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Cursed Images: Scary Stories from a Child of the Internet
Webkinz, Furbies, and Tamagotchis, oh my!
Relive the 2000s in the most gruesome of ways with Cursed Images: Scary Stories from a Child of the Internet by Kassidy VanGundy. In this short horror story collection, the digital world and reality collide, creating a dangerous space in between. Trudge through the terrors of the early web and let your nostalgia become your nightmare.
The Twilight Zone meets listening to “Barbie Girl” by Aqua on loop, this body of work echoes the stories told at your favorite sleep overs. It is a love letter to all of us that are chronically online, who have been escaping to cyberspace for years and find ourselves getting trapped in a rabbit hole of creepypastas to this day.
Hold onto your dolphin nightlight, kids.
After all, what could possibly be scarier than sUm1 WhU tLx LiK dIs?
Relive the 2000s in the most gruesome of ways with Cursed Images: Scary Stories from a Child of the Internet by Kassidy VanGundy. In this short horror story collection, the digital world and reality collide, creating a dangerous space in between. Trudge through the terrors of the early web and let your nostalgia become your nightmare.
The Twilight Zone meets listening to “Barbie Girl” by Aqua on loop, this body of work echoes the stories told at your favorite sleep overs. It is a love letter to all of us that are chronically online, who have been escaping to cyberspace for years and find ourselves getting trapped in a rabbit hole of creepypastas to this day.
Hold onto your dolphin nightlight, kids.
After all, what could possibly be scarier than sUm1 WhU tLx LiK dIs?
- GenresHorrorShort Stories
149 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 10, 2023
3 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Kassidy VanGundy
15 books32 followersKassidy VanGundy was born and raised in South Bend, IN, a city juxtaposed between Chicago and a sea of cornfields. Built with a set of wings, she set out to see as many parts of the world as she could, from Athens to Sao Paulo. Although, she admits that heat lightning and driving on dirt roads occasionally tempts her to come back home. Right now, she’s nesting on the East Coast with her beautiful husband, Douglas, who is constantly subjected to chapter reviews of her writing, especially during the development of her first book, Cursed Fate.
In 2020, Kassidy VanGundy graduated from the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University with her Masters in International Affairs and a specialization in Diplomacy, where she also taught multiple courses on sustainable development within the earth and environment department. Prior to this experience, she graduated from Hanover College with her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and a minor in English. She incorporates everything she’s learned from both her academic and personal experiences into her work.
In 2020, Kassidy VanGundy graduated from the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University with her Masters in International Affairs and a specialization in Diplomacy, where she also taught multiple courses on sustainable development within the earth and environment department. Prior to this experience, she graduated from Hanover College with her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and a minor in English. She incorporates everything she’s learned from both her academic and personal experiences into her work.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 23, 2025
Picture it: the 2000’s. Hair bleach bubbled & fizzed on sizzling scalps, just to be hidden under trucker hats eventually. The internet was cranking out the worst things that humanity had to offer since the colosseum days, all for our prepubescent entertainment. The term “metrosexual” was invented in order to shame men who bathed daily. Accomplished women came to fisticuffs just to be the arm candy for the roast chicken known as Flavor Flav. EVERYONE was problematic. Boy bands & their supporters were all properly bullied, when you could still do that. It was a magical, frightening time to be alive. Those of us that survived it are probably all in therapy now, but we love some nostalgia. Well leave it to Kassidy VanGundy to bring all the nightmares back, while adding more layers of fright with Cursed Images: Scary Stories from a Child of the Internet.
Kassidy throws her readers into a time machine that open up allll the old wounds while simultaneously creating new ones. All of these stories cover different phenomena from those blissfully ignorant times. From what *could* have went down with y2k to the devastating after effects of burning someone your playlist. Watching your MySpace top 8 drop like flies to what happens when your tamagotchi dies. She has covered all of the bases & triggered memories I thought I had fully repressed ages ago. The stories in this collection were all very well written & fun flashbacks, but don’t let the Barbie Girl vibes fool you, there’s some brutal scenes in this as well as some devastating ones. The Burned CD one tugged at my baby gay heartstrings.🥺 I highly recommend this collection to those of all ages, but especially to those 1337 gamers that woke up pwned by lower back pain & knees that pop this morning.
