Alex Gonzalez, author of the brilliant, recently released horror novel “rekt,” is back with a chilling new audio series designed for millennials and zillenials — a generation caught in the paradox of oversharing while rarely feeling truly heard.
This upcoming horror anthology taps into our deep-seated urge to tell scary stories as a way of confronting life’s uncertainties and emotional scars. Each 45-minute audio episode centers around a fictional mental wellness app called “Trauma Dump,” which claims to erase users’ most painful memories. Listeners will experience each story from the perspective of a user downloading the app and following its calm, yet unsettlingly precise, instructions. Soon, they’re plunged into a lucid dream state where they must relive their trauma — because to forget it, they must first survive it all over again.
Every episode introduces a new protagonist who activates “Trauma Dump” and is greeted by Maria, a friendly and composed AI guide. Maria assists them in preparing a private space for their session — typically a dark room where they’re free to scream and cry without interruption. Users must also take a pill and wear specialized headgear to initiate the process. Once connected, they slip into a vivid dreamscape where their past haunts come alive.
The anthology spans genres — from supernatural horror and psychological thrillers to grounded tales of abuse and manipulation, even touching on cosmic dread. At its core, the series explores themes like the fear of aging and arrested development. No matter how surreal or disturbing each story becomes, they always circle back to the quiet voice of Maria, who gently asks the user to remove their headset. She confirms the memory has been erased, before softly asking: “How do you feel?”
Written by Alex Gonzalez, the series is brought to life under the production of multimedia producer and performer Taylor Gonzalez, and is directed, produced, and edited by award-winning audio story producer and scriptwriter Eric Emma.
Stay tuned — Maria and her first customer will be ready to haunt your headphones very soon…
I don’t know about you, but this sounds like the kind of premise that could fuel a horror anthology with real staying power and we can’t wait to hear it. In the meantime, we’ll leave you with a recent interiew we conducted with Alex Gonzalez in the run up to the release of the aforementioned “rekt.”
