People have been fearmongering about the dangers of television for decades. Before television became common in every household, they warned of the effects of comic books and rock and roll. More recently, criticism has been aimed at violent video games, heavy metal, and the Internet. But always there in the middle, media critics have had something to say about television, and usually it’s not good.
But as a culture, we got used to television. Then the same old thing, year after year, got kind of boring, and the question for the networks and the cable channels became “what do we do now?” Because we could record the shows and skip past commercials, television shows had to be edgy, to provide something different that would catch our attention enough to really grab us for long enough to get us to sit through an entire show, every week. And what’s more interesting than peeking into someone else’s life?
Actual reality isn’t all that interesting to watch, and it’s also got some really disgusting moments. Who wants to stare at people watching TV, or clipping their toenails? No, it’s the drama of taking people out of their own reality and making them interact in a completely unreal, compressed, environment that is so fascinating. A show like Survivor is kind of like a nonlethal re-enactment of Lord of the Flies— you watch it knowing every episode will mean the end for one of the characters. Watching The Osbournes gives the viewer a window into a world that’s totally bizarre to the rest of us, but normal for the participants. You know it’s all edited to create a storyline that will fit into a half hour or an hour of television, but it gives you a thrill. And it gives viewers a window that not only allows them see what’s going on, but to separate from it. It’s kind of like watching the gladiators in the ring at the Coliseum, from the stands. It’s a game, but it’s not. And that’s what makes reality television the perfect setting for a horror story. Here are seven novels that take advantage of the worst aspects of reality television to create nightmares for their characters. As always, not every book on this list will be appropriate or appreciated by every person, so know your reader!
This book messed with my head. It holds a funhouse mirror up to the creepiness of media manipulation. At the center of the story is Merry. As a child, she witnessed unexplainable and disturbing behaviors from her older sister that became the center of a reality television show, and resulted in family tragedy. The novel itself approaches the story from many angles. Merry as as a young adult, years later; Merry as a child living through the events that changed her life; and a mystery blogger dissecting the show in minute detail all get their say. This was sent to us for review, and is not even out yet, but it falls in the category of “unforgettable” for me. For the purposes of this list, though, it succeeds tremendously as a mind-bender that indicts the media, and especially reality television, for altering events, and lives, to fit a predetermined narrative.
The Running Man takes place in a dystopian future where the gap between the haves and the have-nots is so tremendous that the desperate are willing to put themselves in lethal, televised ‘games’ for others’ entertainment. It’s a fast-paced, gripping, terrifying, science fiction thriller. When Stephen King wrote The Running Man in 1982, I am sure he had no idea how prescient the book would be. At that time 2025 must have seemed endlessly far into the future, and the first reality television show was years away from being created. And yet, as we approach that time, much of what he predicted has become reality– affordable health care still hasn’t made the scene, income inequality has become more and more severe, and people are still bloodthirsty, greedy, and selfish. King created a horrifying world that has become even more so as time marches us forward to his future, set in the year 2025. As a reader’s advisory note, there is also a movie, with Arnold Schwarznegger, and a great media tie-in to one of the lesser-known works of Stephen King.
A gritty, desolate atmosphere pervades Broken Monsters. While it’s framed as a serial killer novel, it is bizarre from the very beginning, with the discovery of the first body. As you might expect with either a serial killer novel or a horror novel, there’s a fair amount of gore, but it doesn’t overwhelm the story. The plot follows the detective on the case, her daughter, a homeless man, an Internet journalist trying to get his YouTube videos to go viral, and the serial killer. This is a memorable book for me not just because of the storytelling, character development, originality, and atmosphere of the story but also because of the effect the Internet journalist and his videos have on the events of the story. While Beukes is taking a larger look at how social media affects our reality, it’s the journalist’s actions during the climax of events that really struck home with me.
For those who have never heard of The Hunger Games, it’s a YA dystopian novel in which a totalitarian government randomly chooses two candidates from each of its districts to participate in a televised competition in which the participants all attempt to kill each other in order to be the last one standing. The wealthy can slant the competition by providing favorite competitors with gifts. This is media used as not just an opiate, but as a weapon. It’s gripping, suspenseful, and manages to effectively integrate both friendship and love into a very hostile and dangerous situation that most people really do see as a game. It is the first in a series that also includes Catching Fire and Mockingjay. All of the books have been made into movies. In a move that is painfully ironic, the CW is making a reality show based on the book.
This paranormal novel is the seventh title in the Kitty Norville series. Talk show radio host and werewolf Kitty Norville agrees to participate in an all-supernatural reality television show, expecting it to be a typical reality show with a focus on the drama that emerges from forced interpersonal relationships. Anyone who has read Agatha Christie can probably guess what starts happening once the participants arrive in the remote mountain lodge where the show will be filmed. Fans of Kim Harrison may enjoy this one.
Scientists on a ship in the South Pacific who are participating in an “educational” reality television show, SeaLife, land on a remote island, only to be attacked by bizarre predators, with the cameras rolling. Is the footage real, or is it a hoax? The U.S. government doesn’t wait to find out– it blockades the island to prevent the creatures from escaping, Botanist Nell Duckworth, one of the participants on the show, is on the team of scientists that is sent to investigate the giant, ferocious, arthropods that populate the island. Grounded in science, this frightening, fast-paced thriller has been compared to Jurassic Park.
Trigger warning for graphic rape, gore, and violence. There are a lot of horror readers who enjoy having these ratcheted up– and this novel does that. This is Keene’s tribute to the work of Richard Laymon. According to reviews I’ve read, it’s not Keene’s most original work, either in style or content, although it’s well-paced and reasonably suspenseful, so if you are looking for a good introduction to Keene’s work, you might want to try a different book. However, the plot certainly fits our theme: contestants on a Survivor-style reality show, Castaways, are trapped on the island by a storm. The island, originally thought to be deserted, is in fact populated with monstrous cannibals with horrifying plans for the women trapped on the island.
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