Valentine's Day arrived early in Hollow Pines.
No one remembers planning it.
No one remembers putting up the decorations.
But everyone keeps smiling.
Candy hearts are everywhere - on desks, in pockets, waiting on doorsteps. They don't melt. They don't crack. And if you throw one away... it somehow finds its way back.
Eli and Maya know something is wrong the moment Eli's old walkie-talkie turns on by itself.
A soft voice slips through the static. Calm. Patient. Almost playful.
"You dropped one."
Then they see him.
A tall figure standing at the edge of town, wrapped in crinkling candy wrappers that whisper when he moves. He carries a sack full of Valentines with names already written on them. The kids start calling him the Candy Man.
He never forces anyone.
He just waits for you to say yes.
One by one, classmates begin accepting cards. Smiling too wide. Talking too sweet. Forgetting things they shouldn't forget. And every "yes" makes the chiming sound in the air grow louder.
Eli and Maya are the only ones still saying no.
But in Hollow Pines, refusing a Valentine makes you stand out.
And the Candy Man doesn't like being ignored.
As the town grows quieter and the smiles grow bigger, Eli and Maya uncover the terrifying truth: Valentine's Day here isn't about love.
It's about belonging.
And once you belong to the Candy Man...
you don't belong to yourself anymore.
Candy Hearts Don't Melt is Book 2 in the Hollow Pines Horror series, a chilling collection of eerie, kid-friendly scare stories set in a small town where holidays don't just happen...
They wake things up.
Perfect for readers who love Goosebumps, spooky mysteries, and creepy small-town legends, this middle-grade horror adventure delivers suspense, strange rules, and the kind of quiet terror that sneaks up on you long after you turn the last page.