It Lives In The Woods

It Lives In The Woods is the first book of the It Lives series. It is followed by It Lives - Untitled Sequel.

Summary
''Something old and powerful lives in the woods surrounding the small town of Westchester... something that knows your name. Beware!''

Chapters
''Note: The player is free to select the race, gender and name of the playable character. For the purposes of this summary, the player character is always referred to by their default name, Devon, and is referred to and described in a gender neutral way.''

Chapter 1: Old Friends
"Something old and powerful lives in the woods surrounding the small town of Westchester... something that knows your name."

Devon, suffers a bizarre nightmare about something that was disguised as Dan Pierce attacking them. You shrug it off, and head out to your high school, Westchester High (located in Oregon), ready for the first day of the new school year. You meet your friendly neighbor Cid and his pet dog Hilda here; during this conversation, it is revealed that your parents are overseas, and you are all home alone. Devon catches sight of a friendly man who looks familiar on his road who drives away before Devon can catch his name.

Devon meets his old friends at school; Lily Ortiz, a shy young woman; Ava Cunningham, a girl fascinated by cults and mythology; Andy Kang, a transgendered student athlete; Noah Marshall, a somewhat shifty young man; Stacy Green, cheerleader team member and daughter of Mayor Green; and Lucas Thomas, the student council president. Devon catches Lily and Ava during a confrontation they have with bullies Jocelyn Wu, Britney and Cody.

During the opening ceremony for the school, the lights flicker and Devon hears a strange voice... 'Everyone plays together....'

Chapter 2: What Are You Afraid Of?
"Your former friends gather to discuss a recent string of strange events... but tensions flare when old wounds are reopened. " Prologue: 10 years ago, a girl named Jane and a preteen Devon are playing in the woods, and they discover a strange house that has supernatural properties.

In the aftermath of the event, Devon catches Lucas having a tense conversation with English teacher Mr. Cooper, who suspects that Lucas is up to something. After being shoved into a locker by the bullies, Devon organizes a meeting with all his friends to discuss what they all heard last night. During the meeting, it is revealed that Dan Pierce has been missing lately; the only explanation is that he went into the woods that Devon's house is located right next to. Noah is eager to go; he reveals that the monster in the woods that the group dealt with during their childhood killed his sister, Jane. Devon and Noah promise to go, while Ava and Andy may tag along.

Chapter 3: Sticks and Stones
"The decision's been made to go rescue Dan from the woods... but will your old haunt leave you feeling haunted?" Devon is angry at Stacy for sticking by Britney and her gang while they harass Lily. She reveals that the reason she hangs with Britney is because she blackmailed her by secretly taking a video of her confessing her frustrations with her family; a video that could destroy her mother's campaign, and in turn her already strained relationship with her.

Noah, Devon (and possibly Ava/Andy) meet at a local hardware store, run by the same man Devon saw driving down the road in Chapter 1. This is revealed to be Connor Green, the brother of Stacy. They pick up hardware to get some weapons to prepare themselves for their rescue mission of Dan. They enter the woods, which are haunted by dangerous monsters, and are able to reach and rescue Dan... but he tells Devon that saving him was a mistake because "now he can leave"...

Chapter 4: What's Coming to You
"With Dan's disappearance behind you, things begin to take a turn for the better... Or do they?"

Chapter 5: Buckle Up
"As the first basketball game of the season approaches, Westchester High is suddenly rocked by violent animal attacks..."

Chapter 6: A Bitter Pill to Swallow
"You and your friends visit Dan in the hospital, where you make a shocking discovery..."

Chapter 7: Party Favors
"You and your friends are all invited to a party at Britney's house. How does the old saying go? It's all fun and games..."

Chapter 8: Breakdown
"In the wake of Cody's death, your friends have your back... don't they?"

Chapter 9: Ungrateful
"You've rejected Mr. Red's help... and now he's angry. What consequences will this have for you and your friends?"

Chapter 10: I'm Not Scared
"As Mr. Red's revenge escalates, your friends reunite... and start fighting back!"

Chapter 11: You Again
"Your hunt has led you to Pritch the Witch's front door! What does she know about Mr. Red... and will she help you stop him?"

Chapter 12: Homecoming
"You and your friends have vanquished Mr. Red for good, and just in time for homecoming! This is going to be a night to remember..."

