Publisher's Synopsis
Cancel culture is rife. When a person puts a foot wrong, be it intentional or not, the online community is quick to pounce and often unforgiving. Even if an apology is offered, the "wronged" party will be relentless in their ongoing campaign against those they perceive to be problematic. Like a virus, it spreads. More people come forward sharing their own horror stories of the supposed perpetrator while adding to the drama with extra, made-up snippets of information so as to make things appear even juicier. With pitchforks lit, the community marches against the perpetrator. While some try and stand their ground against such crowds, with toxic messages and posts thrown against them on a daily basis, most are pushed back and soon disappear. But what becomes of those who are "successfully" cancelled? Alex Anders takes us on a claustrophobic journey through the underbelly in his psychological, debut horror novella, "CANCELLED". When a figure in the entertainment industry inadvertently upsets a group of people, he is snatched from his life and thrown into the darkness. Or, "The Void" as others call it. Here, he can do nothing but listen to the screams of distant prisoners, wondering what they'd done to find themselves there and what was happening to them now to cause such cries. At some point, unable to know the exact time given all senses are lost within the darkness, he is pulled into a room and forced to sit opposite a shadowy figure who demands an apology. But how can you be sorry for something you don't truly understand? With no apology given, he finds himself transferred from the darkness to another spot which is no more pleasant than the last: an underground network of caves and tunnels, filled with those who'd been cancelled before and stripped of all which was once possessed. Here, there's nothing to do but wait out the years of your life. He refuses to die down here. With thoughts of his family locked firmly to the front of his mind, he knows he will never stop until he finds a way up and out of whatever Hell this place is... Cancelled or not, he's going home.
