In the quiet town of Pine Hollow, Sarah and her friend Jackson stumble upon a horrifying discovery that turns their lives upside down. What begins as a carefree night of swimming by the pond soon spirals into a nightmare as their friends start exhibiting strange, violent behavior. At first, it's easy to brush off as exhaustion or bad moods, but when one of their closest friends turns up missing, only to be found with glazed eyes and attacking those around her, Sarah and Jackson realize something far more sinister is happening.
As they dig deeper, they uncover the terrifying truth: a parasitic outbreak has taken hold of their town, infecting the minds of their friends, eating away at their brains and turning them into mindless, aggressive creatures. Desperate to stop the spread, they must navigate a landscape of paranoia and fear, where even the people they love the most could be the next to turn.
With time running out and the infection spreading rapidly, Sarah and Jackson must find the source of the parasite-a mysterious force tied to the ancient pond where it all began. But the deeper they venture into the heart of the outbreak, the more dangerous their path becomes. Every step forward puts them closer to losing themselves, and each decision could mean the difference between saving their town or becoming infected themselves.
In this pulse-pounding horror, The Hollowing, Sarah and Jackson must confront not only the monsters lurking in the shadows, but also the horrifying truth that some of their closest friends may already be lost forever. As the parasite spreads, turning their once-peaceful town into a battleground, Sarah and Jackson must find a way to stop it-before they, too, become part of the mindless horde.
Antique store owner Liz brings home a Victorian taxidermy hound from auction, unwittingly unleashing dark forces on her wife and son.
*****
Nat Loman has finally married the love of her life, Liz, and is getting used to her role as stepmother to Liz's 5-year-old son, Liam. The Loman family runs a bustling antique business so they attend a sale where a striking, black taxidermied hound is up for auction. Liz picks it up for the business, but it ends up being stored in their home, where Nat notices strange things occurring. She quickly discovers the past residents had died violently. Then she hears from a friend about the myth of "the devil's dog", a hound that perches in the shadows, tearing families apart from the inside. Soon, people around the Lomans are dying, and Liz is changing, darkening. It's up to Nat to save the woman she loves from the darkness closing in, and to save Liam from danger no matter what she has to sacrifice.
[[Winner of the 2018 Wattys "Hidden Gems" category]]
[[word count: 60,000-70,000 words]]