Public Access Afterworld by Jane Schoenbrun review – horror in the TV static

The Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma writer-director’s first novel is a wry, hugely fun journey into the dark world behind our screensPublic Access Afterworld is the first novel by Jane Schoenbrun, director of cult-hit horror film I Saw the TV Glow and the more recent Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma; movies in which screens are a permeable barrier and people are menaced by the uncanny realms that lurk behind them. Here the main character is Bethany Peters, a young trans woman working as a content moderator at a YouTube-like company called GlobalVill. Her job is to watch “offensive, illegal, disturbing videos that have no place on the internet” and press a red button to remove those that violate the code of conduct. One night she sees a video posted by someone with the username JulesPublicAccessAfterworld, a visibly malnourished non-binary kid who reminds Bethany of herself “before her stay in hospital, and everything that happened to her there”. The kid say