What if Little Red Riding Hood wandered into the world of Blood Meridian? A dark fairytale. A primal obsession. A monster in the woods who is not what he seems. Cast out of her Puritan settlement for the sin of wearing a red shawl, Rosamund Harlow is forced into the winter wilderness of 1631 with nothing but a basket of bread, a threadbare cloak, and the knowledge that no god she has ever prayed to is coming to save her. She is sent north through the snow to seek refuge with her grandmother-a rumored healer, whispered witch, and the only woman who ever made Rosamund feel seen in a world built to discipline and silence girls like her. But when she reaches the cottage, it is abandoned. The hearth is cold. The door hangs open. And the forest is waiting. Set in the brutal snows of early-colonial Massachusetts, Little Red Blood Meridian blends American folklore, gothic fairytale, and dark historical fantasy into a story that is feral, violent, and hauntingly intimate. As Rosamund searches the ancient woods for her missing kin, she begins to realize that the wilderness is not empty. It watches. It listens. It remembers. She encounters two beings who will alter the course of her fate: A wolf larger than any natural beast-silent, watchful, golden-eyed. And a man who rises naked from a frozen pond at dawn, his body scarred and powerful, his gaze carrying the same molten light. The forest is old. The laws are older. And something in the deep places has chosen her. Raised to believe the woods are a place of punishment-of wolves, witches, and winter-Rosamund soon learns that the settlers of New Canaan fear what they cannot name. Beneath the boughs of the primeval forest, she feels more alive than she ever has among godly men and narrow rooms. Until another danger finds her. A woodsman. Broad-shouldered. Pious. Familiar with the paths where bodies vanish. The kind of man whose faith becomes a weapon, and whose attention settles on Rosamund like a claim. When he sets his sights on her, the forest does not remain silent. Something ancient moves in the dark. Something territorial. Something that does not tolerate rivals. As Rosamund descends deeper into the wilderness-beyond scripture, beyond settlement, and into the realm of older magic-she becomes entangled in a fate woven long before she was born: vanished women, circles of mushrooms that appear overnight, a grandmother who may not wish to be found, and a monstrous guardian whose devotion is as dangerous as it is absolute. This is not a story about taming the beast. It is a story about what happens when the beast chooses you. Bleak, lyrical, and steeped in dread, Little Red Blood Meridian is an adult retelling of Little Red Riding Hood rooted in early American folk horror, dark fantasy, and the seductive pull of the untamed. It explores the thin line between fear and longing, the violence of purity culture, and the ancient magic that awakens when a woman steps off the path she was told never to leave. This dark fairytale is perfect for readers who love: - adult fairy-tale retellings with teeth - folk horror and dark historical fantasy - atmospheric witchcraft and haunted forests - morally ambiguous, possessive monsters - 1600s New England horror and folklore - violent, lyrical literary novellas - gothic fantasy with primal intensity Enter the woods. Something old is waiting.