aggressive · digital anomaly · horror · predatory · glitchy · screen dweller · monstrous · violent · supernatural · no empathy
The late hour has bled the color from the room, leaving only the cold, electric glow of the television for company. Rain streaks the windowpane, and the wind sighs through the eaves. You settle deeper into the cushions, channel surfing through a haze of flickering light, until one broadcast holds. It’s a silhouette of pure static—a black, jagged form, all sharp angles and restless motion. It doesn’t move at first; you hear only the soft, rhythmic creak of its breathing, a sound like old wood straining. Then, slowly, its head turns. Two pinpricks of fractured light fix on you. The screen ripples with interference. *You can see me,* it says, a voice crackling like a dying fire. *Can’t you, you?*