A fascinating short read about the horrors of the digital world, Digital Monsters by Dr. Vivian Asimos might be for you.

The plot:

Horror storytelling online has a rich history as detailed and as long as the internet itself. Digital Monsters explores many of these narratives and reads them to see what these stories tell us about the internet, about digital communities, and about ourselves.

This book seeks to explore the monsters of the virtual world – studying multiple narratives, provides an insight into how these narratives relate to the broader horror genre, and what it has to say about the social and cultural contexts it finds itself in.

There are some surprising and shocking moments

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, because I have a lot of interest in the dark web and all things tech. It does offer those heart-racing elements, but the author is incredibly open in her opinion, and the information is well-research.

This reads as an essay or dissertation, so is incredibly detailed and includes references for you at the end, if you want further reading (which I definitely did)! I did find it was repetitive with certain points, but I think this was to make certain messages hit home – it’s definitely chilling.

There are some surprising and shocking moments – one which I honestly thought was real during its time on social media, and I’m thoroughly impressed with the author’s explanation into how it isn’t real, and also the surrounding narratives.

It covers ‘monsters’ across the spectrum, analyzing how they have come around and also the effect this can have on communities. There is no discussion about the dark web, which for me is a major ‘digital monster’, but perhaps this is another book entirely.

I think to really add to the horror element, more images, and perhaps more quotes or interviews could have been included. Of course, Asimos couldn’t include everything that’s happened in terms of ‘Digital Monsters’ and is immediately out of date as soon as published, but it appears to cover all of the ‘big’ monsters/stories which has hit the internet within the past decade. I would’ve really liked a look into other countries, as this felt particularly UK/American based.

It is a short read at only 101 pages, so I don’t want to go into too much detail, but I’d give it a strong 3-stars – although detailed, it doesn’t feel long enough to give any higher, but still a strong recommendation if you’re interested.

Digital Monsters, Dr. Vivian Asimos, RRP £6.99 (paperback); Book Depository 

Pages: 101

Publisher: Clink Street Publishing

Genre: Non-Fiction