The Summer Below

Sixteen-year-old Lila Torres can feel it the moment she steps onto the dock of her family's lakehouse. This summer will be different. Once a place of laughter, friendship, and endless sunlight, Hollow Lake now hums with secrets and shadows that move where they shouldn't.

Reuniting with childhood friends Eli and Lucas, and alongside her twin sister Aria, bold, reckless, and impossible to ignore, Lila quickly discovers that the lake holds more than nostalgia. Strange flickering lights in the forest, carved symbols on the dock, and whispers from the water hint at a darkness buried beneath the surface called the Hollow. It is a place where memories can be stolen, loved ones vanish, and reality bends in frightening ways.

When Lucas disappears during a summer night swim, the stakes become terrifyingly real. Guided by the cryptic Rowan, a boy who seems to know far too much about the lake's mysteries, the group must dive into the Hollow itself. Beneath the calm waters lies a labyrinth of tunnels, a distorted version of their town, and a monstrous creature that feeds on the past, twisting nostalgia, love, and rivalry into a deadly trap.

As the Hollow tests them, Lila faces impossible choices. She must confront the limits of courage, the depths of her love for Lucas, and the unbreakable bond with her sister. To save those she cares about, she will have to sacrifice her strongest memory, leaving her with a haunting emptiness in its place.

The Summer Below is a heart-pounding coming-of-age mystery, blending small-town secrets, supernatural terror, and the bittersweet ache of first love. Perfect for fans of Stranger Things, Gravity Falls, and The Summer I Turned Pretty, it is a story about courage, sisterhood, and the dark truths hidden beneath even the brightest summers.