Kassidy throws her readers into a time machine that open up allll the old wounds while simultaneously creating new ones. All of these stories cover different phenomena from those blissfully ignorant times. From what *could* have went down with y2k to the devastating after effects of burning someone your playlist. Watching your MySpace top 8 drop like flies to what happens when your tamagotchi dies. She has covered all of the bases & triggered memories I thought I had fully repressed ages ago. The stories in this collection were all very well written & fun flashbacks, but don’t let the Barbie Girl vibes fool you, there’s some brutal scenes in this as well as some devastating ones. The Burned CD one tugged at my baby gay heartstrings.🥺 I highly recommend this collection to those of all ages, but especially to those 1337 gamers that woke up pwned by lower back pain & knees that pop this morning.
September 9, 2024
This short story collection is everything. Spanning the gamut from MySpace’s sinister top 8, immortal Tamagotchis, to a Lovecraftian Furby story that was equal parts chilling and hilarious, this is one not to miss.
January 21, 2024
I absolutely loved this short story collection, which felt like a love letter to the 90s/early 2000s era of technology. I would highly recommend this to any horror fans who grew up during this time. So much nostalgia! 😍
March 16, 2023
Quick, fun read of internet/tech horror short stories.
Y2K: Neighbors help combat Y2K
The Tomagotchi Effect: A girl learns how she can keep her Tamagotchi’s alive forever.
Burned:Jonah burns cds for guys to give to their girlfriends. When the girls discover the truth, they are angry and heartbroken. They also return all of the cds that now have recordings of people when they found out.
Top 8:My favorite is about MySpace’s top 8 list. What if someone had the power to change your life by changing where you are on their list.
Creature Feature: Peter gets a job at Blockbuster hoping to meet girls. When he finally has his late night movie date with the girl of his dreams it doesn’t go as planned.
Fuzzballs: Webkinz are all the rage. Emily’s hospital room is full of them. Unfortunately, Emily is dying, but the Webkinz make her an offer of eternal life.
MuRmUr: Stephanie and her friends decide to conjure a demon in Stephanie’s treehouse.
Pwned: Amanda is a gamer with her own channel. She decides to Dox some gamers who cheated and beat her. Amanda shares their info with her audience.
Odd Bodies: when on a search for a Charizard card the person discovers a Furby instead. They plan to reburbish it. Once refurbished, the Furby has plans of his own.
Meme Queen: The Finale
When a girl begins receiving spam chain letters she decides to
respond. She just might meet the urban legend the Backroom Browser.
Y2K: Neighbors help combat Y2K
The Tomagotchi Effect: A girl learns how she can keep her Tamagotchi’s alive forever.
Burned:Jonah burns cds for guys to give to their girlfriends. When the girls discover the truth, they are angry and heartbroken. They also return all of the cds that now have recordings of people when they found out.
Top 8:My favorite is about MySpace’s top 8 list. What if someone had the power to change your life by changing where you are on their list.
Creature Feature: Peter gets a job at Blockbuster hoping to meet girls. When he finally has his late night movie date with the girl of his dreams it doesn’t go as planned.
Fuzzballs: Webkinz are all the rage. Emily’s hospital room is full of them. Unfortunately, Emily is dying, but the Webkinz make her an offer of eternal life.
MuRmUr: Stephanie and her friends decide to conjure a demon in Stephanie’s treehouse.
Pwned: Amanda is a gamer with her own channel. She decides to Dox some gamers who cheated and beat her. Amanda shares their info with her audience.
Odd Bodies: when on a search for a Charizard card the person discovers a Furby instead. They plan to reburbish it. Once refurbished, the Furby has plans of his own.
Meme Queen: The Finale
When a girl begins receiving spam chain letters she decides to
respond. She just might meet the urban legend the Backroom Browser.
November 12, 2025
Each story in this collection exists in the same universe and all of them start out with a sweet sense of nostalgia that turns deadly. Each item or part of the internet targets its victims' weaknesses, using their youthful inexperience for its evil motives. Tamagotchis, Furbys, and so many other things from this era aren't innocent here.
The deadly nature in these tales quickly climbs onto the pages. As readers experience the stories, we reflect on the authenticity of our memories, why we felt nostalgic for these things, and what happens when we let them take us over instead of focusing on important people and things we have presently in our lives.
As an elder millennial, I was able to easily connect with most of the stories (I went from having the internet and cable as a child and preteen to not when I was 13 because I had to move in with my great aunt. So I didn’t have MySpace and things like that later on). Despite that, all of the stories are enjoyable. I think other generations would like this collection too.
The deadly nature in these tales quickly climbs onto the pages. As readers experience the stories, we reflect on the authenticity of our memories, why we felt nostalgic for these things, and what happens when we let them take us over instead of focusing on important people and things we have presently in our lives.
As an elder millennial, I was able to easily connect with most of the stories (I went from having the internet and cable as a child and preteen to not when I was 13 because I had to move in with my great aunt. So I didn’t have MySpace and things like that later on). Despite that, all of the stories are enjoyable. I think other generations would like this collection too.
March 21, 2023
Silly, thrilling, and chilling to the bone! Miss VanGundy never disappoints with her storytelling skills! I love every single story in this collection so so much!
April 20, 2025
This was a really fun time! All the stories are based on something different from the late 90’s and early 00’s with a spooky twist. I’m looking forward to the author’s next short story collection!
May 16, 2023
This was a fun bit of 90s/early 2000s nostalgia! I had a really good time reading this collection of stories. Each one is built around some trend of the 90s/early 2000s...the Y2K bug, tamagachis, burning CDs, MySpace, etc. As with all collections, some stories worked better than others for me, but all were between 3-4 stars for me. Nothing that blew me away but overall it was just a very fun horror read that reminded me of a lot of things from my childhood.
March 22, 2023
OMFG DIS 📖!!!!!!!!! The Exorcist for people who grew up waiting on the dial up internet to connect so they could chat on ICQ. Seriously, think about how in 00-10 it felt like we as teens were going through some new form of the satanic panic, one brought on by our elders fear of tech. We have to protect Kassidy VanGundy at all costs: this is my main takeaway from this book. VanGundy uses a distinct writing voice to connect you to everything we loved, burnt cds, Tamagotchis, weird kryPtIc cell phone talk, blockbuster, and anything else you look back on and think “wow, I miss that.” The difference is, VanGundy isn’t doing this for pure nostalgia; she’s writing these stories to get under your skin in ways you didn’t think a MySpace top 8 should. Not only that, but this book has some genuine LAWLZ moments! We talk A LOT about the “modern Goosebumps” series, we do, it’s all any of us aged 30-40 want. Cursed Images is it. These stories feel like Stine decided to write some serious horror for people our age who grew up reading his books. The fun twists that you loved and expected out of those books are here, but rated R so your parents will have to use their card to rent them at Blockbuster. Srsly, I’ll BRB, GTG fix my top 4; bt while I’m gon, get dis 📖 k thx.
July 9, 2023
Technological Terrors!
While more of a “young adult of the Internet,” this collection of scary tales brought a cool spark of nostalgia along with its bizarre tales of popular 90s/00s fads. My favorites were “Y2K:An Introduction,” which brought me back to the fear of the turn of the millennium, “Creature Feature,” a fun reminder of renting videos at a brick-and-mortar, “Pwned,” a tale of internet tough guys gone wrong, and “Meme Queen: The Finale” whose twist I did not see coming. Well written and a lot of fun to read!
While more of a “young adult of the Internet,” this collection of scary tales brought a cool spark of nostalgia along with its bizarre tales of popular 90s/00s fads. My favorites were “Y2K:An Introduction,” which brought me back to the fear of the turn of the millennium, “Creature Feature,” a fun reminder of renting videos at a brick-and-mortar, “Pwned,” a tale of internet tough guys gone wrong, and “Meme Queen: The Finale” whose twist I did not see coming. Well written and a lot of fun to read!
