What Lives in the Woods

Twelve-year-old Ginny Anderson, an aspiring mystery writer and devoted fan of Agatha Christie, is blindsided when her father announces the family will spend an entire month in Saugatuck, Michigan. Her father, a restoration expert, has been hired to make renovation recommendations for Woodmoor Manor, a 26-room mansion built in 1938 by a Chicago millionaire whose owners want to convert it into an event space. Ginny is devastated because the trip forces her to miss a Mystery Writing Workshop she planned to attend with her best friend, Erica. Her older brother, Leo, a basketball enthusiast, is equally unhappy about leaving Chicago. Dad admits there are "rumors" about the property but dismisses them as campfire stories.

The family arrives to find Woodmoor on the edge of a nature preserve, surrounded by dense forest. Local legend holds that the surrounding woods are inhabited by the Hitchhikers, mutant creatures with large heads and glowing eyes supposedly created by a mad scientist's experiments a century earlier. Inside, the mansion is dim, musty, and without modern comforts. A faint, persistent ticking sound catches Ginny's attention, though she cannot find its source. She chooses the largest bedroom, which features a fireplace, a crystal chandelier, and a connected sunroom. Her father reacts with an odd, hesitant expression but says nothing.

Strange things begin almost immediately. Ginny discovers a faceless mannequin wearing a sequined ball gown in the sunroom corner. A raspy whisper of her name turns out to be Leo using one of the mansion's speaking tubes, a system of pipes connecting rooms. That night, a severe storm wakes Ginny. The hallway lights flicker, whispers come from the speaking tube, and the mannequin appears to have turned toward her. Her door will not open despite having no lock. When Dad finally opens it from outside, everything looks normal, and he attributes the episode to a nightmare.

At a restaurant in town, Ginny meets Will, a boy her age from Ann Arbor who spends summers in Saugatuck and works part-time at the local bookstore. When Ginny mentions Woodmoor, Will warns her to stay away from the ballroom before his father calls him back to their table.

Ginny finds a skeleton key in the kitchen and pockets it. She visits Will at the bookstore, where he shows her a typewriter that mysteriously appeared in the back room with a single typed word on its paper: GET. At a nearby fudge shop, Will shares his own Woodmoor experience: As children, he and his older brother, Craig, toured the mansion. Craig saw something terrifying in the ballroom and fled, and Will felt an icy, watchful presence as he ran out after Craig. Neither has returned since. Will names the "Shadow People," dark figures with glowing red eyes seen inside the mansion, particularly in the ballroom. Ginny confides in Will and forms a plan: Gather enough evidence to convince her parents the house is dangerous so they will return to Chicago for her writing workshop.

The haunting intensifies. During a power outage, Ginny sees a bluish-black shadow glide through her bedroom. The room turns so cold her breath is visible. While video-chatting with Erica, Ginny sees a ghostly face with red eyes superimposed over her reflection in the bedroom mirror. At the bookstore, the typewriter's paper now reads OUT, forming the complete message GET OUT. Ginny and Will visit Craig at the ice cream shop. Craig describes what he saw in the ballroom: a dark, woman-shaped figure with long hair and red eyes that told him to get out. That night, a melody lures Ginny to the ballroom, where human-shaped shadows with blood-red eyes fill the room and rush toward her. She escapes by hitting the light switch, which causes them to vanish.

Ginny tells Leo everything; though he has not experienced anything supernatural, he believes her. Leo joins Ginny for a midnight investigation with a GoPro camera. Hearing the typewriter clicking from Ginny's room, they discover a new message: "poorhomeallbent," the words run together without spaces. A massive tree limb then crashes through a ballroom window, destroying Mom's baking supplies stored there. Ginny interprets the event as a deliberate escalation; the haunting is no longer targeting only her.

Overhearing her parents discuss the project, Ginny learns how much her father's career depends on Woodmoor's success. She realizes that fleeing would leave the ghost problem unsolved: The spirit would keep driving visitors away, and her father's reputation would suffer. She abandons her plan to return for the workshop and resolves to figure out what the ghost wants.

Will brings books on local history. In the ballroom, the group discovers framed photographs of J. B. Dottinger, the millionaire who built Woodmoor, and his wife, Annette. One photo shows Annette at a ballroom party, visibly frail and wearing the same sequined gown displayed on the mannequin in Ginny's room. Research reveals that Annette was diagnosed with cancer while the house was being built. J. B. had the sunroom added so she could get sunlight when bedridden, but Annette died just two months after Woodmoor was completed. The group concludes that Ginny's bedroom was Annette's room and that Annette is the ghost.

The group hears "In the Good Old Summertime" playing from a gramophone, an antique record player, in Ginny's parents' room. A shadow of Annette appears behind Leo, and the door slams shut. When it flies open, Dad and Robert, a longtime co-owner of Woodmoor, stand in the hallway. Robert explains that the record belonged to Annette's personal collection and that she had been planning an elaborate party themed around the song but died before it could take place.

Ginny uses the skeleton key to unlock a metal box under her bed. Inside are Annette's party planning notes: to-do lists, sketches, and draft invitations for a celebration on June twenty-fifth. She discovers the initials A.E.D., for Annette Elizabeth Dottinger, engraved on the typewriter, confirming it was Annette's own. Ginny rearranges the letters in "poorhomeallbent" and solves the anagram: OPEN THE BALLROOM. The ghost does not simply want intruders gone. Annette wants the party she never got to host. Ginny and Leo plan to throw the party, fulfilling Annette's dying wish while showcasing Dad's renovation plans for the skeptical community.

Two weeks later, the ballroom is transformed with twinkle lights, centerpieces, and candles. Mom prepares 1930s-era appetizers while the gramophone plays. Will arrives with a leather-bound book of historical Woodmoor photos and Annette's party plans. Craig attends as well, facing the house for the first time since childhood. Ginny notices a pinprick of light in the corner that expands into a shimmering form, utterly different from the menacing shadows. There are no red eyes or gnarled arms. The presence radiates warmth before vanishing. Ginny knows it is Annette, finally at peace. Since the party was proposed, the haunting has completely stopped.

On July twenty-ninth, the family packs up to return to Chicago. Dad reveals he will return regularly and suggests the family buy a vacation home in the area. Will gives Ginny a blank leather-bound book titled In the Shadows with her name printed as author, encouraging her to write her Woodmoor story. Leo, transformed by the experience, has become an avid reader of paranormal books. Ginny reflects on how she set out to emulate Agatha Christie's characters but discovered her own approach to solving mysteries, and she resolves to keep investigating legends, including the Hitchhikers, on future visits.