Hellscraper

by Elie Ra

Brian is a financial analyst who hates his job, his boss, and the life he never chose. Then his Manhattan office building slides into Hell.

Outside the lava and black void. coworkers twisted into spider-headed scavengers, wolf-hybrid managers, and fire-corpses that still remember performance reviews. His overbearing boss comes back wrong. Brian kills him with a crowbar and keeps climbing.

Alone except for Lia, a golden retriever left behind on the design floor, Brian fortifies, scavenges, and follows a trail of impossible doors and ancient secrets toward the top of a building that shouldn't exist. Friends wait in the dark. So does something older than the company, and far more interested in Brian than he is in surviving.

Hellscraper is a dark supernatural thriller where office satire meets survival horror, and the only way out is through.

293 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 5, 2026

About the author

With a Master’s in Math and two decades of professional software engineering, Elie doesn't just write science fiction—he architects it. His work is grounded in the reality of large-scale systems and the relentless logic of the physical world. From his home in San Francisco, he explores the volatile intersection of cutting-edge science and speculative fiction

Reviews

[Michelle Lamirande · Rating 3.25 out of 5]

This was another ARC I received so thank you to the author and Netgalley for that. However, this is one of those books where you kind of have to just tough it out until you get to the revelation of the plot. There was body horror and it was hell-ish which are things that I do look for in horror books and especially with this book that’s titled Hellscraper. However, I think it did take a while for all the points to connect so the excitement wasn’t as prevalent. I did quite like that ending though particularly the last sentence of the book.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

He hates his job so much but how will he cope when his office building falls into hell. He will battle his way through the floors in the building while fighting demons as he goes. Something is coming for him so see how it will all go
I received an advance copy from hidden gems and a great thriller