First published 2026
Bethany Peters works the night shift as a content moderator at GlobalVill's Austin campus, screening endless horrific videos. A trans woman battling paranoia and self-doubt, she discovers disturbing footage of a young streamer calling out to something called Public Access Afterworld. This mysterious pirate TV network first surfaced in 1988 when Dallas weatherman Ray Davino mentioned it during a rambling broadcast before shooting himself on live television. Twenty-one years later, suburban teens David Sawyer and Erin Morrison witnessed strange transmissions from the same network while watching TV's digital transition in Erin's basement. Now Bethany must confront this dark force that pulls victims into static and electronic hell. She transforms from isolated night worker into unlikely hero, fighting to save herself and others from a malevolent realm that exists on the other side of screens.
Genres: science-fiction, horror, paranormal-fiction, psychological-thriller, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, eerie, paranoid, thought-provoking, unsettling
Tropes: found-family, isolated-protagonist, supernatural-mystery, unlikely-hero
Setting: Austin, Dallas, GlobalVill
Period: 1988, 2009, 2030
608 pages · Hardcover · Hogarth
Content warnings: mental-illness, suicide