The Cabin at the End of the World

The Cabin at the End of the World is a home invasion thriller by American author Paul Tremblay. Published in 2018, the novel is set in a remote cabin in New Hampshire where seven-year-old Wen’s vacation with her parents, Andrew and Eric, is interrupted by the arrival of four strangers. The intruders claim that an apocalypse is imminent unless the family willingly makes a sacrifice. Told from multiple perspectives, the narrative charts the fears and doubts of both the captives and their captors. Themes center on faith, subjectivity, the impact of personal history, and the effects of violence.

Tremblay is best known as a horror writer. His 2015 novel A Head Full of Ghosts won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel, and Disappearance at Devil’s Rock (2016) received the British Fantasy Award. The Cabin at the End of the World won the Bram Stoker Award and was adapted into a 2023 movie, Knock at the Cabin, directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

This guide refers to the 2018 Titan e-book edition of the text.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide depict death by suicide, self-harm, and antigay violence.

Plot Summary

Seven-year-old Wen is on vacation in New Hampshire with her adoptive parents, Eric and Andrew. They’re staying in a remote cabin without cell phone reception. While Wen plays outside, a stranger named Leonard approaches and befriends her, and they catch grasshoppers together. Three more strangers appear, carrying menacing-looking weapons made from hand tools. They’re dressed identically to Leonard, although each wears a different color shirt. Leonard says that he and his companions must save the world, with the help of Wen’s family.

Wen warns her parents about the approaching strangers, and the family barricades itself in the cabin, refusing to open the door. Leonard remains calm and polite, introducing his companions as Redmond, Sabrina, and Adriane. Intending to call the police, Eric and Andrew discover that the landline has been cut. Andrew tells the strangers he has a gun, although he doesn’t mention that he left it in the SUV. Redmond, the most aggressive of the group, breaks into the cabin, followed by his companions. In the ensuing skirmish, Eric trips and incurs a concussion.

The intruders tie Andrew and Eric to chairs and claim that each of their members comes from a different part of the country and they met for the first time that morning. A week earlier, they all experienced the same visions, receiving a message that the world’s end was imminent. Leonard predicts that the oceans will rise, a plague will occur, and the skies will shatter and fall. He states that Andrew, Eric, and Wen can prevent this apocalypse through a voluntary sacrifice. However, if they fail to kill a family member, everyone else will die. Andrew accuses the intruders of targeting them out of antigay prejudice.

When Eric and Andrew insist that they won’t make a sacrifice, the intruders perform a robotic ritual. Redmond kneels and pulls a white mask over his face, and Sabrina and Leonard kill him with their weapons in a prolonged and bloody attack. During the ritual, Eric (a semi-practicing Catholic) sees a figure of light. Afterward, Leonard switches on the TV. A news broadcast shows an earthquake in the Aleutian Islands and flooding in Hawaii four hours earlier, followed by live coverage of a devastating tsunami on the Oregon coast. Leonard and Adriane say they saw the tsunami in their visions. Leonard insists that it occurred because the family failed to make a sacrifice.

Leonard allows the family more time to reconsider their decision. Andrew believes that the group knew about the Aleutian Islands earthquake before they arrived at the cabin. In addition, he becomes convinced that Redmond is Jeff O’Bannon—who attacked him in a bar years earlier. Adriane is next in line for sacrifice. She confronts Eric and Andrew, asking if they’re happy to take responsibility for her death and thousands of others. Wen becomes distressed, worried about the grasshoppers she left outside in a jar. Eric hugs his daughter, inadvertently revealing that he has freed his hands. As the intruders hurry to restrain him, Andrew releases himself and runs to the SUV for the gun. He reenters the cabin, and when Adriane lunges at him, he fatally shoots her. Leonard grapples with Andrew, trying to make him drop the gun. The gun goes off, killing Wen.

Andrew and Eric tie Leonard to a chair. Andrew tries to shoot him but has no bullets left. Eric and Andrew can’t escape in their SUV because the intruders slashed their tires. However, Sabrina claims that the keys to Redmond’s truck are hidden a few miles down the road and offers to help them. Eric is having hallucinations, and obeys when Leonard urges them to switch the TV on. They see details of a bird flu epidemic fatal to humans in Hong Kong. Leonard declares that Wen’s death hasn’t prevented the apocalypse because it wasn’t a voluntary sacrifice. Sabrina uses her weapon to kill Leonard, and immediately afterward, news coverage shows that at least seven separate air disasters have occurred.

A storm breaks as Sabrina takes Andrew and Eric to the spot where the truck keys are hidden under a rock. She throws Andrew the keys before shooting herself with a gun that was also concealed there. Eric picks up Sabrina’s gun, intending to sacrifice himself. However, Andrew redirects the gun’s barrel to his own chest. Eric drops the weapon, and they agree to face whatever the future holds together.