HUSHGRAVE: Man or Myth
by TJ Harlan
Digital
Date of Publication: October 16, 2026
HUSHGRAVE: Man or Myth — Issue #1: The First Night
Bellwether, Mississippi. October 2010.
Magnolia Crown University is a prestigious historically Black university with a proud legacy, beautiful architecture, and a growing mystery that nobody seems able to explain.
Three students have disappeared.
Andre Wallace, a 21-year-old Music Education student, vanished September 22. Darius Bell, a 22-year-old Engineering student, disappeared October 5. Keisha Morgan, a 19-year-old Biology student, went missing October 10.
Different students. Different majors. Different dates. No answers.
Naomi Elise Whitfield, a 20-year-old Criminal Justice senior, refuses to ignore the disturbing pattern. With her fiancé Malik Jefferson and her friends forming part of her life on campus, Naomi has plenty to lose, but her curiosity draws her deeper into the university's unanswered questions.
As she investigates, ordinary campus spaces begin to feel threatening. Empty walkways, unanswered phone calls, dark corridors, and unexplained footsteps turn a familiar university into a place of growing terror.
Her search leads her to university records, where she discovers files documenting the missing students. Before she can make sense of what she's found, Naomi realizes she is no longer alone.
A towering hooded figure stalks the halls. Silent, deliberate, and seemingly impossible to escape, the mysterious presence known as Hushgrave forces Naomi into a desperate struggle to stay hidden.
As she searches for a way out, Naomi discovers that someone else may have been investigating the disappearances before her.
By the end of the night, Naomi's whereabouts are unknown. Her belongings remain behind, and Malik's unanswered calls become another haunting reminder of a student who has vanished.
Who is Hushgrave? What connects the missing students? And what happened to Naomi Whitfield?
The First Night introduces an atmospheric horror mystery about fear, disappearance, and the secrets hidden within a university's walls. The story continues in Issue #2: The Last Call.
