If you loved
The God of the Woods
Liz Moore · Book · 2024
If you loved The God of the Woods, you are drawn to stories where a child's disappearance unravels deep-seated secrets within isolated communities.
Films on the same thread
Caddo Lake
Logan George · Film · 2024
Much like The God of the Woods, this story uses a sudden vanishing to peel back layers of intergenerational trauma and long-buried history within a fractured family dynamic.
Labyrinth
Jim Henson · Film · 1986
The God of the Woods captures the terror of a child lost to the wild, a feeling mirrored here as a teenage girl confronts the consequences of a sibling's disappearance.
Epic
Chris Wedge · Film · 2013
While more fantastical, this film echoes the atmospheric forest setting of The God of the Woods, focusing on a young protagonist thrust into a hidden world that demands immediate survival.
Suzume
Makoto Shinkai · Film · 2022
Fans of The God of the Woods will recognize the heavy weight of grief and the desperate, solitary journey to resolve a calamity that threatens to consume everything held dear.
Series on the same thread
Stranger Things
Ross Duffer · Series · 2016
This series mirrors the central hook of The God of the Woods by placing a missing child at the heart of a small town conspiracy that defies simple rational explanation.
IT: Welcome to Derry
Andy Muschietti · Series · 2025
If the cycle of disappearances in The God of the Woods kept you turning pages, you will be equally compelled by these children uncovering an ancient evil lurking beneath town secrets.
His Dark Materials
Jack Thorne · Series · 2019
The search for a missing child drives both narratives, forcing the protagonist to navigate a world where institutional shadows and moral ambiguity complicate the path to the truth found in The God of the Woods.
Dark
Baran bo Odar · Series · 2017
The God of the Woods expertly links family legacies to local disappearances, a structural complexity that is pushed to the extreme as these families hunt for answers across three generations.
Podcasts on the same thread
Up and Vanished
Tenderfoot TV · Podcast · 2026
Readers captivated by the investigative rigor of The God of the Woods will appreciate this deep dive into the cold cases that haunt remote landscapes and expose local failures.
Your Own Backyard
Chris Lambert · Podcast · 2023
This investigation into a missing student provides the same relentless pursuit of justice found in The God of the Woods, proving that some secrets refuse to stay buried forever.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The God of the Woods based on a real event?
The God of the Woods is a 2024 novel by Liz Moore. While the story features the fictional disappearance of Barbara Van Laar from an Adirondack summer camp in 1975, it is a work of fiction rather than an account of a specific historical event.
What is the primary setting of The God of the Woods?
The God of the Woods is set in the Adirondacks during August 1975. The plot centers on a summer camp owned by the Van Laar family, where the disappearance of their daughter, Barbara Van Laar, triggers a search that exposes deep conflicts between the wealthy family and local residents.
Who is the central character that goes missing in The God of the Woods?
In The God of the Woods, the character who goes missing is thirteen-year-old Barbara Van Laar. Her disappearance from her bunk at an Adirondack summer camp serves as the primary catalyst for the narrative, involving her family and the local community that relies on the camp for employment.
Does The God of the Woods involve previous disappearances in the Van Laar family?
Yes, The God of the Woods establishes that the disappearance of Barbara Van Laar is not an isolated incident. The narrative notes that this is not the first time a child from the Van Laar family has gone missing, adding layers of mystery to the family history.