oddity woods

QA #14

Happy April! We’ve got a LOT of questions rounded up for this month, thanks for sending them in!

Q: What was Owen and Velia's relationship like, and how did Owen feel when he saw what happened to her and how her spirit was destroying everything?

A: Owen and Velia were boyfriend/girlfriend and childhood friends. I think after seeing her as the poltergeist, Owen was mostly thinking of getting revenge on who he thought killed her (Lawrence). That and needing a soul to survive. He didn’t have much time to think about much else, which is why he acted so recklessly at the end. Maybe things could have been different if they had crossed paths earlier buuuut I don’t think it would have ended well for them either way, unfortunately.

Q: I noticed that in the back section with the character bios it says Marietta doesn't like fires. Is she afraid of them since her family died in a fire?

A: Yup, she was able to hold herself together on the train (maybe ghost fire is a little different) but she isn’t a fan! She also has scars on her arms from it.

Q: How much does Wyatt remember his past? Does he only not remember how he got to the woods, or is it like total amnesia up to the point of getting stuck there?

A: Wyatt doesn’t remember anything before his time in the woods. He doesn’t know how he got there or why he’s there in the first place. He’s been living in the wild, a real outdoorsman (joking). But it seems he’s starting to remember some stuff…

Q: I noticed one of the kids on the missing posters was in the photo in Officer Doubts's car. Is she his daughter?

A: She’s someone!!

Q: I'm a little confused about what happened to Owen at the end. Did he turn into a monster and then the Conducter stole his soul??? Or did the Conducter take it right before his time ran out?

A: He turned into a monster off screen, and the Conductor took his soul! The Conductor has rules he follows, including not entering buildings of residents in the woods, and not harming people from the living world (unless they cross him first). Because he couldn’t reach Velia’s soul, he wasn’t going to give Owen’s soul a chance to do the same.

Q: How long has Wyatt been stuck in the woods? He made it sound like he'd been there for about 3 years at most, but those detectives implied that he had been there for 8 years or something.

A: I’ll save this for book two, but we do know from book one that time works differently in the woods!

Q: I noticed the Storyteller has multiple arms, and multiple bug-like eyes. Is she sort of spider-like, sort of like how the Conductor is bird-like?

A: What?! No way, she’s a perfectly normal human being! R-right…?

Q: Where does Leo keep getting all those snacks? Is it magic, or do they have a bunch of deep, hidden pockets?

A: Leo’s powers are unfathomable and fueled by snacks. But most likely, it’s because they used to be a magician!

Q: So, Lawrence has a crush on Wyatt, right? Would that ever become a thing? Because I think it's very cute, I sort of ship it...

A: He has a crush yeah. Unfortunately Lawrence is kind of bad at feelings and Wyatt is kind of bad at catching on to stuff so…… good luck bro.

Q: Will we get answers to all the mysteries by the end? I'm very invested in this book.

A: I hope to answer as many as I can by the end!!!

Misfit Mansion

Q: Since Poppy Playtime chapter five is out, what does Dahlia think of it?

A: She probably thinks Lily is a lot but also thinks her outfit is cute so she gets a pass.

Q: Are we going to see Anemone in the next book? Because it felt she wanted revenge on everyone.

A: It’s a safe bet that she will probably show up again…

Q: Did Larkspur ever have any hobbies before Halloway locked him in the basement/does he have any hobbies right now?
A: He liked spending time outdoors. I think after he returned to the house, he watched a lot of daytime television and ended up interested in cooking.



Q&A #8- Oddity Woods Characters

Q: I'm pretty curious, so I'll ask- will we ever see what Wyatt's eyes look like, under his goggles? Or is it just a character design choice? Because despite Milly having glasses that don't show her eyes at first, we eventually see her eyes, so I was wondering.

A: Stylistically Milly had the anime glasses glare thing going until her big reveal because it was more "mysterious." Wyatt keeps his eyes and most of himself hidden because of reasons regarding the end of book 1. But we will probably see his eyes eventually…

Q: Out of the cast, who is the best and worst singer?

A: Hmm, I haven't thought about it much, but I think the Storyteller would be decent at singing? And maybe Leo, despite them not talking much. I think Lawrence is also musically gifted but is too lazy to do much with it. I think Officer Doubts would be very bad at it.

Q: Who is Milly, and what’s the deal with her and her robot?

A: We don't know much about Milly yet, like what IS her deal??? She has a weird grudge against Wyatt, and seems to have been on a mission to get the Grave Keys before Marietta arrived. Milly's best friend is Ion! He's kind of a crybaby. We will see more of them in book 2!

Q: Does the Car Attendant have a name? Will he show up again?

A: He is just known as the Car Attendant, in a similar vein to the Conductor and Storyteller. If you want a little hint, his past self as a living person is actually shown within book 1 somewhere. He was actually going to be a little more involved in the story back during the webcomic, but I had to change some things up for the sake of fitting everything into 3 books, so some of his plot was cut. But he will return before all is over.

Q: How does the Conductor talk without opening his mouth?

A: He is a mystery.

Q: Will any of the first book’s minor characters from the inn return in the second?

A: I almost don’t want to spoil it, but I’m pretty sure I already said it years ago during the webcomic days, so— Lawrence is a major character in the series! Some of the other side characters from the inn might return too. Stay tuned.

Q&A #4 - Oddity Woods

Q: Is there any way to read the original webcomic version?

A: There’s not, the webcomic was taken down after Oddity Woods was picked up as a book series. I do have an art book with concept art from those days, which you can find in PDF form here!

Q: How much of the original webcomic does the graphic novel cover? Do they differ significantly?

A: The book is probably like 80% the same as the webcomic, but I did change the prologue and a few details throughout in order to streamline the story a bit better. This first book ends where the webcomic left off, so book 2 will be completely new content.

Q: When I was reading Oddity Woods I noticed it doesn't take place in modern times. So I was just wondering, what time does Oddity Woods take place in?

A: In terms of technology, it’s (loosely) set around the 1950’s! When I need refs of something like a phone or building or whatever, I’ll google it + 1950 and go from there. I feel older time periods are a little more mysterious than like… current day smart phone world. That being said, the tech Wyatt and Milly have is meant to be very advanced within that world!

Q: So we know Mary has a favorite book series- Inspector Mysteria! But what about Wyatt? Does he have a favorite book series too?

A: I’m not sure Wyatt has a favorite series, but I’m sure he has a lot of books about paranormal things! I think if they ever did a book exchange they’d end up spoiling it for each other.