I'm always happy to see someone's first jam submission- I mean, I was there less than a year ago.
Let's talk about your game. I think you already realize that the story is your strongest quality. It was engaging, although I didn't feel a consistent theme, more like a bunch of scary mysterious things happening in a spooky forest. That's not a bad thing- the game "betrayal in the house on the hill" is just that, and I love it :)
Art was cool- it was nice you kept black-and-white palette using color just to add emphasis on some stuff. It would be cool if there was more variety- like if the text tells me "you approach the lake" there would be a appropriate picture in the background, but I realize that this takes way more work. What could be an easy win, is adding just a bit of movement to fight scenes. Like some up-and-down movement, nothing fancy (of course the animations would go even harder).
Adding some sounds would help too. I often use freesound.com for my sound needs (if you use it remember to credit sound authors).
Over all- congrats on your first jam game!