The Dark Woods — John M. Floyd

Twelve-year-old Kevin Parker is new in town and bored, until a friendly old man in a backyard swing shares a chilling tale about the Dark Woods - a forbidden place where an unseen evil entity known as the haint lurks. The old man's story about a mysterious encounter there decades ago seems like just another tall tale, until Kevin discovers a shocking truth about his new friend that turns his world upside down. What started as an ordinary summer afternoon becomes a haunting reminder that some legends are better left unexplored.