rekt

A disturbing examination of toxic masculinity and the darkest pits of the Internet, about a young man’s algorithmic descent into depravity in a future that’s nearly here.

“A visionary book that is at once pensive, rollicking, and truly, bone-deep unsettling. Alex Gonzalez's rekt is an absolute stunner.” —Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of Horror Movie and A Head Full of Ghosts

> be me, 26 
> about to end it all 
> feels good, man 

Once, Sammy Dominguez thought he knew how the world worked.  The ugly things in his head—his uncle’s pathetic death, his parents’ mistrust, the twisted horrors he writes for the Internet—didn’t matter, because he and his girl, Ellery, were on track for the good life in this messed-up world. 

Then a car accident changed everything.  

Spiraling with grief and guilt, Sammy scrambles for distraction. He finds it in shock-value videos of gore and violence that terrified him as a child. When someone messages him a dark web link to footage of Ellery dying, he watches—first the car crash that killed her, then hundreds of other deaths, even for people still alive. Accidents. Diseases. Suicides. Murders. 

The host site, chinsky, is sadistic, vicious, impossible.  It even seems to read his mind, manipulate his searches. But is chinsky even real? And who is Haruspx, the web handle who led him into this virtual nightmare? As Sammy watches compulsively, the darkness in his mind blooms, driving him down a twisted path to find the roots of chinsky, even if he must become a nightmare himself…

About the author

Alex Gonzalez is a WGA screenwriter and horror fiction writer. Born and raised in Florida, he now lives in Brooklyn and is the co-founder of the horror zine You Are Not Alone. His screenplays have been optioned, and a feature of his is in development with Ulladulla Pictures and Extra A Productions (Little Woods, The Giant). He currently teaches horror writing workshops with Catapult.co., and his most recent short story “Die Cuban” was published on the Catapult website. You can find him online at alex-gonzalez.me.

Summary

A disturbing examination of toxic masculinity and the darkest pits of the Internet, about a young man’s algorithmic descent into depravity in a future that’s nearly here.

“A visionary book that is at once pensive, rollicking, and truly, bone-deep unsettling. Alex Gonzalez's rekt is an absolute stunner.” —Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of Horror Movie and A Head Full of Ghosts

> be me, 26 
> about to end it all 
> feels good, man 

Once, Sammy Dominguez thought he knew how the world worked.  The ugly things in his head—his uncle’s pathetic death, his parents’ mistrust, the twisted horrors he writes for the Internet—didn’t matter, because he and his girl, Ellery, were on track for the good life in this messed-up world. 

Then a car accident changed everything.  

Spiraling with grief and guilt, Sammy scrambles for distraction. He finds it in shock-value videos of gore and violence that terrified him as a child. When someone messages him a dark web link to footage of Ellery dying, he watches—first the car crash that killed her, then hundreds of other deaths, even for people still alive. Accidents. Diseases. Suicides. Murders. 

The host site, chinsky, is sadistic, vicious, impossible.  It even seems to read his mind, manipulate his searches. But is chinsky even real? And who is Haruspx, the web handle who led him into this virtual nightmare? As Sammy watches compulsively, the darkness in his mind blooms, driving him down a twisted path to find the roots of chinsky, even if he must become a nightmare himself…

Product details

• Authors: Alex Gonzalez
• Publisher: Random House N.Y.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 25.03.2025
• EAN: 9781645661597
• ISBN: 978-1-64566-159-7
• No. of pages: 368
• Dimensions: 145 mm x 220 mm x 30 mm
• Weight: 454 g
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature