Appalachian author and screenwriter. Creator of The Poppy Collection memoir series and The Hollow. Featured in The Mountain Eagle for regional storytelling rooted in Appalachian coal country.

THE HOLLOW is a grounded Appalachian thriller with supernatural elements, blending slow-burn tension, emotional realism, and psychological horror.

Set in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, the story follows a group of teenagers who set out to uncover the truth behind a decades-old disappearance tied to an abandoned hollow and a sealed coal mine long rumored to be cursed. What begins as curiosity quickly turns into something far more dangerous when they realize the stories were never just stories.

As they push deeper into the hollow, they encounter signs that something has been left behind—something that doesn’t behave like a traditional threat. It doesn’t chase. It doesn’t reveal itself fully. Instead, it lingers at the edge of perception, distorting memory, isolating individuals, and feeding on fear, guilt, and attention. The deeper they go, the more reality itself begins to feel unstable.

At the center of the group is a morally grounded, empathetic teen whose instinct is to protect the others—especially the younger ones—but who begins to realize that survival may require choices that conflict with everything she believes. As tensions rise and trust begins to fracture, the group is forced to confront not only what’s beneath the hollow, but what they are willing to sacrifice to stop it.

What they uncover is not simply a place, but a presence—something that has existed for generations, tied to the land and the people who have tried to contain it. The disappearance they came to investigate was not the beginning of the story, and it won’t be the end.

By the time they understand the truth, it may already be too late.

THE HOLLOW is designed as the opening chapter of a larger story, where each installment deepens the mythology while remaining grounded in character, place, and consequence. It emphasizes atmosphere over spectacle, moral tension over simple survival, and the idea that some places are not meant to be disturbed—not because they are evil, but because they are hungry.

Author’s work has been featured in The Mountain Eagle.