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Point Horror Unleashed
The Carver
Maddy's lived near Quedgeley Copse all her life, so she's not sure why she suddenly finds it so creepy. She tells herself not to be silly, but she can't help feeling that something sinister is lurking in there, biding its time...
And what about the twisted, wooden puppets she glimpses hanging from the trees? Someone must have carved them. Someone who's very skilled with a knife. Maddy knows she should run for her life, but the strange figures are beckoning her to meet their maker...
And what about the twisted, wooden puppets she glimpses hanging from the trees? Someone must have carved them. Someone who's very skilled with a knife. Maddy knows she should run for her life, but the strange figures are beckoning her to meet their maker...
- GenresHorrorYoung Adult
225 pages, Paperback
First published February 21, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 5, 2023
3.5 stars
Very promising start, liked the setup but the plot was quite thin leaving to lot of same scenarios repeating leaving it quite repetitive at times. I like the authors writing and got in to the characters. But still undecided on whether I would recommend.
Maddy is having relationship issues and finds comfort in a boy who has left his family and is sleeping rough in the woods by her house. She starts to get increasingly concerned with the wooden puppets he keeps carving, almost like he is compelled to keep making them. When maddy finds them in her house and swears she hears them talking to her. The safety for Gareth and herself increases. Can she discover the horrific past of the woods and save her new boyfriend before he is possessed by puppets he creates?
Very promising start, liked the setup but the plot was quite thin leaving to lot of same scenarios repeating leaving it quite repetitive at times. I like the authors writing and got in to the characters. But still undecided on whether I would recommend.
Maddy is having relationship issues and finds comfort in a boy who has left his family and is sleeping rough in the woods by her house. She starts to get increasingly concerned with the wooden puppets he keeps carving, almost like he is compelled to keep making them. When maddy finds them in her house and swears she hears them talking to her. The safety for Gareth and herself increases. Can she discover the horrific past of the woods and save her new boyfriend before he is possessed by puppets he creates?
December 31, 2020
Maddy has always lived next door to Quedgely's Copse, but only recently is it beginning to disturb her. After some close encounters, she ventures in there and discovers that Gareth Amundsen is squatting there. He has a strange knife and uses it to carve multiple wood puppets that he hangs from the trees. Maddy is irresistibly drawn to Gareth despite having a sort of on/off relationship with childhood friend Alex. But she learns about the copse's disturbing history from her grandmother. Then there's the fact that Gareth's supposedly inanimate wood puppets are finding their way into Maddy's house...
Good concept, but the mythology is a bit muddled. Too much time is spent on Maddy going back and forth over her feelings for Alex and her feelings for Gareth. She had the attention span of a gnat. (She found Alex too possessive, but wouldn't hesitate to use him when she needed a lift somewhere in his car.) The idea of puppets being in places where they shouldn't be should be chilling, but this book takes forever to get to the really good stuff. I wanted to learn more about the copse's history, the idea of "forest people", the history of the knife Gareth used to carve the puppets etc. Instead, I spent a lot of the book being frustrated at Maddy's stroppy behaviour. But, man, there's a couple of great moments as the book hits its end run!
The output from Point Horror Unleashed has been quite varied so far, so I'm looking forward to reading more!
Good concept, but the mythology is a bit muddled. Too much time is spent on Maddy going back and forth over her feelings for Alex and her feelings for Gareth. She had the attention span of a gnat. (She found Alex too possessive, but wouldn't hesitate to use him when she needed a lift somewhere in his car.) The idea of puppets being in places where they shouldn't be should be chilling, but this book takes forever to get to the really good stuff. I wanted to learn more about the copse's history, the idea of "forest people", the history of the knife Gareth used to carve the puppets etc. Instead, I spent a lot of the book being frustrated at Maddy's stroppy behaviour. But, man, there's a couple of great moments as the book hits its end run!
The output from Point Horror Unleashed has been quite varied so far, so I'm looking forward to reading more!
June 25, 2009
Definately one of the better point horror books I've read, the wooden dolls are particularly chilling it must be said and I've never been able to look at such things the same way since...
October 30, 2021
But…what about the puppet in the attic? Is it still there?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2026
Maddy is suddenly creeped out by the Quedgeley Copse near to where she lives and finds a teenage boy, Gareth, living rough there with his dog, Smiler, carving weird puppets that he hangs from the trees. Her Gran finds out disturbing things about the copse and soon strange things start happening and something is watching her.
This was a great premise, the history of the area was fascinating and the carved puppets were disturbing but I found myself more frustrated at Maddy. She flung herself from one boy to another like a pinball machine never making a decision but keeping them all close for when she needed them. Gareth the mysterious stranger, Alex her oldest friend and recent boyfriend and Marty the loveable joker. Her constant indecision took me out of the story, she was infuriating!
I would have liked more on the mythology of the land, the carver legend and the forest people, now that would have been a cracking horror!
This was a great premise, the history of the area was fascinating and the carved puppets were disturbing but I found myself more frustrated at Maddy. She flung herself from one boy to another like a pinball machine never making a decision but keeping them all close for when she needed them. Gareth the mysterious stranger, Alex her oldest friend and recent boyfriend and Marty the loveable joker. Her constant indecision took me out of the story, she was infuriating!
I would have liked more on the mythology of the land, the carver legend and the forest people, now that would have been a cracking horror!
November 21, 2025
Great concept, let down by pacing. Maddy annoyingly has three boys after her at any one time, and it seems like the door is open at the end for her to end up with the worst one of the bunch. We spend far too much time on the back and forth in these relationships and not enough time on the horror plot.
When the action gets going, it's pretty good. There's some great horror imagery, but it gets wrapped up too quickly at the end.
When the action gets going, it's pretty good. There's some great horror imagery, but it gets wrapped up too quickly at the end.
June 7, 2026
I didn't read any of the Unleashed as they came out when I had moved on to exploring a wide range of other books as an older teen. I think I would have enjoyed this had I read it back then though. Maddy lives near Quedgeley Copse with her grandmother (in true Point Horror style her parents have gone on an extended holiday - probably to Europe!). She finds a boy living in the copse called Gareth. He has a dog called Smiler and sleeps on smelly wet mattresses and carves creepy puppets riddled with splinters out of the surrounding woods. And yet she's strangely attracted to him... to her ex boyfriend Alex's annoyance. And there's also another guy called Marty because love triangle, why not? Its the 90s after all.
The creepy puppets are successfully creepy and the ending is very pacy, if you over look some unexplained plotty bits and mishmash between folk story and ghost story. And I liked that the puppets were a bit gremlinny popping up all over the place and interfering with other characters. /
Definite recommendation if you like YA horrors of a certain age.
The creepy puppets are successfully creepy and the ending is very pacy, if you over look some unexplained plotty bits and mishmash between folk story and ghost story. And I liked that the puppets were a bit gremlinny popping up all over the place and interfering with other characters. /
Definite recommendation if you like YA horrors of a certain age.
May 21, 2026
An English countryside horror story about a teen girl left alone for a several weeks with her injury grandmother. Near her grandmother's house is a thicket that seems to be changing and a strange boy that she is interested in. Some good moments but about an average story. Since this is also hard to find in print (try out Open Library for out-of-print books) I wouldn't spend the money resalers are putting this book at. Very average.
August 18, 2022
Gave up on page 86. Not scary at all. Too boring and 'young adult' for me.
April 29, 2026
I read this book for the @talesofpointhorrorbookclub on Instagram, check it out. The chat was better than the book! A wild ride and some unlikable characters in this one...
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews