Evil has been bubbling at the surface within the clandestine town formerly known as Stokebridge, Wisconsin. It began one hundred years ago, when a couple attempted to poison the citizens of this brand new town. It culminated fifty years later, when one man murdered two hundred people in less than twenty-four hours. Now, the town’s final resident wants to finish what began a century earlier.
But when a shared nightmare prophesizing an apocalyptic event brings past and present survivors together, a return to the spectral town becomes inevitable. And an inescapable clash with the soul of Stokebridge is the only way to exterminate a plan that began in 1925.
It’s the final chapter of the STOKEBRIDGE trilogy. A town left for dead fifty years ago is ready to awaken. And the spirits are angry…
Eric Woods reluctantly resides in Springfield, Illinois and has been writing since grade school. He has published seven novels, two novellas, one book of stage plays, and several short stories.
He mostly writes scary stories, although his debut novel (Pummeled) and it’s 2021 sequel (Pummeled: Submission) are more action/drama. His middle three novels Dragon’s Blood (2019), Welcome to Oblivion (2020), and Clippings (2021) are all in the horror genre. In 2022 he published the novella, “The Man on the Roof at Midnight,” and in 2023, he published This Is How He Collects Them.His most recent work includes the first two books in the STOKEBRIDGE trilogy (2024), and HELL'S DINER: 13 Devilish Delectables in June 2025 along with debut author Kerri Jane.
Eric has been a local freelance writer since 2005, writing for such outlets as Springfield Business Journal Illinois and SO Magazine. He served as a tour guide for the Lincoln Ghost Walk in Springfield and was a collegiate speech and debate coach for seven years. He earned a Bachelor's Degree in English and a Master's Degree in Communication from the University of Illinois Springfield.
I've been excited and nervous to read the concluding volume of this spooky, unsettling series ever since picking up a signed copy at a recent event. Excited, because the decades-spanning story gripped me from the beginning. Nervous, because not every series wrapup satisfies. This one does.
The survivors of both the present day paranormal podcast crew and the 1975 mass slaughter that drew them to the lost town of Stokebridge return to face very real demons, old and new. I loved the sense of inevitability, that fighting evil at great personal peril wasn't so much a choice as an obligation. Startling revelations about the origins and intent of that evil left just enough to the imagination to make me want to know more. Does evil invade unbidden, or must it be invited?
The plot bounces back and forth in the timeline, but the prose is tight, well-paced and sprinkled with surprises. Every character is memorable, but Mia is my favorite: you go, girl!
One hundred years ago a brand new town was built in Wisconsin called STOKEBRIDGE. Whilst the townsfolk celebrated the founder and his wife attempted to poison all the other citizens with wine laced with strychnine. Fifty years later Morris Stanhope murdered two hundred people in less than twenty-four hours. Only a handful of the residents survived the onslaught and were evacuated. Apart from one, who for the past fifty years has willingly continued the evil that began a century ago. Modern-day, a shared nightmare shows an apocalyptic event to the past and present survivors of STOKEBRIDGE and they feel having no choice, they must return and destroy the evil that lurks there once and for all. A gripping must-read paranormal psychological horror. Highly recommended.