Cabin Crimes: Guest Post by Mike Cobb

What is it about a cabin in the woods that practically screams menace? Is it the way the trees press in too close? Is it how the silence seems to stretch for miles? Maybe it’s just the remoteness—a place where help won’t come, and secrets don’t echo. It’s the perfect backdrop for a crime, and the perfect crucible for the characters who survive it. It’s also the kind of book that keeps me turning the pages until the wee hours of the morning. 

When I began writing Muzzle the Black Dog, I knew the setting had to be remote, raw, and unforgiving. The cabin in my novel isn’t just a backdrop—it’s a character in itself. It isolates, it exposes, and it becomes a mirror for the unraveling mind of my protagonist, Jack Pate. After a mysterious stranger appears at Jack’s isolated cabin door, his life is forever changed. The stranger’s cryptic message sets off a chain of events that take Jack on a harrowing journey to uncover the true meaning of his own existence, leading to self-discovery and redemption. 

Turns out, I’m not the only one drawn to these shadowy hideaways. Below, I’ve gathered some of my favorite crime novels where cabins and woodland retreats become grounds for murder, mystery, and survival. 

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware 

A bachelorette party gone awry in a forest retreat in the English countryside. Ware is a master of psychological tension, and here she uses the isolation to full effect. Secrets, betrayal, and a haunting sense of déjà vu. 

One by One by Ruth Ware 

A corporate retreat in a luxurious ski chalet. Snowed in, of course. What possibly could go wrong? A lot, as it turns out. The staff starts dying, and paranoia reigns. Ware has proven again that she knows how to weave a compelling mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat. 

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley 

Seven friends decide to spend New Year's Eve at a hunting lodge in the Scottish Highlands. Like the characters in One by One, they become snowbound. By the end, one ends up dead, indelibly changing all their lives. Foley deftly conveys a chilly, claustrophobic mood that delivers a tightly wound tension. 

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay 

Imagine a secluded cabin in New Hampshire. Imagine an idyllic family vacation. Idyllic, that is, until three strangers invade the cabin, forcing seven-year-old Wen and her parents to make impossible choices. Tremblay plays on primal fears—strangers at the door, no way out, and desperation. 

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena 

What is it about snowstorms? I guess they just fit naturally with menacing cabins in the woods. In Lapena’s mystery, a group of friends get together at a Catskills lodge. A blizzard snows them in. Then one of the guests is found dead. At first, they think it’s an accident. But when other guests start dying one by one, the survivors begin to suspect the killer is among them. 

No Exit by Taylor Adams 

Okay, so this one isn’t about a cabin in the wood, but I’ve included it because it’s still a “trapped in the wilderness” story. And there’s a blizzard again! A young woman is desperate to outwit a psychopath and save a kidnapped young girl locked in a van at a snowed-in rest stop. 

So, if you’re itching for a good, scary “cabin in the woods” story, or close to it, one of these books may be just what you’re looking for. 

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Mike Cobb’s body of literary work includes both fiction and nonfiction. He is the author of four published novels, Dead Beckoning, The Devil You Knew, its sequel You Will Know Me by My Deeds, and Muzzle the Black Dog. A native of Atlanta, Mike splits his time between Midtown Atlanta and Blue Ridge, Georgia.