When film restoration expert Elliot Ward receives a sealed crate of damaged VHS tapes connected to the infamous 1994 disappearance of a documentary crew inside Stag Wood, he expects nothing more than another forgotten cold case. Instead he uncovers footage that should never have existed. Strange figures hidden between trees. Voices whispering through static. People vanishing into darkness while something unseen watches from deep within the forest.
As Elliot restores more of the tapes, the horror follows him home.
Footsteps echo through his flat at night. Whistling drifts outside his windows after dark. Pale figures begin appearing in reflections and shadows, always watching silently from a distance. Soon Elliot discovers the truth behind Stag Wood is far older and far worse than a simple haunting. Beneath the forest lies an ancient buried entity that has spent centuries feeding on human minds, learning humanity one victim at a time.
Now the thing beneath the woods has noticed him.
THE STAG WOOD TAPES is a relentless descent into cosmic folk horror filled with cursed recordings, underground nightmares, terrifying creatures, and a growing sense of dread that never loosens its grip. Dark, atmospheric, and deeply unsettling, this is a novel about forbidden curiosity, ancient hunger, and the terrifying idea that some things are buried for a reason.