The Winter Folk by Jen Julian
Run For It
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026Run For It
Paperback. 384 pages.
About The Winter Folk:
"A woman returns to the mysterious lodge in the woods where she once worked, and to the inscrutable creature that bound her there, in this haunting Appalachian gothic horror from singular voice Jen Julian. Perfect for fans of Alix E. Harrow and T. Kingfisher.
This is the story of Moth, who earned her name working for the Winter Folk.
Every year, the Winter Folk gather at a secret lodge in the Appalachians, a place known as Deerhaven, refuge for the time-worn and weary. As a child, Moth heard warnings from her mother: They are heartless, wild creatures—and they got no concern of us. At twenty-one, Moth is a college dropout, indebted, impoverished, and desperate for better things. She falls instantly for Deerhaven’s beautiful antlered host, the mild-mannered Mr. Oslin. When he offers her a housekeeper’s contract—one wish granted for a winter of service—she signs without question.
But Deerhaven is a dangerous place. Staff must follow strict rules or else face dire consequences, and the guests can be unpredictable and savage. And yet, Moth endures, enticed by a rumor that Mr. Oslin is looking for a protégé. A singular worker who would stay with him forever and be transformed.
Decades later, Moth returns to Appalachia with her husband and teenage daughter. She can't shake the feeling that she needs to return to Deerhaven, which banished her twenty years ago. As she hunts for a way in, her haunting memories and harrowing experiences come roaring back — her friends and rivals, her growing obsession with Mr. Oslin, and her mysterious exile.
A door exists in the dark of the woods. After so long away, what has Deerhaven become?"
This is the story of Moth, who earned her name working for the Winter Folk.
Every year, the Winter Folk gather at a secret lodge in the Appalachians, a place known as Deerhaven, refuge for the time-worn and weary. As a child, Moth heard warnings from her mother: They are heartless, wild creatures—and they got no concern of us. At twenty-one, Moth is a college dropout, indebted, impoverished, and desperate for better things. She falls instantly for Deerhaven’s beautiful antlered host, the mild-mannered Mr. Oslin. When he offers her a housekeeper’s contract—one wish granted for a winter of service—she signs without question.
But Deerhaven is a dangerous place. Staff must follow strict rules or else face dire consequences, and the guests can be unpredictable and savage. And yet, Moth endures, enticed by a rumor that Mr. Oslin is looking for a protégé. A singular worker who would stay with him forever and be transformed.
Decades later, Moth returns to Appalachia with her husband and teenage daughter. She can't shake the feeling that she needs to return to Deerhaven, which banished her twenty years ago. As she hunts for a way in, her haunting memories and harrowing experiences come roaring back — her friends and rivals, her growing obsession with Mr. Oslin, and her mysterious exile.
A door exists in the dark of the woods. After so long away, what has Deerhaven become?"
I meant to read Jen Julian's Red Rabbit Ghost last year, but never got around to it, so this ended up being my first Jen Julian book--and it will certainly not be my last (and now Red Rabbit Ghost is high on my TBR)! I absolutely loved how weird this was, in the best possible meaning of the word.
We begin our story following Vera (who we will later also come to know as Moth) in the present day as she embarks on a winter "vacation" with her husband a daughter to her hometown of Little Gunning. Once there, we as readers are whisked away to the past, where Moth recounts her time as a younger woman and begins working at Deerhaven, an offbeat and mysterious lodge run by the equally mysterious Mr. Oslin. Deerhaven exists somewhere just adjacent to our own world, and it is while working here that she is known only as Moth to her coworkers and herself, as it is forbidden to share your real name while at Deerhaven. Her job is to spend the three-month winter season serving the lodge's guests in exchange for one request of her own choosing (assuming Mr. Oslin approves and deems it possible). It sounds simple enough, but the guests are anything but ordinary, and the requests she receives quickly make it clear that Deerhaven is not a place everyone is capable of surviving, and that the tasks are far more challenging than anticipated.
The story alternates between the past and present, although we spend what I'd say is considerably more time with Moth at Deerhaven then we do in the present day. This worked well for me because those sections were by far my favorite and I was entirely enraptured in learning more about the lodge and Moth's role, as well as the other characters we comee to know, such as Birch, Crow, Mr. Oslin, Dr. Moon, and a variety of others.
I love a story that has a constant feeling that's much, much more to the world than we know, with plenty of dark and unnerving undertones, and The Winter Folk absolutely nails that atmosphere. I particularly enjoyed getting to meet so many of the eclectic, weird, and truly unexpected guests, whose requests ranged from bizarre to quite horrifying in their own right. Everything that happens at Deerhaven feels like some sort of fever dream that toes the line of nightmarish at times. I really wasn't sure at any turn exactly what was going to happen, and this all kept me entirely captivated.
Julian's writing itself is really thoughtful and thought-provoking, and I thought Julian's tone and cadence had a really lovely quality to it that felt fluid and immersive, and definitely embodied a haunting sense to it as well. I thought she did a really good job of capturing how Moth's early life experiences both at Deerhaven and back at her hometown with her mom and dad have affected her later in life with her husband and daughter. She captured how a lot of those seemingly minute traumas and experiences can have such lasting effects, and even larger ones and how they often come out later. This all worked to add a really effective emotional depth that grounded so much of the story and its happenings.
The only real "negative" I have for this one relates to a particular romance that occurs more than halfway through the book. I wasn't entirely convinced by it or the direction it took, and it never ended up entirely working for me. That said, I do understand why it existed and the role it played in the larger story, especially with how everything evolves and eventually resolves and can appreciate that aspect. I just almost wish there was a slightly different dynamic or even type of relationship used.
Overall, I really enjoyed The Winter Folk and I am still finding myself really impressed by Julian's ability to blend this sort horror fantasy blend with emotional component and storytelling. If you enjoy weird fantasy that leans into darker themes and unsettling concepts, then I'd absolutely recommend giving this one a try. Although marketed as horror, I'd say it's not outright horror, but rather carries an uncanny atmosphere throughout and contains more than a few genuinely disturbing moments.
*I received a copy of The Winter Folk courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating or enjoyment.*
Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org
