Two spirits defeated. One remains. Richard and Ria have beaten the flood and outlasted the fire. Their house is scarred, scorched and soaked, yet still standing, and for the first time since they arrived, the forest feels calm. Too calm. The birds have stopped singing. The deer no longer walk the clearing at dawn. Every animal they hoped to live beside has vanished. Then the screaming begins. It comes from the trees, from the roof, from the dark beneath the bed: a cry that is part wolf, part bird, part something that should not exist. The Spirit of the Animals has been listening to them since the first night, and now it wants the house back. It can imitate any creature, break any lock and hunt without a sound. But Ria notices something no one else has. Every time it screams, it flinches at the echo. If they can capture its voice on a phone and play it back, perhaps the spirit will hear its own terror and run. When the Forest Screamed Back is the thrilling finale of a three-part series about a couple, a haunted house and a dream worth fighting for. When the last spirit falls silent, one question remains: will Richard and Ria stay, or will they walk away and never look back?

Lio Stan is a horror author fascinated by isolated houses, ancient forests, and the spirits said to linger within them. Inspired by folklore and the unease of the unknown, Lio writes stories where ordinary people face extraordinary, elemental forces. Lio Stan believes the scariest stories are the ones that feel like they could be true.