Tech in horror is not new. Whether it be the iconic 80s film ALIEN or any number of fantastic horror-sci fi authors going back to our queen, Mary Shelley. Tech and horror are friends, not enemies. 

But let’s be real, it is hard to combine the supernatural with tech, especially in literature. 

For one, cell phones and the internet can rain on a lot of supernatural horror parades. Why do you think every horror movie and series is set in the 80ies now? (Besides, of course, nostalgia.) In a world where we have an encyclopedia, camera, navigation system and distress beacon in our pockets, it is hard to thread in something as ethereal as ghosts. Being chased by a supernatural force? Take a picture. Google it. Boom, problem solved. 

It doesn’t make for a great story. 

Part of the problem is right there in the name…SuperNATURAL. When it comes to hauntings, witches, and the like my mind tends to think of nature and the distant past. Ancient things like castles, cemeteries, witches terrifying puritans by candlelight. Of course those things all have places in horror both classic and modern, and you will take my gothic horror from my cold dead hands (I LOVE YOU, BETWEEN TWO FIRES.)

However, I recently read two amazing novels that did a great job of combining modern tech, like cell phones and the internet with “old fashioned” supernatural horror literature elements.  The first one I will discuss below, and next week I will bring you my other pick. Stay tuned! 

HEX by Thomas Olde Heuvelt 

HEX is the story of Black Spring, New York– a sleepy hamlet with a witch problem. I don't mean a cloak and dagger kind of witch. In Black Spring there is an actual desiccated witch corpse with stitched up eyes that floats around the town causing mayhem and disaster. When we are introduced to them, the townsfolk have long ago gotten used to the witch “Katherine” and the curse that prevents them from leaving the town. 

The story deals with a lot of history, but it is set in 2012, not the 1700s. Olde Heuvelt masterfully tells an old fashioned story of oppressive supernatural terror and mob mentality while including cell phones, the internet and even social media influencers. 

The town has a whole operating system designed to keep the witch a secret, and to track her movements. they give residents bugged iphones, monitor internet usage, keep tabs on the witch, etc. 

Olde Heuvelt spends a lot of time talking about how such a supernatural horror could be hidden in today’s modern world (he also talks endlessly about pate, a drawback of the book being translated. No one told him that Americans don’t eat pate all day every day as he seems to believe.) 

All the tech talk can feel like it takes up a lot of real estate, but I find the dedication to keeping cell phones and the internet in the story fascinating. In the end, It all collapses anyway. I won’t spoil it for you, but the tech doesn’t save them from the witch or themselves. 

Hex isn’t a perfect book, but it is fresh, innovative and interesting. It asks a lot of questions: How can we all be so connected, but so distant? Is this kind of progress helping us, or just encouraging mob mentality? Is the safety offered by constant contact an illusion? Go get a copy and find out for yourself. 

Part II Coming Soon!