The Wilds by Julia Teweles

The Wilds was originally published in 1989.

This is the Fathom Press reprint from 2025.

I interviewed the author, Julia Teweles! The interview is after the review in the video. The written review of the book is below.

Ex-high school driver’s ed teacher and mountain climber extraordinaire turned camp counselor, Gordon Hollos arrives at the Sierra Nevada Mountains to take the kids on the annual hike into the wilds for the ominously named Wolf Gulch Ordeal. He questions why he is even there. Last year they lost a kid. He got left behind and when Gordon found him his stomach was ripped apart by what looked like a wild animal. But what animal would do such a thing and not remain with its kill, he couldn’t figure out. He knows the history of the mountains and ponders on the dread and disaster that has happened in the past. The Wolf Gulch Ordeal passes through the very area that the Donner Party were trapped in.

The Donner party was a group of settlers who in 1846 left their home in Illinois to travel to the new and prosperous California. Due to some bad directions, they got behind on time and didn’t arrive at the mountains until late October. Through the journey in the mountains the snow started to fall and they were trapped. Running out of food and supplies they resorted to eating their dead.

And here we have the first taste of the threat of the antagonist. Mother nature. Gordon alludes to the mountains being cursed. The ghost stories that are associated with the mountain. Is it supernatural or is nature being nature? He has a bad feeling about this year’s hike, but he also knows that if he doesn’t conqueror this feeling right now it will be with him his entire life.

We then meet the kids.

Del is fifteen and six foot four. He’s the popular leader, handsome and strong, all set for a future life of success. He’s genuine and cares about his fellow smaller campers. He feels the need to protect them but also lets them know who is in charge.

Kyle is what will be Del’s competitor for lack of a better word. They are friends but it immediately becomes complex. Kyle has an overbearing father who demands he man up. He doesn’t want a wimp for a son so he signs him up for this strenuous hike through the mountains. Kyle hates his father and at times he feels like not only is Del pressing him like his dad but Del is also the son his dad wishes he had. Kyle is resourceful though and when it comes down to it he can take care of business just like Del. He also has a very dark backstory that adds to the suspense when things start getting desperate.

Speaking of backstory’s our driver’s ed teacher turned camp counselor Gordon once beat the shit out of some smart-ass kid and lost his job for it. How will he react when trouble comes?

It’s hike day. Gordon and newbie camp head director Jerry Dugan gather the kids for a rousing preparation speech. Gordon is dark and serious warning of the very real dangers of the mountain. To make sure the kids are taking it seriously he peppers in a ghost story of the remaining member of the Donner Party; a large German man-eater wandering the wilds looking for stray campers. Jerry is inexperienced and ready for some fun and not thrilled with Gordon’s approach of keeping the kids in line.

The kids are of varying ages and there are lots of kid shenanigans; sneaking liquor, capture the flag, canoe-joust, campfire stories etc. Through these we learn their personalities. There are about ten of them I believe but for the sake of a shorter review we won’t break it all down. I will mention here is where we see the first conflict between Del and Kyle which will propel the narrative later on.

Up the mountain we go. We’re having a great time.

Along the way Del is lured into the woods off the trail. He thinks he hears a babbling brook and wants to see it. He's almost mesmerized. He gets lost almost instantly. He feels like a fool. This is exactly what Gordon had been harping everyone about over and over. He stumbles through the brush looking for an exit and almost falls off a cliff. Are the Wilds trying to kill him?

Our first moment of the possible supernatural tension. The feeling of being disoriented in the forest, the paranoia of what is unseen. The way your mind starts playing tricks on you. If you’ve even been in this scenario, you know how real it is. Wonderfully written and completely eerie.

Next day Gordon forgets his canteen and Kyle offers to go get it. Del says he'll go with him. Kyle doesn’t want to be near Del. He's still mad about the capture the flag incident. He's shitty to him so with hurt feelings Del heads back to the others. Kyle finds the canteen by a river. He jumps in. While in there he thinks he sees a bloated purple face and hands reaching for him. He heads back up the mountains to regroup but gets lost. There is an incident and now the kids and adults are separated.

Del immediately takes charge. It’s a shorter distance to keep going than it is to go back. It starts snowing and decisions must be made. And here you have bulk of the Wilds.

The kids are lost and running out of food. We have the Donner Party seeds planted from the beginning. The narrative hints at supernatural but it could also be madness. We have the ghost stories of the mountains. We have character backstories of grey shade morality waiting to reveal true self when pushed to the limits. This is a very suspenseful thriller. The moments when decisions are being made that will literally determine life and death are intense. I love how far down the characters get. They shed their societal personalities and become something more primitive and animalistic. What is inside each of us when survival is it stake? How does being in this predicament affect your mind? And always out there in the shadows is the threat of something not of this world or is it all just part of the madness?

The prose is easily digested, clear and concise. As the book goes on the chapters get shorter. I don’t know if this was on purpose or a happy accident but it really makes you feel like time is running out.