share an extract about it.

Storks Bite by EV Knight Extract

Before reading any further, please be aware that this extract contains graphic descriptions from the start (see content warning above for more details).

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The Storks Take a Bite By EV Knight

“…I was being drawn and quartered—ripped apart from the inside, split in two pieces and cored out like a Jack-o-lantern. Scrape, scrape, scrape. I heaved and screamed and spit and vomited. I cried. I could hear the gritty scratching from inside me. It transmitted from my uterus to my ears, through cell after cell after cell.”

As a physician specializing in women’s health, I tend to write about topics that matter to those of us who identify as women—specific horrors that only we could truly understand. And even now, well into the twenty-first century, there are still so many things for us to fear.

When I began writing this story, the idea of a future where abortions were illegal was only an imagined horror. A possibility I naively assumed would not—could not—come to pass. I was born at the end of 1974, almost two years into a world post Roe v. Wade. The idea of back-alley abortions or the self-inflicted torture of a wire coat hanger was an unknown terror, some historic misogyny to be recalled along with such atrocities as the Salem witch trials, whale bone corsets, or medieval treatments for “hysteria,” and declared another “Never Again,” again.

I approached this tale with the “what could be worse” question. In a future where abortion was somehow once more illegal, where we’ve already seen the lengths women will go when their autonomy is taken away, what would we resort to? Who could we turn to?

Then, the Baba Yaga sisters beckoned to me. Their long, bony fingers, wrinkled and yellowed with age like the very pages of the fairy tale books they lived in, reached out and tap, tap, tapped up my spine, digging their talons into my brain.

“We will help them. We will help all of them,” they whispered with ancient voices graveled and stretched taught by time.

“But can you be trusted?” I asked. For I’d heard stories of their evil in my youth.

“We’ve played the role of fairy godmother before, child.”

“Yes, but what terrible price comes with your benevolence?” This, I needed to know before I subjected my poor, troubled characters to their ministrations.

“The women will receive what they ask for and will walk away emancipated from their afflictions, dear. We promise. You can trust your grandmothers.”

“Surely you will require a payment of some sort,” I persisted.

Sister Agatha pulled out her mortar and pestle and began grinding at what I didn’t know. Sister Adelaide clacked her sharp, blackened teeth together a few times and then said, “We have a home, we have our scarves to cover our heads, and we have no need of coin. Why, we’d only ask for one thing…”

“…To be fed,” Agatha finished.

God help me, I obliged. I obliged because by the time I’d finished my story, there were no other options. Nothing to be done to help my fellow women in need. Because we’d all learned to never say “never again.” Because we learned there would always be punishments, always be a toll to pay to whatever monsters lay in wait to take advantage of the damsels they’d distressed. Literal and proverbial mouths needed to be fed. And whether pro or anti-choice, one would have to be made, so I chose. I can only hope it was the lesser of the two evils.

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Into the Forest, out 8th Nov 22 is edited by Lindy Ryan and with a foreword by Christina Henry, features twenty-three new and exclusive stories inspired by the Baba Yaga—the witch of Slavic folklore—written by some of today’s leading women-in-horror and is published by Black Spot Books.

A collection of new and exclusive short stories inspired by the Baba Yaga. Featuring Gwendolyn Kiste, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Mercedes M. Yardley, Monique Snyman, Donna Lynch, Lisa Quigley, and R. J. Joseph, with an introduction by Christina Henry.

Deep in the dark forest, in a cottage that spins on birds' legs behind a fence topped with human skulls, lives the Baba Yaga. A guardian of the water of life, she lives with her sisters and takes to the skies in a giant mortar and pestle, creating tempests as she goes. Those who come across the Baba Yaga may find help, or hindrance, or horror. She is wild, she is woman, she is witch-and these are her tales.

Edited by Lindy Ryan, this collection brings together some of today's leading voices of women-in-horror as they pay tribute to the Baba Yaga, and go Into the Forest.

This book was provided for free by Black Crow PR, NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

Please note
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Into the Forest Review

Into the Forest is just what I hoped for when I heard about an anthology based on the Slavic folklore figure of Baba Yaga. She’s a figure that has been portrayed in many ways, from the monstrous witch who eats children, to the crone who helps those in need and the wise woman who passes on her knowledge. An excellent foreword by author Christina Henry talks more about the mythology surrounding the figure, and I felt that the selection of stories lived up to the legends. There is something for everyone, with stories touching on all these aspects and more.

Some authors have stuck to a traditional fairytale style and added their own touch to their retelling, while others have pulled the legend of Baba Yaga into the modern world. Some of my personal favourites were ‘The Story of a House by Yi Izzy Yu’, ‘Flood Zone’ by Donna Lynch, and ‘Herald the Knight’ by Mercedes M. Yardley. It was interesting to see how each author interpreted Baba Yaga, but do be warned; while there are stories of fantasy, magic and fairytale in this anthology, the darker side of Baba Yaga has not been forgotten. There are tales of horror that will leave you shuddering and hoping that these are just stories…

This is a great read if you have the courage to go Into the Forest 😉

Thank you for joining me today for my spot on the blog tour for Into the Forest hosted by Black Crow PR! Into the Forest is edited by Lindy Ryan and has a foreword by Christina Henry and was out yesterday!

Don’t forget to check out the rest of my reviews if you’re looking for some more book recommendations 🙂 You can also now sign up for my newsletter to get an email each month with a list of my new reviews!

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