September 16, 2025
Set around Y2k, this collection of short stories with a fun wrap around tale is a fun, chill inducing, blast from the past.
Featuring old websites and electronic products from that time period, it sweeps you back in time and clawing at the door! It really did creep me out in spots and was so much fun. I never liked Furbies and this collection ensures I never, ever will!
You need an escape and enjoy creeptastic stories? You won't go wrong with this one. It's 2025, do you know where your electronic toys are?
Featuring old websites and electronic products from that time period, it sweeps you back in time and clawing at the door! It really did creep me out in spots and was so much fun. I never liked Furbies and this collection ensures I never, ever will!
You need an escape and enjoy creeptastic stories? You won't go wrong with this one. It's 2025, do you know where your electronic toys are?
December 18, 2023
Cursed Images by Kassidy VanGundy is hugely entertaining nostalgia-core horror. It reads like vaporwave creepypasta. VanGundy puts anthropomorphic terror into Tamagochi, Webkinz and Furbies alike. The stories tap into our latent fears about technology and the way we’ve adopted it as a social prosthetic in an isolating world. The Old Ones are alive and we’ve given them a door to our world through our toys!
August 18, 2024
Considering the price (2 to 3 Eur on Amazon) the price-value ratio is excellent.
Ideas are usually very good. For my taste the writing could be better with more details on what the characters feel and especially a more accurate description of scenes and stuff that is going on. I think the old mantra of editing, editing, editing went a bit too far here, 10% more text on every story would be better but I guess this is more a personal preference.
Happy to read more from Kassidy.
Ideas are usually very good. For my taste the writing could be better with more details on what the characters feel and especially a more accurate description of scenes and stuff that is going on. I think the old mantra of editing, editing, editing went a bit too far here, 10% more text on every story would be better but I guess this is more a personal preference.
Happy to read more from Kassidy.
November 18, 2025
This book was so much fun! 😍 I met Kassidy at a Halloween Book Signing & she was so friendly! We chatted about the fads of the internet & how memes have taken over . I also talked to her partner at the signing as we admired a new hardcover set of Lovecraft. He ended up buying the set.
I would stayed longer but other people had questions & book buying in mind. I absolutely plan to buy her other book about social media!
I would stayed longer but other people had questions & book buying in mind. I absolutely plan to buy her other book about social media!
June 15, 2023
Kids of the 90s, Buy it NOW!
Chain mail, furbies, blockbuster movies rentals this collection of short stories has it all and more! Such a nostalgic read with a spooky twist. VanGundy captures readers with her exciting writing and extremely relatable stories. An easy 10/10. The Webkinz & Blockbuster stories were my favorite!!!
Chain mail, furbies, blockbuster movies rentals this collection of short stories has it all and more! Such a nostalgic read with a spooky twist. VanGundy captures readers with her exciting writing and extremely relatable stories. An easy 10/10. The Webkinz & Blockbuster stories were my favorite!!!
June 18, 2023
This book is amazing! The stories are all good, I particularly liked Odd Bodies and Meme Queen, but what really loved was the way they connected to each other. It adds something extra that makes this book truly memorable.
August 25, 2023
I read through all of these stories in one sitting and loved them all! Out of all of them I think the finale takes the cake as #1 and I for sure see myself picking this up to read the individual stories again! It gave all the nostalgic creepy pasta vibes!
March 11, 2024
90s kids rejoice—this is the book for you! I loved each of these pieces, my favorite being Pwned. Cursed Images is an excellent, fast-paced read, and I recommend it to those looking for a nostalgic horror read.
April 28, 2023
*Review to Come*
July 13, 2025
So many amazing short stories in here! I especially loved how some of them were interconnected and flowed into one another. This author has a lovely way of describing complex emotion and the stories weave in a folktale sense of morality in the modern age. Great read! I can’t wait to get to volume two
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews