JOKeyesOfficial
This excerpt is from the first five chapters of my debut novel! I'm eager to hear feedback. If you're interested in reading more, ask.
After a mysterious hum begins to spread through Binghamton, New York, the town doesn't panic.
It changes.
People sleep more soundly. Arguments cease before they even start. Grief softens into something more manageable. Strangers hum together in grocery stores, classrooms, and waiting rooms. The city quiets and becomes gentler.
Then, memories start to transform.
Old tragedies are rewritten into comforting stories. Children learn new histories that never truly happened. A tradition known as the Lantern Parade seems to appear overnight and is accepted as if it has long been established.
Mara observes those around her-including herself-gradually abandoning painful truths in favor of peace, belonging, and relief. As the hum spreads deeper into the valley, resisting it feels less like survival and more like cruelty.
Because the hum never demands obedience.
It simply asks for participation.
"The Static" is a literary horror novel exploring memory, grief, emotional exhaustion, and the terrifying solace of forgetting.