I Saw the TV Glow writer-director Jane Schoenbrun will publish their debut novel, Public Access Afterworld, on October 27 via Hogarth Books.
Described as “a mesmerizing mashup of speculative fiction, horror, and conspiracy,” the 608-page novel is about a mysterious realm on the other side of our screens, a dark force that draws victims into its static, and the unlikely hero called to save them and herself from this electric hell.
The official synopsis reads: “Find the receiver. Make it real.
“At 5:35pm on September 3rd, 1988, Dallas weatherman Ray ‘Can You Say Sunshine’ Davino makes passing reference to Public Access Afterworld during a rambling monologue, right before he puts a gun to his head on live television and pulls the trigger.
“On June 12th, 2009, David Sawyer and Erin Morrison, two lonely, TV-obsessed suburban teens who might be falling in love, gather in Erin’s basement to watch TV’s analog-to-digital transition. But in the static that follows, Erin witnesses surreal broadcasts from a pirate TV network called Public Access Afterworld and their lives are changed forever.
“17 years later, Bethany Peters toils through the night shift at megacorp GlobalVill’s bleak Austin campus. A trans content moderator, she spends her evenings reviewing an endless stream of horrific videos. But then a young streamer begins to crop up in her feed calling out to Public Access Afterworld.
“But what is Public Access Afterworld?
“Spanning decades and realities, with an unforgettable ensemble of outcasts and nerds, especially the messy but wholly relatable Bethany who must overcome paranoia and self-doubt to transform into a hero of our times, Public Access Afterworld will have you reading through the night and rooting for its characters to survive.”
Schoenbrun’s next film, the queer meta slasher Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, opens in theaters August 7 via Mubi.
