The Hollow Jug

When the woods take, they don't give back.

When the deputy arrives with news of a fatal logging accident, Elara knows the official story is a lie. Her father hasn't just passed away; he has been claimed.

Left with a grief-stricken mother and a home that feels increasingly like a tomb, Elara is forced to confront the dark reality of the mountain that looms over their lives. The local loggers have scarred the ridge like teeth marks, and the old men in town whisper that the woods don't like being owed.

As November bleeds into a bitter, isolating winter, the hollow beyond her yard transforms from a quiet patch of trees into a malevolent, living presence. There are sounds in the dark. A rhythmic knocking of branches. A figure waiting just beyond the yellow cone of the porch light.

To save her mother's sanity-and her own life-Elara must unearth the truth of what really happened to her father. But digging into the mountain's secrets requires stepping into the deep timber of the hollow. And the hollow doesn't just take what it wants... it consumes.

• Tropes:
  • Small-town secrets
  • Isolated setting
  • Atmospheric dread
  • Psychological survival
  • Coming-of-age through trauma
• Content Warnings:
  • Grief and mourning
  • Off-page death of a parent
  • Feelings of intense isolation and claustrophobia