A Watcher in the Woods
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Watcher in the Woods (ISBN 0-689-30511-7) is a 1976 mystery novel by Florence Engel Randall.
[edit] Plot summary
Decades ago a young girl named Karen Aylwood mysteriously disappeared in a decrepit chapel during a solar eclipse. Nearly thirty years later an all-American family – Jan, Ellie, and Helen Curtis – move into a beautiful British manor close to where the event occurred. Mrs. Aylwood, the owner of the residence and Karen's mother, notices that Jan bears a striking resemblance to her missing daughter.
The girls sense a strange presence lingering in the woods: Jan sees ghostly apparitions of Karen trapped within mirrors, blindfolded and calling for help, while Ellie channels the thoughts of an ethereal sentience that may or may not be the missing girl. Jan assumes the presence is Karen and, in an attempt to help her, tries to unravel the events surrounding Karen's disappearance. However, a veil of fear silences the residents of the tiny village, including Karen's childhood friends and mother, who seem determined to conceal the secrets that could unlock the thirty year old mystery.
[edit] Film adaptation
The novel was adapted to film in 1980 by Walt Disney Pictures. The Watcher in the Woods is not only a cult classic, but well-known for the notorious rewritings, reshootings, and reeditings of the film's conclusion after it was pulled from theatres, as well as the censoring of the original opening credits.
