Published: 2023
Author: Gigi Griffis
Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Lesbian, Mystery, LGBT, Queer, Thriller, Fiction
Audience (Grade Levels): High School / Grades 9-12
Number of Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5 Stars)
Goodreads Link: The Wicked Unseen
Triggers: Abuse, gore, gun violence, religious cult manipulation, intense peer harassment
Review By: Wendy Scalfaro
Publisher’s Summary:
The new girl in town is having trouble fitting into a community that believes there’s a secret Satanic cult conducting rituals in the woods. When her crush goes missing, she starts to wonder if the town’s obsession with evil isn’t covering up something far worse. Perfect for fans of Fear Street!
To say sixteen-year-old Audre doesn’t fit in would be the understatement of the century. She’s a city kid who’s found herself in a rural town. The only girl at school who’d rather kiss a girl than a boy. Not to mention that the whole town believes there’s a secret Satanic cult conducting rituals in the nearby woods—and Audre is a born skeptic.
When the preacher’s daughter and Audre’s secret crush, Elle, goes missing on Halloween weekend, the town is quick to point fingers—in Audre’s direction. While they harass Audre’s family for being newcomers and nonbelievers, Audre realizes she might be the only person here who can find her friend. The deeper she goes, though, the weirder it gets. What happened to Elle—and is the evil this town is hiding really what Audre thinks it is?
Review:
This was basically a good mystery/horror story with the added dimension of a religious cult running the town. The author does an incredible job building an atmosphere where a town’s obsession with hidden evil blankets the community. Audre is a refreshing protagonist—a city kid dropped into a rural landscape, navigating being a nonbeliever and an outsider who is open about her identity. There were a few craft choices that created weaknesses in the plot and character, which prevented me from rating it higher, but they were minor and I’ll still recommend the novel to teens who love horror and suspense. I think they’ll enjoy trying to solve the mystery and will connect with the relatable characters. I’d like to read more from Griffis.
Classroom & Curricular Connections:
- Sociology & Psychology (Satanic Panic & Groupthink): Serves as a contemporary parallel to historical moral panics, making it an excellent anchor text for analyzing groupthink, scapegoating, and how communities utilize an “us vs. them” mentality to target newcomers and nonconformists.
- English Language Arts / Mystery Tropes: Great for secondary literature modules analyzing the mechanics of a thriller, looking specifically at how authors deploy red herrings, pacing during a missing-person investigation, and unreliable community perspectives.
- Social Emotional Learning (SEL): Highly relevant for discussions about finding personal conviction, remaining grounded as a skeptic in the face of intense social pressure, and protecting your family from community-wide harassment.
Extension Activity / Library Application:
- The Anatomy of a Moral Panic Timeline: Have students research historical examples of moral panic (e.g., the Salem Witch Trials or the 1980s Satanic Panic) and create a comparative flowchart. Map out how the fictional town’s behavior in The Wicked Unseen mirrors real-world historical patterns of mass hysteria, isolation of outsiders, and institutional deflection.
Diversity & Representation:
This horror thriller provides vital intersectional equity and queer representation within the YA genre by centering on an openly lesbian protagonist. It explicitly explores the vulnerabilities of being an LGBTQ+ youth in an insular, hyper-religious rural environment, subverting traditional horror frameworks by showing that the ultimate terror often stems from systemic bigotry, religious extremism, and community complacency rather than supernatural monsters.
Readalikes:
- The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas
- The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins
- Wilder Girls by Rory Power
