If It's the Birds, We're in Trouble

by L. Marie Wood

Something's wrong in Rothwood.

Morgues are overflowing. Social media is rife with conspiracy theories. Neighbors can't be trusted. And the animals aren't acting the way they should...

Part epistolary saga, part apocalyptic nightmare, IF IT'S THE BIRDS, WE'RE IN TROUBLE by L. Marie Wood, a Bram Stoker®, Golden Stake Award-winning author, offers readers a case file of disturbing clues that lead to a horrific discovery, inviting the best and bravest to turn its pages and accept its challenge.

167 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 5, 2026

About the author

L. Marie Wood is an award-winning author and screenwriter. She is the recipient of the Golden Stake Award for her novel The Promise Keeper, as well as the Harold L. Brown Award for her screenplay Home Party. Her short story, "The Ever After" is part of the Bram Stoker Award Finalist anthology Sycorax's Daughters. Wood was recognized in The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Vol. 15 and as one of the 100+ Black Women in Horror Fiction. Wood holds an MFA in Speculative Fiction from Southern New Hampshire University and serves as the Director of Curricula for the Diverse Writers and Artists of Speculative Fiction (DWASF.org). She is also the Director of the horror track for MultiverseCon.

Visit lmariewood.com to learn more.

Reviews

[Milt Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

If WTF were a horror book, this would be it. I have no idea what I read, but it's all coming back slowly, and it does make some sort of sense. To simply mention that it's a top secret file, meant to be freely perused, a collection of found documents, mostly of unknown origin and anonymous authorship - well, that explains nothing. And only slightly does it convey that sense of utter defeat and unsettling disorientation haunting the book throughout.

Something happened. Indeed it did. To the small town of Rothwood, in Chatham County. The Rothwood Event. People went crazy. Couldn't think. Couldn't stop walking around nightly. Couldn't stand each other. But: was it the first time? Was it caused by the birds? How was it transmitted? And who's managing this file, anyway? So many questions, and I'm not even sure they're the right ones. Because there's another layer: the journal of the lady in the castle; a castle that's not supposed to exist. Or it did exist, and then something happened, and it stopped existing. There are clues. Hints of a bigger picture. Another layer. Someone is rewriting history.

Epistolary horror fiction can be tricky. L. Marie Wood combines several threads together, in order to show that linearity is overrated. If there's a narrative here, it's one of creepy ambiguity and subtle incompleteness. The reading experience it offers presupposes active engagement on the part of the reader. In fact, even though you can feel slowly distancing yourself from the spooky implications of the email exchanges, the uncanny vibes of the chat logs, and the eerie atmosphere of the transcripts - you're also losing yourself all the while in the hidden meanings of the scanned school essays, secretly enjoying the uncomfortable experience of reading some quite personal letters brimming with existential dread and metaphysical despair.

So what's it all about? As I already said, I have no definite idea. Perhaps reality itself went crazy in Rothwood. Perhaps it was indeed a virus. Perhaps it was the fault of the birds. Pick up the book, and get your own answers!

[Robin Knabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW:

I was approached by the publisher to read an ARC of If It’s the Birds, We’re in Trouble, and I’m so glad I said yes. Aside from reading some of Wood’s short pieces in various anthologies, this was my first time reading a stand-alone book by the author. I don’t know why it’s taken me this long!

I love the cover of this book. Right away, I got the distinct feeling that I was about to take a deep dive into some very deep secrets. Not only that, but the coffee rings and hints at clues and found footage piqued my interest, as well. Now, having read the book, I have a whole new perspective on the cover and am enamored with it even more. It hints at only a few types of epistolary media you’ll encounter.

This book was so unique and immersive. If you read it, you’ll understand why I feel like I had an actual experience—and why I truly feel as if I got the chance to take a sneak peek at some spooky, chilling, top secret information. (Shh. Don’t tell anyone!) I will divulge that one of my favorite bits of found footage documentation in the book was the essay. The experience I had as a reader, as well as the visual enjoyment of the pages themselves, was a plus. The creativity and depth throughout the book is absolutely top notch.

To say If It’s the Birds, We’re in Trouble has layers is an understatement. It’s a well-constructed puzzle that gives you all of the clues, but as a reader you get to put it together piece by piece. Each time you come across another document or piece of the file you’re exploring, it’s a treat, because your brain finds a way to connect it with another item you’ve read in the book. You get both a feeling of accomplishment and the thrill of discovery in every section as you progress. You could read the book numerous times, and the story wouldn’t get old, because you could delight in remembering a fact or realizing something you hadn’t the first time. If you’re a sleuth, a horror nerd like me, or a puzzle fan (also like me!), this is definitely a book for you.

It’s been a few days since I finished reading If It’s the Birds, We’re in Trouble, and I’m still thinking back on parts of the book and contemplating what some of the events meant and how the various writings throughout the book related to each other as well as to our world today. I sensed a parallel to tragedies and events our society has experienced over the past decade along with ecological events we are currently experiencing and trying to safely navigate. Those bits make this book quite unnerving and scary. The unknown and the tease of unsettling possibilities can be terrifying, and Wood does a tremendous job of bringing those fears to life.

[C.M. Rosens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book via Divination Hollow Reviews.

This is a fantastic example of 'found footage' in book format, a collection of diverse material that creates an incredibly weird Sci-Fi Horror ensemble. Piecing together what's going on in Rothwood will take you to extremely creepy, rubber-reality places.

There are poems from infected people, letters to loved ones, a school essay in several, progressively distorted and disturbing, drafts, and a journal from the modern-day that ends up being printed in a magazine of the 1950s/60s where time is experienced as elastic.

What's going on in Rothwood? I really enjoyed piecing it together and getting more questions than answers, and I think this is a book that will stand multiple read-throughs in linear and non-linear order.

It also left me with a lingering feeling of unreality and deep suspicion of my food as I tried to eat a sausage roll while in the middle of reading it... not the best choice on my part.

I think this would be best picked up as a print copy. The eBook worked for me with its embedded images, but I don't know how these work with screen readers/text-to-speech software. I would hope that there is alt text embedded, but as I don't use accessibility tools I can't vouch for that.

[ScarlettAnomalyReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was AMAZING.

Sorry just had to get that out of the way because yall, this book was so freaking good.

I was super lucky and got to read it early so thank you Undertaker!!

Now, for the good stuff, the whole book, it's a secret, I can't just spill the tea publically can I??

Or can I...

Rothwood seems like every other small town, the regular things, the business, you know small town stuff.

But that's not all, Rothwood residents went insane, the hatred, the emotions and thst chaos?

Wow, but why, how did it happen.

Should I even be telling you this??

But someone has to know besides me, you can't trust the neighbors and the bodies are piling up.

The way this book was formatted was fantastic, I am absolutely obsessed, like this is going up there with There Is No Antimemetics Division, which I love with a unreal obsession. It's not the same, it's completely different x but has me in the same exact chokehold

I need to find a signed copy of this for my shelf quick.

Before I forget, before this disappears, before it's more classified. This is top secret after all..

[S. Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a read. If It's the Birds, We're in Trouble by L. Marie Wood is a fantastic epistolary book presented as a top secret case file containing documentation about an enigmatic event in a small town. The dread just builds and builds as you turn the pages, trying to piece together what happened to these poor people. A chilling mystery that calls for multiple readings. I loved it!

[Emily Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those WTF books and I loved every second of it. Unreliable narratives, hysteria, what really happened??? It was SO GOOD.