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Digital Darkness - Author's Preferred Edition
Vanessa just wanted to see her favorite musician in concert. Now, she's fighting for her life against ravenous rats and superhuman sentries in a game called Rusted Blood. But surviving is only the beginning. The virtual reality she tries so desperately to escape has spilled into the real world, and the sinister inhabitants and architects of the game have come with it.
In this new, author's preferred edition of Digital Darkness, Splatterpunk Award winner Lucas Mangum (author of Snow Angels, Gods of the Dark Web and Saint Sadist) invites you into a nightmare where reality isn't what it seems.
The book is for fans of ARGs and survival horror. It contains graphic content and a deep sense of derealization.
In this new, author's preferred edition of Digital Darkness, Splatterpunk Award winner Lucas Mangum (author of Snow Angels, Gods of the Dark Web and Saint Sadist) invites you into a nightmare where reality isn't what it seems.
The book is for fans of ARGs and survival horror. It contains graphic content and a deep sense of derealization.
219 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 9, 2025
1 person is currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Lucas Mangum
51 books126 followersLucas Mangum is an author currently living in Austin, TX.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 8, 2025
Vanessa wakes up in an abandoned place she's never been. The last thing she remembers is heading to see a concert. How did she get here? She's also not alone. When everyone wakes up, they immediately try to find help. Instead, they are met with life or death situations and they need to get out of there fast. This virtual reality world is dangerous and they will soon find out just how bad it really is.
Tanya is a popular creator online. She has a series called They Slipped Through where she looks at unsolved cases of people who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. She meets a boy who tells her about Rusted Blood. A game that one survivor claimed was based on her personal experience. Once Tanya looks into it, strange things start to happen and she's stuck in a weird reality. And there's only one person who can help her.
What a wild ride! As a reader, you feel like you're in a game and you're player 1. You feel like you're running away from the creatures in the game and the details are great! The hooded creatures are incredible! If you've read God's Of The Dark Web by Mangum, you will appreciate all the Easter Eggs in here. There are also several other eggs sprinkled in from his other books which I enjoyed seeing. Such a unique and fun book this was! Mangum has an incredible talent for pulling you into his stories and as a reader, it's a great experience! Very creepy, bloody at times, unsettling characters, and a great time!
Tanya is a popular creator online. She has a series called They Slipped Through where she looks at unsolved cases of people who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. She meets a boy who tells her about Rusted Blood. A game that one survivor claimed was based on her personal experience. Once Tanya looks into it, strange things start to happen and she's stuck in a weird reality. And there's only one person who can help her.
What a wild ride! As a reader, you feel like you're in a game and you're player 1. You feel like you're running away from the creatures in the game and the details are great! The hooded creatures are incredible! If you've read God's Of The Dark Web by Mangum, you will appreciate all the Easter Eggs in here. There are also several other eggs sprinkled in from his other books which I enjoyed seeing. Such a unique and fun book this was! Mangum has an incredible talent for pulling you into his stories and as a reader, it's a great experience! Very creepy, bloody at times, unsettling characters, and a great time!
September 15, 2025
If you have read Lucas Mangum’s Gods of the Dark Web, it won’t take you long to see that these books tie in. You don’t need to have read it to read and enjoy Digital Darkness, but if you haven’t read it, you should.
digitaldarkness1bLike Gods of the Dark Web, Digital Darkness is a disturbing and compelling read full of gut-clenching suspense and horrifying imagery. But in spite of the elements that connect the two books (no spoilers), the stories themselves are quite different. In Digital Darkness, Mangum drops you directly into the thick of it and does character reveal along the way. Strap in and hang on, this carnival ride has dangerous turns and even the characterization is not a safe lull.
And the characters … Mangum’s skill with writing relatable and realistic characters is at its best in this one. You get to know these people. You feel with them and for them. The character interaction is flowing and realistic and is one of the things that makes this book so engrossing. Other things that make it engrossing include the suspense, the horrors, and Mangum’s incredible writing style.
But the story’s the thing. Digital Darkness is complex and vivid, full of not just suspense and horror but disturbing imagery. The tension is incredible. It makes the whole book a (sometimes unpleasant) sensory experience. It’s part of a terrifying horror mythos (hopefully myth, hopefully fictional) the author has created. It’s dark and evocative and drags your mind and emotions into levels of terror only Lucas Mangum can create.
digitaldarkness1bLike Gods of the Dark Web, Digital Darkness is a disturbing and compelling read full of gut-clenching suspense and horrifying imagery. But in spite of the elements that connect the two books (no spoilers), the stories themselves are quite different. In Digital Darkness, Mangum drops you directly into the thick of it and does character reveal along the way. Strap in and hang on, this carnival ride has dangerous turns and even the characterization is not a safe lull.
And the characters … Mangum’s skill with writing relatable and realistic characters is at its best in this one. You get to know these people. You feel with them and for them. The character interaction is flowing and realistic and is one of the things that makes this book so engrossing. Other things that make it engrossing include the suspense, the horrors, and Mangum’s incredible writing style.
But the story’s the thing. Digital Darkness is complex and vivid, full of not just suspense and horror but disturbing imagery. The tension is incredible. It makes the whole book a (sometimes unpleasant) sensory experience. It’s part of a terrifying horror mythos (hopefully myth, hopefully fictional) the author has created. It’s dark and evocative and drags your mind and emotions into levels of terror only Lucas Mangum can create.
December 28, 2025
This is great. Spooky media vibes, digital hauntings, mysterious video games, and fun action. It's got a great vibe to it. Check it out.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews