Book Review: The Winter Folk by Jen Julian

 I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

The Winter Folk by Jen Julian

Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Genre: Horror, Fantasy

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Run For It (July 21, 2026)

Length: 384 pages

Author Information: Website | Twitter

I was drawn to The Winter Folk by Jen Julian because, honestly, who can resist Appalachian gothic horror? Well, the book nailed the eerie and folkloric atmosphere all right, conjuring a wonderfully haunted sense of place. But it also set me up for something much more horror-forward than what the story ultimately turned out to be. Instead, this felt more like a dark faerie-type fantasy, which I didn’t necessarily dislike, but it certainly wasn’t what I had expected.

The story follows Vera, whose difficult childhood was shaped by the legends surrounding the mysterious Winter Folk of rural Appalachia. According to the lore, they reside at Deerhaven, a hidden lodge where strange, otherworldly guests gather each winter. Desperate to leave the wreckage of her life behind, a young Vera sets out to find Deerhaven for herself and encounters its enigmatic antlered host, Mr. Oslin. He offers her a position as a housekeeper, serving the lodge’s unusual residents under a strict set of rules. Despite the risks, Vera accepts the contract in exchange for a single wish, using it to escape her toxic mother by securing a home of her own. In the process, she is given a new name by the Winter Folk and, for the duration of her service, becomes known as Moth.

Many years later, Vera returns to her hometown, now an adult with a husband and a teenage daughter, on the pretense of being on a family vacation. In truth, having worked many seasons at Deerhaven in her youth, she finds it impossible to shake the hold that Deerhaven still has on her, unable to resist its call. While she secretly searches for a way back to the place that once consumed her life, memories of her time there resurface, revealing friendships and rivalries among life-changing events that ultimately led to her being cast out forever.

Without question, the novel’s deep, pensive mood was its greatest strength. The author creates a world that feels genuinely old and rooted in uncanny history and local mythology. Deerhaven itself, when it is first introduced, feels like a kind of place that immediately awakens the imagination. It is heavily reminiscent of a faerie realm, where its denizens are whimsically strange and often dangerous. Continuing the similarities, the rules governing the lodge are also many and delectably ominous, but I loved discovering all the quirky creatures and bizarre customs that make this hidden world feel so unique.

That said, once the story settled into its rhythm, I realized this wasn’t really a horror novel in the traditional sense, even if the atmosphere in the early chapters made it seem that way. But, aside from a handful of unsettling moments, much of the book actually reads more like a blend of magical or supernatural fiction, with the majority of it unfolding through the main character’s memories of working at Deerhaven as Moth. Those sections were certainly interesting, but they weren’t what I expected after the more unsettling intro, and I found myself constantly hoping for the horror elements to become more prominent again. It also didn’t help that my interest levels fluctuated as we went back and forth between the flashback storyline and the present-day one, which slowed the pacing.

But in the end, while it might not have been the kind of book I expected, I still enjoyed The Winter Folk for what it was. I think fans of gothic fantasy or stories steeped in Appalachian folklore will appreciate this, and heck, maybe even readers of fairy tale-inspired stories will find enough here to engage them. Bottom line, prepare yourself for an eerie, folklore-rich dark fantasy instead of a straight-up horror novel, and you’ll be setting yourself up for a much better experience.