J.D. Graves

J.D. Graves is the pen name of a Michigan writer who grew up fascinated by the stories people whispered when they thought no one was listening. The haunted ones. The unsolved ones. The ones that stuck around long after the headlines faded.

He got his start writing short fiction, with his first release, The Blinkers, a dark, fast-paced story inspired by the kind of goosebump-inducing horror he grew up on. That project lit the fuse—but his interests have always leaned deeper into what’s real, or at least used to be.

With Monsters of the Mitten, he shifts focus to true stories—unsolved murders, local legends, and the uneasy middle ground between folklore and fact. Whether he’s writing fiction or nonfiction, Graves is drawn to the details people overlook. A strange quote. A forgotten photo. A quiet town with a loud past.

He writes under a pen name not for mystery, but to give himself space to create without filter—where facts can live alongside fear, and storytelling doesn’t have to play by the rules.