The Pit and the Box

The Boy in the Iron Box #2

by Guillermo del Toro

On an isolated mountain, a stone labyrinth provides rough shelter for a band of mercenaries. At its core lies a centuries-old mystery. But in part two of The Boy in the Iron Box, no secret is safe.

A concealed pit; an iron box, wrapped in chains; a statue of a boy. What unknowns await the anxious, disoriented team in this strange ruin? Night will tell.

From Academy Award–winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro comes The Pit and the Box, part two of The Boy in the Iron Box, a blood-chilling series of short stories about an ancient secret that was never meant to be unleashed, featuring exclusive interior artwork. Each can be read or listened to in one breathless sitting.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Novella, Fantasy

Audible Audio

First published July 1, 2024

About the author

Guillermo del Toro is a Mexican director mostly known for his acclaimed films Pan's Labyrinth, The Devils Backbone, Crimson Peak and the Hellboy film franchise. His films draw heavily on sources as diverse as weird fiction, fantasy, horror, and war. In 2009, Del Toro released his debut novel, The Strain, co-authored with Chuck Hogan, as the first part of The Strain Trilogy, an apocalyptic horror series featuring vampires. The series continued with The Fall in 2010 and concluded with The Night Eternal in 2011.

Reviews

[Helga · Rating 4 out of 5]

They were very much on their own.

After their plane crashes on a remote snowy mountain, a group of missionaries take shelter in a mysterious maze-like structure.
They soon sense that something is not right with the building. Not even the hungry wolves dare approach it.

I don’t want to give anything away, so I won’t go into details, but things are getting out of hand. Suffice it to say, there is a mysterious box that shouldn’t have been opened.

As the story in the second part of The Boy in the Iron Box book unravels, imperceptibly but surely and pleasantly, it gives off The thing/The mummy/Prometheus vibes and I can’t wait to read the third installment.

[chantalsbookstuff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this 6-part mini-series! It kicks off with a dead boy found in a box—a chilling start. But as the team tries to figure out what's going on, things take a dark and dangerous turn. Each short book is full of action and suspense, keeping you hooked and eager to find out what happens next!

[* A Reader Obsessed * · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars

Seven highly trained and capable men survive an airplane crash only to be faced with even more danger.

When one man’s greed opens a mysterious locked and guarded box, no one thinks that a harmless looking “statue” could be something more. He should’ve known better and unfortunately, he never sees the consequences coming, setting off a chain of events that potentially spells everyone’s demise.

Currently free for Amazon Prime members

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars for The Pit and the Box: The Boy in the Iron Box, Book 2 (audiobook) by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan read by Ralph Ineson.

The mercenaries have made it past the wolves and have found shelter in an ancient stone labyrinth. Some of the men go exploring and find an iron box wrapped in chains and inside there’s a statue of a boy.

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Pit and the Box is the second short story in the very cool collaboration between Chuck Hogan and Guillermo Del Toro.

I like the delivery too, not gonna lie. At first I thought, hell just write a 180 page novella, that sounds good to me. But breaking it up like this makes it episodic and while I wouldn’t necessarily say the endings are cliffhangers (they sort of are) they leave you wanting to turn more pages.

So the occult possibilities flowering in the first story have blossomed into a creepy but very fun survival story. These tough guys are beaten up and out in the middle of no where and they must now deal with some kind of weird but dangerous goings on.

The remote, snowbound setting and ancient mystery makes this all the more appealing and I’m on to the third.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting

This is the second book in this short story series. So far, they've been fast-paced thrilling and scary. I plan on completely the entire series.

Imaginative along with good writing.

[Alan (on December semi-hiatus) Teder · Rating 3 out of 5]

The "Boy" Released
Review of the Amazon Original Stories Kindle eBook edition (July 1, 2024), released simultaneously by Audible Originals in audio format (July 1, 2024)

He found inside what appeared to be an ivory statue - a perfectly proportioned pale boy. He was of indeterminate age - perhaps just on the edge of puberty - his expression serene but his face disturbingly elongated, almost insectile. The tips of his long, bony fingers were tinted dark crimson, appearing nearly black underneath the flashlight. His thin lips were parted, either in a smile or the rictus of death ... Avva did not see the boy's bone-white lips part just a bit more, revealing the tips of twin rows of narrow, oddly sharp teeth.

