"Sticks" is a short story by horror fiction

Horror fiction

Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

 writer Karl Edward Wagner

Karl Edward Wagner

Karl Edward Wagner was an American writer, editor and publisher of horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy, who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and originally trained as a psychiatrist. His disillusionment with the medical profession can be seen in the stories "The Fourth Seal" and "Into...

, first published in the March 1974 issue of Whispers

Whispers (Magazine/Anthologies)

Whispers was probably the most widely respected and one of the most ambitious of the new horror and fantasy fiction magazines of the 1970s. It became at least as visible and nearly as influential as a series of mostly original anthologies in the 1980s....

.http://www.locusmag.com/index/s771.html It has been reprinted in several anthologies, including the revised edition of Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, indicating that it is part of the Cthulhu Mythos

Cthulhu Mythos

The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...

 genre.

The mysterious lattices of twigs were inspired by the work of Weird Tales

Weird Tales

Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....

artist Lee Brown Coye

Lee Brown Coye

Lee Brown Coye was an American artist.Coye is probably best remembered for his black-and-white illustrations for pulp magazines and horror fiction, but he produced many other works in other media.-Biography:...

, who illustrated two Carcosa

Carcosa

Carcosa is a fictional city in the Ambrose Bierce short story "An Inhabitant of Carcosa" . In Bierce's story, the ancient and mysterious city is barely described, and is viewed only in hindsight by a character who once lived there....

 Press volumes which Wagner edited: Manly Wade Wellman

Manly Wade Wellman

Manly Wade Wellman was an American writer. He is best known for his fantasy and horror stories set in the Appalachian Mountains and for drawing on the native folklore of that region, but he wrote in a wide variety of genres, including science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, detective...

's Worse Things Waiting and Hugh B. Cave

Hugh B. Cave

Hugh Barnett Cave was a prolific writer of pulp fiction who also excelled in other genres.-Life:Born in Chester, England, Hugh B. Cave moved during his childhood with his family to Boston, Massachusetts, following the outbreak of World War I...

's Murgunstrumm and Others (the latter volume appeared some years after "Sticks" was written).

Adaptations

In the mid-1980s, "Sticks" was adapted for radio by the program The Cabinet of Dr. Fritz

The Cabinet of Dr. Fritz

The Cabinet of Dr. Fritz was a 1984-85 binaural radio drama series produced by Thomas Lopez and the ZBS Foundation. At the beginning of each show, it was suggested that listeners wear headphones....

.

Critics have noted similarities between the plot of "Sticks" and that of the film The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project is a 1999 American horror film pieced together from amateur footage. The film was produced by the Haxan Films production company. The film relates the story of three student filmmakers The Blair Witch Project is a 1999 American horror film pieced together from amateur...

.http://www.epberglund.com/RGttCM/nightscapes/NS14/ns14nf02.htmhttp://www.sfsite.com/vault/paul61.htmhttp://www.prairienet.org/~almahu/blair.htm