What do you think?
Rate this book
Smiley Face
Tonight’s artist is… you."
In the darkest corners of the internet, there's a livestream known only to the most depraved viewers. No one knows where it originates. No one knows who runs it. But everyone knows its star.
Smiley.
A masked figure in a bloodstained surgical coat, Smiley doesn’t kill. He transforms. Victims are paralyzed, bound, and displayed under flickering lights. Their flesh becomes canvas. Their faces are split, reshaped, wired into permanent expressions of agonized bliss—all performed live for an anonymous audience hungry for disfigurement-as-art.
When sixteen-year-old Harper Wren stumbles across the stream, she doesn’t look away. Isolated, suicidal, and obsessed with the grotesque, Harper doesn’t fear Smiley.
She worships him.
As she dives deeper into the Smile Room forums—tracking “Smilers” in real life, studying nerve diagrams, and practicing surgical mock-ups on herself—Harper is pulled closer to the screen.
Until the day it looks back.
And chooses her.
For fans of extreme horror, body modification, surgical terror, and psychological descent.
Smiley Face is a brutal, graphic, and unrelenting journey into obsession, identity, and the performance of pain.
In the darkest corners of the internet, there's a livestream known only to the most depraved viewers. No one knows where it originates. No one knows who runs it. But everyone knows its star.
Smiley.
A masked figure in a bloodstained surgical coat, Smiley doesn’t kill. He transforms. Victims are paralyzed, bound, and displayed under flickering lights. Their flesh becomes canvas. Their faces are split, reshaped, wired into permanent expressions of agonized bliss—all performed live for an anonymous audience hungry for disfigurement-as-art.
When sixteen-year-old Harper Wren stumbles across the stream, she doesn’t look away. Isolated, suicidal, and obsessed with the grotesque, Harper doesn’t fear Smiley.
She worships him.
As she dives deeper into the Smile Room forums—tracking “Smilers” in real life, studying nerve diagrams, and practicing surgical mock-ups on herself—Harper is pulled closer to the screen.
Until the day it looks back.
And chooses her.
For fans of extreme horror, body modification, surgical terror, and psychological descent.
Smiley Face is a brutal, graphic, and unrelenting journey into obsession, identity, and the performance of pain.
122 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 3, 2025
2 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 23, 2025
Smiley Face by Danielle Naibert balances grit and lyricism in a way that feels both raw and tender, giving us a narrative that’s “grotesquely beautiful.”
Harper’s journey into the depths of the black web is less about the shock value of its shadows and more about what she finds within herself as she navigates them. Naibert approaches this unusual terrain with surprising poetry, crafting images and moments that feel sharp, unsettling, yet at times unexpectedly gentle. It’s this tension, between danger and discovery, chaos and clarity, that makes the story memorable.
Harper’s journey into the depths of the black web is less about the shock value of its shadows and more about what she finds within herself as she navigates them. Naibert approaches this unusual terrain with surprising poetry, crafting images and moments that feel sharp, unsettling, yet at times unexpectedly gentle. It’s this tension, between danger and discovery, chaos and clarity, that makes the story memorable.
July 21, 2025
First… this cover I’m obsessed. I picked this read purely on this cover and knew nothing going in. This read is a freakin' trip. I finished this book and honestly, I need a whole new set of eyeballs. 🫣
This isn't just a book; it's an experience. A visceral, grotesque, and mind-bending dive into the darkest corners of the internet where art isn’t created—it’s carved into flesh. We're talking about Smiley, the twisted "artist" behind a secret, live-streamed nightmare where victims are turned into permanent displays of pain and agony. AND it’s all for an anonymous audience with an appetite for the morbid. I mean... this is a fever dream come to life.
The protagonist, Harper Wren, She’s isolated, she’s got this raw, tortured self-destructive vibe, and instead of running away from the horror, she dives headfirst into it. She starts mimicking Smiley’s surgical mockups on herself—yep, you read that right.
The book flips the script on beauty and pain, tearing apart the lines between art, violence, obsession, and identity. You’re going to feel this one deep in your bones.
If you want to push the limits of psychological horror, body terror, and just... the darkest parts of human obsession, SMILEY FACE will make you question reality—and your own limits.
👁️💀💥 A must-read for extreme horror fans, but be warned—you’ll never look at a smile the same way again😃
This isn't just a book; it's an experience. A visceral, grotesque, and mind-bending dive into the darkest corners of the internet where art isn’t created—it’s carved into flesh. We're talking about Smiley, the twisted "artist" behind a secret, live-streamed nightmare where victims are turned into permanent displays of pain and agony. AND it’s all for an anonymous audience with an appetite for the morbid. I mean... this is a fever dream come to life.
The protagonist, Harper Wren, She’s isolated, she’s got this raw, tortured self-destructive vibe, and instead of running away from the horror, she dives headfirst into it. She starts mimicking Smiley’s surgical mockups on herself—yep, you read that right.
The book flips the script on beauty and pain, tearing apart the lines between art, violence, obsession, and identity. You’re going to feel this one deep in your bones.
If you want to push the limits of psychological horror, body terror, and just... the darkest parts of human obsession, SMILEY FACE will make you question reality—and your own limits.
👁️💀💥 A must-read for extreme horror fans, but be warned—you’ll never look at a smile the same way again😃
July 24, 2025
Smiley performs macabre surgery, live streaming on the dark web to his sicko fans.
Former ‘patients’ form the live in house audience. Harper watches the smiler online. She’s isolated herself from the world. She doesn’t enjoy hurting others but she does like to watch.
The question is how do you define beauty?
Harper becomes obsessed. She truly ‘sees’ and the story unfolds from here…
This is a quick read. I read this in one sitting. I could not put this down. Great body horror.
January 5, 2026
A Psychological Campfire Story
This one was a lot more fun than I expected it would be. It felt like one of those stories that you would hear when camping, chocolate dripping off your chin, as you just stared blankly at the person talking.
I read it in a rapid-fire manner, which felt right and probably why it worked so well. Full-on paragraphs would feel wrong.
This was a slow descent into acceptance then regret.
5 out of 5 severed thumbs-up.
This one was a lot more fun than I expected it would be. It felt like one of those stories that you would hear when camping, chocolate dripping off your chin, as you just stared blankly at the person talking.
I read it in a rapid-fire manner, which felt right and probably why it worked so well. Full-on paragraphs would feel wrong.
This was a slow descent into acceptance then regret.
5 out of 5 severed thumbs-up.
December 31, 2025
“A smile is not an expression. It is a wound that never closes.”
This book is visceral and violent and contains A LOT of body horror.
It was so, SO good. I think about this book often, and sooner than later, I will be re-reading it.
"I’ve never smiled right. I’ve never fit into this face. I was born wrong. But he—he makes people right. He’s making us from the inside out. He’s showing us what we really are.”
It follows the FMC, Harper Wren, and her twisted desires that blur the lines between beauty and horror. I just can't describe anything without giving it all away, so you should read it (at your own risk ;D).
This is extreme horror/splatterpunk. Read at your own risk.
This book is visceral and violent and contains A LOT of body horror.
It was so, SO good. I think about this book often, and sooner than later, I will be re-reading it.
"I’ve never smiled right. I’ve never fit into this face. I was born wrong. But he—he makes people right. He’s making us from the inside out. He’s showing us what we really are.”
It follows the FMC, Harper Wren, and her twisted desires that blur the lines between beauty and horror. I just can't describe anything without giving it all away, so you should read it (at your own risk ;D).
This is extreme horror/splatterpunk. Read at your own risk.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews