Cancel Culture: A psychological horror

by Matt Shaw

A creative soul who is stuck in a rut as he watches the online community, he once thrived in, systemically destroy itself with vocal members demanding for the cancelation of those they perceive to be "problematic". The constant online bickering and back-stabbing has distracted him from his work and his output has dropped significantly while he ponders whether he even wants to be a part of this world anymore. It's not just his creative work that's suffered either.

He's so wrapped up in what's happening within the online world that he's also been neglecting his wife who has, finally, had enough of this lifestyle. The request for a divorce comes out of the blue and sends his mental health spiralling. He was always so worried about being cancelled online that he never expected it would be his wife who'd be cancelling him. Perhaps, if it had been less of a surprise, he may well have handled it better? And certainly with less violence.

Genres: Horror

52 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 2, 2026

About the author

Biography

MATT SHAW was born, quite by accident (his mother tripped, he shot out) September 30th 1980 in Winchester hospital where he was immediately placed on the baby ward and EBay. Some twelve years later (wandering the corridors of the hospital and playing with road kill when he was on day release), the listing closed and he remained unsold, he was booted out of the hospital to start his life as a writer and hobbit – beginning with writing screenplays and short stories for his own amusement before finally getting published when he was twenty-seven years and forty-five seconds old.


Once Published weekly in a lad's magazine with his photography work, Matt Shaw is also a published author and cartoonist. Has to be said, can be a bit of a flirt and definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, somewhat of a klutz.

Favourite books
"Roald Dahl's Collection of Short Stories"
Tim Burton's Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy
Anything, really, written by himself. Because he is that good.

Reviews

[Eunice Anne]

Don't Let the Length Fool You.

It’s only 52 pages, but I highly recommend reading it in one sitting. Trust me on this—if you stop halfway and come back days later (like I did), you might find yourself thinking, “Wait… what? Who is this again?” You’ll lose the momentum, and this story really depends on that continuous flow.
Don’t underestimate it just because it’s short. This book plays tricks on your mind in the best (and creepiest) way. By the time I finished, I honestly felt like going back and rereading the last few chapters… or even the whole thing again just to piece everything together.
The psychological aspect is seriously well done. It keeps you questioning what’s real the entire time. And as for the title? Yeah—no way I’m “canceling” this one.
If you’re into thrillers, or even if you’re new to the genre, I definitely recommend giving this a read.

[Mellisa]

Summary: A man obsessed with what he sees on the Internet, to the point he is overcome with rage - and this is the beginning of his end.

Review: 52 pages! So much brilliance, tension, and gore in just 52 pages. Extreme horror fans - this is a read for you.

[Rebecca]

I never really know how to rate a Matt Shaw book, cause, how the fuck do you??
I guess this was a typical shaw book though, I thought i knew where it was heading, then I kinda had a shock!!
Id say this was one of his more gentle reads and even though I cant quite put into words what it made me feel/think I would recommend this to others.

[jd & angie grafton]

A very good book.

Matt at his finest. I sure do like his books. I'm so ready to read the next book. How a husband and wife got along or not???My husband even read it and he enjoyed the book.

[Stephen Motson]

Good story

Just 1 criticism - how could the wife plan to go stay at with her sister when she was an only-child?

[Nollaig Kelly]

A. Short sharp shock

A marriage breaks down , whom is to blame
Some nice twists, not what I was expecting from the titles name

[Oliver Behegan]

Well written, as you'd expect, albeit a few errors in the Kindle version, but not really my cup of tea.

[Marktroth]

CANCEL CULTURE

Another great horror story from Matt shaw have read quite a few of his short stories about horror and most of them have been really good

[Beca Miller]

[***2 STARS***]

I normally really enjoy Matt Shaw's works, but I just couldn't click with this one! Great concept, twisted ending, but I have prefered his other works 😕

[Trish]

Miserable online and lonely offline, the toxicity of social media exposed through a dark yet heart wrenching narrative. She finds it easy to scroll and block, perhaps he could learn from emulating her?

If you are looking for an introduction to Matt Shaw’s extreme range, the black cover extreme series (of which this is book 15) this is THE place to start. How these can be so short yet simultaneously so powerful is beyond me.