Secrets of the Swamp

Secrets of the Swamp is the fourth arc of the horror anthology comic series Goosebumps. It was published between September 2020 and February 2021. The trade collection was released on May 5, 2021.

Blurb
When twelve-year-old Blake is shipped away to stay with her weird aunt in Fever Swamp for the summer, she expects her weeks to be filled with video games, mosquito bites, and a whole lot of nothing. Instead, she finds herself in a spooky turf war between wolf hunters and werewolves! Blake's never let anything--including her prosthetic hand--slow her down or stop her from crushing her opponents in a game of Lore Hunter, but real-life monsters on all sides take danger and fear to a whole new level. Blake will need to use all of her gaming skills to escape in this all-ages scarefest

Issue 1
Blake completes another challenge in her favorite video game, Lore Hunt, when her Aunt Camila calls her down for dinner. Blake is staying with her aunt in Fever Swamp for the summer, and when her aunt hears of her game, she's reminded to take her to the Mitchells a few doors down, as their daughter also plays Lore Hunt. She also says it's good for Blake to make new friends. Later, as Blake gets back to gaming, two wolves look at her house from outside...

As they head through town the next day, Blake's aunt tells her about the local stories in Fever Swamp. They get to the Mitchell House, where she is introduced to Lily, who notices Blake's prosthetic left arm. Blake also recognizes Lily for being at the very top of the leaderboard. Lily later introduces Blake to another girl, Cara, and the two tell Blake more about the legends of Fever Swamp, who states that there is no such thing as monsters. She's only told that no one goes into the swamp. But Lily wants to, in order to learn where the stories come from. She asks Blake to come with her, and she agrees, saying she's not scared of anything.

That night, Blake meets up with Lily in the swamp, and they head in. However, once they begin hearing strange howling and noises, Lily starts to realize that maybe her idea wasn't really that bright at all, as Cara had told them not to go into the swamp. But when they turn around, they see a werewolf ready to strike...

Issue 2
As many more werewolves emerge, Blake and Lily begin running, but Blake's backpack gets caught on a branch. Blake wants to go back for it, but Lily tells her to just forget about it, since the stories her parents told her about the wolves are real, and they need to leave the swamp.

Blake scours at their remaining gear as Lily notices she has no reception, and she tells Blake that sometimes, her dad goes into the swamp, which she once overheard. But Blake begins to realize that the wolves they pursued them weren't normal, but werewolves. But once Lily hears this, she realizes that this is just like their game, as her parents once protected the town from them, and now it's up to them.

Angered at how Lily lied and dragged her into the swamp despite knowing it was dangerous, Blake tells Lily that they can't fight the werewolves, and this is real life, not a game. She reminds Lily that they have to get back home, as she had previously told Blake that.

However, their arguing attracts more werewolves, and the two run for it. Lily uses silver spray on a werewolf with a yellow shirt, but Blake suddenly finds herself stuck having run up a tree to safety. Lily runs off on her own, leaving Blake alone with the wounded werewolf...

Issue 3
The branch snaps off and Blake falls to the ground. After checking if her prosthetic arm was damaged, she notices the lone werewolf seems hurt. Suddenly, it shapeshifts back into Cara, which shocks Blake. She tells her that the silver spray weakens a werewolf's ability to shapeshift, and they need to get back to Cara's place and warn everyone... a place that's inside the swamp.

When Blake figures out that Cara's family are werewolves, she asks if other fictional monsters are real, like vampires, manticores, and unicorns. Cara says she hasn't met any others yet, and while not all of her family are wolves, all wolves are her family. She asks Blake to keep this a secret, and she promises that she will.

They arrive at The Burrow, a safe haven for the werewolves. There, after some hostile reception from several other werewolves, Blake learns that Lily's family, the Mitchells, are actually werewolf hunters. And now, Lily, her father, and brothers went back in to look for Blake and hunt down the wolves! Another girl, Toby, tells them that, with so many hunters on the way, they'll be unable to hold all of them off.

And then, the hunters begin to surround the Burrow...

Issue 4
Cara notes that no hunter has ever found their way to the Burrow before, but also says that Lily truly is her friend, likely unaware of what Cara really was. Toby also says that despite their beastly appearance, they're not entirely monstrous. They still retain their humanity, only seeking to scare away those who venture into the swamp, not kill them, as the swamp is their home. Cara refuses to take Blake home and leave Toby, but Blake feels responsible for leading the hunters to the Burrow, so they both agree to fight alongside Toby. She is about to disagree with this, but the hunters' arrival cut her off.

As the battle begins, Blake devises a plan, saying she will disguise herself as a werewolf and lure the hunters away, but Cara tells her that this isn't Lore Hunter, and the hunters aren't after her and that she could get hurt. But Blake tells her that this distraction might be the only way to save her family, so Cara reluctantly agrees. While Blake uses howling sounds on her phone to make it sound like there are more wolves with her, Cara frees her family from the cages.

But although Blake manage to lure the hunters away from the Burrow...she runs into Lily.

Issue 5
Despite Blake saying that Lily abandoned her in the swamp, Lily says that she thought Blake was still with her. When she realized she wasn't, she got her family to help her find Blake, thus finding the Burrow. Cara also reveals herself as one of the werewolves, horrifying Lily. Realizing what she helped do and what she had done, Lily apologizes and throws the hunters off, telling the others that she saw more werewolves running off in another direction. Cara tells Blake to inform Toby that the wolves will retreat to her father's old hunting grounds.

Blake and Cara fight off the remaining hunters guarding the cages and free the wolves. While the wolves head to the grounds, Blake tries to shake off the other hunters, using a net ball she swiped from earlier to trap them. Although the Burrow is lost, Cara and her family are safe. As thanks, they allow Blake to keep the pelt she used to disguise herself.

Several weeks later, Blake continues gaming, as she will be home in a couple of days. However, she begins to notice her right arm becoming that of a werewolf's, the pelt is revealed to be Werewolf Skin, as it lunges at her. As Cara enters her attic room, she notices that Blake has now become a werewolf, with Camila asking Blake from downstairs if she's okay...

Trivia

 * This arc consists of five issues, the longest in the comic series. The first three arcs were made of three issues.
 * On the video game leader-board near the start of the story, the names "Marieke" and "Yasmin" are visible, a reference to Marieke Nijkam and Yasmin Flores Montanez, the comic's writer and artist.
 * Werewolf hunting was previously a plot point in the Goosebumps Series 2000 book, The Werewolf in the Living Room.
 * Blake's aunt mentions a Mr. Tucker, likely a reference to either Micheal Tucker or Grady Tucker.
 * Additionally, there is a popular hangout called "Cassie's Curiosi-teas," a possible reference to Cassie O' Rourke. Lilly's appearance and general personality is also similar to Cassie.
 * Blake has a prosthetic arm, making her the first disabled protagonist in Goosebumps media.
 * Just like the previous comic story, the trade does not have an introduction by R.L. Stine.
 * Unlike the previous comic stories, the cover of the trade is from one of the variant covers and not any of the official covers of the 5 issues.
 * The trade contains an error. On the first page of Issue 4, the text "Art by" is accidentally placed at the bottom. This is not present in the stand-alone version of this issue.

References to other Goosebumps media

 * The Werewolf of Fever Swamp: Fever Swamp is the setting for this story. Both stories notably involve werewolves as antagonists. Additionally, Blake's name is most likely a reference to Will Blake.
 * Werewolf Skin: The third issue introduces several werewolf pelts one of which Blake goes on to wear in order to scare away the werewolf hunters. By the end of the final issue, it is revealed that the pelt she wears is a Wolf Skin, with the pelt having started causing her hand to switch back and forth between human and werewolf, while the skin can apparently come alive and jump towards Blake at a moment's notice.
 * Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes: Gnomes can be seen on the lawn of the Mitchell House.