My Review
“Please, please leave the room if this will…if this will affect you.” 

 I would like to preface my review by saying that Scanlines is…not an easy read. It’s dark. It deals with tough subject matter. And if you’re a Gen-Xer or a geriatric millennial like me, it’ll probably resonate a lot more than it would with the younger crowd (especially since we grew up with stuff like Faces of Death/Traces of Death and Rotten, among other things). 

 Firstly, if you’re familiar with the R. Budd Dwyer incident, this book is kinda-sorta based on that. If you’re not familiar with the incident, that’s probably for the best. I’d say don’t look into it, but…if you wanna traumatize yourself, that’s your prerogative. Honestly, though, the cover kind of gives you an idea of what you’re in for... 

 Scanlines tells the story of three teenage boys growing up in the late 90s. The internet back then was essentially the Wild West: lawless and unfiltered. You could find just about anything (including viruses)…and not all of it was something you wanted to see. 

 Anyway… 

 These boys are hoping to download a naughty video. They just wanna see an adult film star showing off her assets. Instead, they get way more than they bargained for…and not in a good way.

 I don’t want to spoil anything, but their lives (and the lives of anyone who gets brought into the fold when it comes to viewing the video) then become nightmares they can’t escape. And the ending… Yeah, don't expect anything happy. 

 I did enjoy the way the story was written. It’s nostalgic (in terms of it reminding me of old VHS tapes) and easy to follow along with. Some of the story is written as journal entries, but the rest is mostly flashbacks, and that’s where the “VHS tape” style of writing comes into play. It felt both unique and fitting for the overall theme of the story. 

 Scanlines is definitely a haunting, horrifying story, and there’s also a bit of…hopelessness in there too. It’s not an easy read. It’s not a fun read. But if you think you can handle it, it’s worth the read.

If you love:

☑️ Late-'90s internet nostalgia and VHS-era horror
☑️ Urban legends with a horrifying grain of truth
☑️ Cursed media and things you really shouldn't watch
☑️ Teenage curiosity going spectacularly wrong
☑️ Dark stories about trauma, guilt, and the things we can't unsee
☑️ ...and reminders that the old internet was a lawless fucking wasteland...

...then you might want to adjust the tracking and press play.

Rating: 4.5/5