“The Laws of the Skies”, Grégoire Courtois
Les lois du ciel • Originally published in French on October 11, 2016
Twelve six-year-olds and their three adult chaperones head into the woods on a camping trip. None of them make it out alive.
The Laws of the Skies follows the terrified children as they scatter into the night to escape danger, dressed only in their pajamas. They face their darkest childhood fears and new imaginary threats, like trolls masquerading as boulders and child-eating tree trunks.
A harrowing story of those days in the woods, of illness, poisoning, and accidents; of a love triangle among tots; a pint-sized hero; and a child on a murderous rampage that comes to a grisly end. Part fairy tale, part horror story, this macabre fable takes us through the minds of all the members of this doomed part, murderers and murdered alike.
“Before you become an adult, everything is off limits, and, once you become one, you aren’t allowed to do anything because you have to be responsible. When in life are we finally free? For good?”
Not for the faint of heart. Think long and hard if you can handle a dark, literary horror novella before you proceed.
This book is what happens when Lord of the Flies, a fairy tale, and every parent’s worst nightmare go camping together and immediately perish. The way this book wastes zero time before diving into chaos is diabolical and vicious, especially when it starts with twelve six-year-olds, three adult chaperones, and one ill-fated camping trip into the woods.
The literary carnage expressed in this book is unlike any other. So surreal, that truly the only way I can describe it is with this meme:
Content Warnings
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of content and trigger warnings.
child death • gore • murder
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