The Synopsis
In 1947 along the misty coast of Oregon, memory is as fragile as the fog that blankets the town.
When private investigator Xander Holloway vanishes while working a case in his hometown of Shepherd’s Hook, only two people remember he ever existed: his fiancée, Linda Harlow, a sharp and relentless reporter, and Greg Callister, a quiet bookseller and childhood friend. But as the townspeople deny Xander’s very existence, and official records mysteriously vanish, Linda and Greg join forces to uncover what’s really happening.
Their search leads to the discovery of an unsettling pattern: others have disappeared just like Xander, erased from both memory and history. At the center of it all is the town’s ruling body, the secretive Coastal Council, and a long-lost novel by Sylvia Shepherd, a celebrated writer who vanished decades earlier under similar circumstances. Her final book, The Hollow Shore, may not be fiction at all, it may be a ritual guide for how to unwrite a person from reality.
As the truth comes to light, the fog begins to lift, both literally and figuratively. But reversing the ritual comes at a cost, and the deeper they dig, the more dangerous their discoveries become.
A story of grief, identity, and the power of memory, The Hollow Shore blends classic noir with supernatural unease in a haunting tale of people fighting not just for their lives—but for their very existence.
Genre & Setting
THE HOLLOW SHORE is a slow-burn supernatural thriller set in the mist-covered coastal town of Shepherd’s Hook, Oregon. Shrouded in fog and silence, the town hides decades of vanishing memories and erased lives. Rooted in noir atmosphere and ghost story unease, the story unfolds in 1947 as grief and mystery intertwine. As two unlikely allies unravel a long-buried secret tied to a vanished novelist and her final book, the line between reality and forgetting begins to fray. Here, memory is a weapon, the past is never gone, and silence is rarely accidental.
Themes & Tone
THE HOLLOW SHORE explores themes of memory, erasure, and the quiet resilience of those who refuse to be silenced. It is a story about the power of remembrance, the burden of truth, and the lengths people will go to protect their loved ones from being forgotten. Beneath the mystery lies a deeper reflection on institutional control, personal identity, and the courage it takes to hold onto reality when everyone else lets go.
The tone is somber, eerie, and reflective. Fog and silence cloak the town in a dreamlike tension, where every absence feels intentional and every whisper carries weight. Rather than violence or spectacle, the horror emerges from the gradual unraveling of memory and the dread of losing one’s place in the world. Inspired by psychological thrillers, ghost stories, and classic noir, THE HOLLOW SHORE is a supernatural mystery rooted in emotion, where the most terrifying thing isn’t what’s in the fog, it’s being erased from the lives of those you love.