Sculptures guarding the entrance to the Pit. Cover Illustration by Fabrizio De Tommaso for the eBook edition.

As expected in last month's advance reading copy of Falling Down (The Boy in the Iron Box #1) (June 1, 2024), one of the greedy mercenaries of the black-ops team who discovered the chained box at the bottom of a pit in the fortress in which the group has taken shelter goes back with bolt cutters to discover what it contains. Finding only what appears to be a statue, he draws out the only apparent valuable item, a silver pin which is piercing its throat. We then have a cut scene where the exact following events are not revealed to us.

The rest of the team search for their missing member the next morning only to find an eviscerated corpse. Returning to the iron box, they find it empty.

Not enough is yet known about "the boy", but some sort of vampiric creature is definitely hinted at. Instead of the standard mythological stake through the heart, a silver needle through the throat seems to be the stopping element. I still think this will all turn out to be something like F. Paul Wilson's The Keep (1981), so I am holding my stars in reserve at this time. A future twist may yet reveal a new angle.

The Pit and the Box is the second of six stories in The Boy in the Iron Box series released on July 1, 2024 by Amazon Originals & Audible Originals.

Trivia and Links
Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan have collaborated several times in the past, especially on The Strain trilogy (2009-11), which was later adapted for a TV series (2014-2017).

[Maede · Rating 3 out of 5]

در مورد این مجموعه اینجا و اینجا نوشتم

[Krystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great chapter, this delves further into the real heart of the story and gets the creeps well and truly under way.

I love the setting here. I'm not normally a snow-and-ice kinda reader but I love this random ancient structure in the middle of nowhere.

Great furthering of the story. Why stop here?! On to the third!

[MM Suarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

“His heart. It has been . . . torn out of his chest. Through the rib cage. See?”😱

Like I said earlier, should have stayed out of the darn ruins! Short #2 and on to the next, the bone heads are sure in it now!

[Carm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok... ok... it's getting better. You've piqued my interest.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ancient Evil

A Spetsnaz team, Russian Special Forces have crashed in the arctic mountains, one of the team dies on impact and one seriously wounded. A team member finding an iron box at the bottom of a well has visions of gold and jewels and plans to get it for himself.

Later, that team member is found dead. The rest of the team guessed the dead man had opened the box, but it did not contain treasure.

This team must depend on themselves, because it’s unlikely that a search team has been deployed. They are replaceable.

Has a terrible evil been unleashed upon the team, or was it wolves that killed their comrade? Five more stars in this serial adventure.

[Dollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our small band of mercenaries is already two men down. One is severely wounded and another is missing with no explanation. Looking for their missing colleague, the team finds two mummies guarding a pit with a box in it. They can’t explain what is in the box. This is a very creepy and mysterious story. I’m really enjoying it. Oh yeah, and the shelter they found is surrounded by hungry wolves. I may not be able to wait until tomorrow to read more.

[Angelica · Rating 4 out of 5]

chills omg

[Jeneen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok now we’re going places.

[Tabitha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things are ramping up.

I just realized this is a serial novel, and not a series of novellas, which explains the first part. I'm enjoying it so far though, and will review it all as a whole in the last part.

I will say I'm starting to get used to Ralph Ineson's voice, though there are still parts I just can't make out when his voice just gets too deep for me to really hear (turns into like something akin to deep whale calls in my ears lol).

[Colleen Villasenor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 2 is the second chapter of this tale of horror and survival. I love the tone and descriptions in this book. The characters are interesting and well-depicted. I found it predictable to a point, but that is the nature of this kind of book. The setting and the characters are unique, and the threat they face is different and interesting. So many questions remain at the end of this book.

