Johnny Merrimon is ten years removed from the shattering events which killed his twin sister and tore the rest of his family apart. He has since become a prickly recluse, living in self-imposed isolation in the forbidding swampland of Hush Arbor, six thousand acres he alone knows how to traverse. His best friend Jack, now a local attorney, is his only invited guest, and others who attempt to conquer the Hush often meet inexplicably violent ends. The property has belonged to the Merrimons for centuries, but is haunted by the souls of the freed slaves who once lived there, and one of the descendants believes the land is rightfully hers.