Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest
Also known as Shadow Forest.
Aunt Eda’s Rule #9: NEVER — UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES — GO INTO THE FOREST.
Samuel and Martha have just moved to Norway to live with their aunt Eda, and she’s taking some getting used to. She has too many rules, no TV, and insists that they eat local delicacies like brown cheese and reindeer soup. And then there’s the most peculiar thing about her — her irrational fear of her own backyard. Sure, Uncle Henrik hasn’t been heard from since he disappeared into it ten years ago, but that can’t be the forest’s fault... can it?
Samuel is skeptical, until he disobeys Rule #1 — Never go up to the attic — and finds an unusual book: The Creatures of Shadow Forest, which gives scary descriptions of the fantastic creatures supposedly living in the forest. So when Sam starts seeing strange things venture past the treeline after dark, he can’t help wondering... could Aunt Eda be right, and what really happened to Uncle Henrik?
This highly inventive fantasy is full of amazing characters and unexpected twists that will elicit both laughter and chills.
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Matt Haig
Matt Haig doesn’t just write stories—he opens doors. Sometimes to alternate realities, sometimes to the quiet corners of the mind, but always to something profoundly human. Whether through the time-slipping wonder of The Midnight Library, the melancholic wisdom of How to Stop Time, or the raw vulnerability in Reasons to Stay Alive, his work pulses with the question: what does it mean to be alive—and how do we bear it?
His writing walks the delicate line between the real and the surreal, where fantasy isn’t escapism but a lens to look inward. In Haig’s world, time travel becomes a metaphor for regret, parallel lives explore mental health with empathy, and even the darkest moments are treated with a tender kind of defiance. His prose is deceptively simple—accessible yet poetic, the kind that leaves quiet echoes long after the final page.
Samuel Blink
Samuel Blink consists of two books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