[Darkbookghoul · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pit and the Box by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan is the 2nd in The boy in the iron box series. I’m excited to read more to find out what the boy is!!!!

[Paola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhhh me urge saber que pasa!!!

[Kim Novak (The Reading Rx) · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I said in installment 1… don’t open strange boxes. Nothing good can come of it.

[Phoebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

S**ts starting to go wrong and I'm excited about it

[Maxence · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Ninsun · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was a nice quick read. I'm ready for the next one.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

[Steve Chaput · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things go from bad to worse

Something lurks within the labyrinth. Better to remain or face what lies without. Who or what play within the box.

[Nell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know they're short and could probably have been a whole book together, but these bite-sized books are excellent for passing time on a bus trip or waiting at the drs.

[Sonja Charters · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant collection of six books written as an Amazon Original Story, which, when put together, make up the whole novella, The Boy In The Iron Box.
Consisting of Falling Down, The Pit And The Box, The Hunted, Risen, Siege and Encounter.

I've been trying to get back to the love of my youth - horror! And this was such a great choice for my next read.

Being a novella, we really need a swift introduction to make sure that we're all invested right from the off and this first book does this to perfection.

We meet all the characters as they're travelling to a mission - all mercenaries and all well used to dangerous situations.
When things go wrong and the plane crashes, the team have to find a way to survive the conditions until help arrives and they make their way to an odd structure for shelter.

Given their job, the men were definitely not the type of people that I could relate well to, but the dynamics of the group help us to integrate and I liked how we were given extra background information about each member of the team.
Learning about Liev, the leader's home life - Avva and Timur being brothers and the determined loyalty and respect amongst the whole group. This made me feel more connected too.

I loved the way this set off at a great pace right from the first page. The isolated and bleak setting was well described and sucked us straight into this creepy atmosphere.
This level of detail ran through each book which built up the tension and suspense and had me on edge right to the last line!

Each book adds a new layer to the story, filling us with both despair and hope and leaving us with questions and dangling on a mini cliffhanger at each break.
And that ending! Well you'll have to grab a copy and let me know what you think!

I loved both the format and the writing style of these books and would definitely recommend them to all lovers of the genre - and if you're new to horror, this would be the ideal first read! Enjoy!

[Constant_reader_UK · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Boy in the Iron Box by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Split into six chapters we follow a group of mercenaries as they try to survive an unspeakable and unknowable evil in an ancient temple built to imprison this unstoppable demon.

Falling Down
Plane crashes and the survivors make their way to a monument that they saw during the plane going down.

The Pit and the Box
One of the soldiers finds a chest in the ancient monument and of course opens it hoping for treasure

The Hunted
The team search for their missing team mate and find something unexpected.

Risen
Fallen comrades become the enemy whilst the remaining try desperately to stay alive

Siege
The soldiers plan to stay alive and make plans to fight the unknown.

Encounter
The last battle between good and evil. Will good prevail?

Sold as six interweaving stories it is in fact six chapters of the same story so a little cheeky of Amazon to sell in parts. Overall it is a single short story. I enjoyed it immensely and definitely recommend. There is plenty of blood and gore as well as creepy, scary moments. As you would expect very similar in style to The Strain series.

[Garrett Zecker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This six-part novella released by Amazon and free from the Prime Reading library was a fun diversion into the horrors of a Siberian undercover mission that turns into an unexpected supernatural zombie survival thriller. When their plane crashes attempting to infiltrate Russia for some unclear mercenary goals, six intrepid fighters find themselves fighting for their lives in the snowy tundra. They find a safe haven in the show; a strange shrine like manmade structure that seems to have been built by ancient superhumans. There are dusty bones guarding this place, and the unexpected horrors that come when an iron box is discovered at the bottom of a pit reveals unimaginable terrors for the surviving crew. A really fun read that was a blast to fly through, this is a supernatural horror that isn’t for the weak of heart. Perfect for bite-size dips into a completely different world similar to and perfect for fans of The Thing.