Chapter 13: Fight or Flight
"Homecoming is ruined, Redfield has escaped... and Andy's been kidnapped!"

Chapter 14: In The Dark
"Your rescue plan becomes more dangerous when Redfield turns his former victims against you... "

Chapter 15: Everyone Plays Together
"Secrets come out and things turn deadly... during one last game with an old friend."

Chapter 16: In Memoriam
"One year later... how has life changed for the survivors, and how will the fallen be remembered?"

Nerve System
Unique to this story is a meter system calculating a character's nerve, which determines their mental resilience in the face of certain situations. Certain choices and events in the story will increase or decrease a character's nerve score. In Chapter 15, each character's final nerve score determines his or her fate in the battle against Jane, with a higher nerve score increasing a character's chances of survival.

Characters with this feature are the main character, Andy, Ava, Dan, Lily, Lucas, Noah, and Stacy. The following are the labels to the different nerve scores:
 * Full = Tough as Nails
 * 3/4 = Coping
 * Half Full = On Edge (All on edged characters or higher will be safe in the final battle)
 * 1/4 = Rattled (Some rattled characters can die in the final battle)
 * Empty = Haunted (Any haunted character will die in the final battle)

Collectibles
Similar to the Dossiers, Idols, and Embers of Hope in the Endless Summer series, the main character has the chance to collect artifacts, unlock weapons and recruit pets throughout the book that'll uncover the book's mystery, as well as unlock bonus scenes.

Soundtracks
Visit the soundtrack page for more soundtracks from Choices

Trivia

 * It Lives In The Woods was released on October 18, 2017.
 * Similar to Red Carpet Diaries, Book 1 and Perfect Match, the first two chapters were immediately released on its launch date instead of one.
 * This is the first book where the main character's fate can turn out deadly.
 * This is the first book that advised player discretion, mentioning that this book contains disturbing scenes, violence and bullying.
 * Although Chapter 6 of The Haunting of Braidwood Manor series featured themes of infanticide and suicide, it did not feature such a disclaimer. It should be pointed out however, that It Lives In The Woods is noticeably darker and gorier than The Haunting of Braidwood Manor.
 * Although scenes of bullying are also found in The Freshman series, the bullying in this story appears to focus on more sensitive issues such as transphobia and racism.
 * On October 26th, 2017, Pixelberry released the soundtracks of the series.
 * It was originally assumed that this book would follow the tradition of The Haunting of Braidwood Manor series and be a standalone book, as no evidence pointed to a Book 2. However, an untitled sequel was confirmed in the final chapter. The message stating, "It Lives...will return" seems to point out that future books will take an anthology approach, with a similar setting and feel, but with different characters, a new title, a new plot and a new supernatural entity.
 * This would explain the sudden addition of several new characters in the last chapter of It Lives In The Woods: Izzy, Shannon, Jane, and a woman possessed by a supernatural entity in the lake.
 * In Chapter 2, your character mentions getting Stacy's phone number from FaceSpace, which is also a social media platform in the High School Story series. This strengthens the idea that all of Choices' series take place in one common universe.
 * In Chapter 6, it is revealed that Dan suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), making the It Lives series the first Choices series to feature a protagonist diagnosed with a mental illness.
 * In Chapter 12, Britney makes a reference to "10 Things I Hate About You" when she says, "It reminded me that I don't hate you. Not even a little bit", to Lily.
 * Chapter 15, the final chapter of the book, was initially meant to be released on January 17th, 2017. However, it was reportedly delayed due to technical issues and thus the release date was pushed back by a week.
 * In Chapter 15, i n addition to determining how many of your friends survive the encounter with Jane through their nerve score, you can also choose to have Noah take Jane's place as the new Redfield, or volunteer yourself.
 * Chapter 16 takes place one year after the events of Chapter 15. If your character and your love interest has survived, you can choose to officially start a relationship with them.
 * Chapter 14 reveals that the book's events takes place over the course of two weeks, with Chapter 16 taking place a year later.
 * On February 1, 2018 Pixelberry shared the playlists of the It Lives team that inspired the writing and characters of It Lives in the Woods in Spotify.
 * Link to the Spotify playlist is found in the Reference section.