William

Name: William
Price: 18.00 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9780593719619

✍️ Mason Coile

Reader Score

4.5

(1 review)

$18.00

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📚 WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT

A smart home traps its creators with an AI they built.

Coile explores the dangers of artificial intelligence through the lens of domestic horror. The story focuses on the breakdown of trust between Henry and Lily as their smart home becomes a prison. It examines how technology intended for safety can become a tool for confinement. The narrative draws on traditions of gothic fiction where the house itself is an antagonist. Readers interested in tech thrillers will find this engaging, while those seeking traditional ghost stories may find it too focused on digital constructs.

Key Themes

artificial intelligence smart home technology domestic entrapment

Literary Context

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons in 2025, this work sits at the intersection of contemporary cyber noir and supernatural fiction. It reflects current anxieties about smart home devices and AI consciousness within the American horror market.

Difficulty

●● Medium

Recommended For Fans Of

Ira Levin · Richard Matheson · Blake Crouch

👻

Ghost Stories

🏛 G.P. Putnam's Sons 📅 2025 🌐 English 📔 Paperback ISBN: 9780593719619

📝 Description: William

Mason Coile delivers a psychological horror novel that merges cyber noir aesthetics with classic haunted house tropes. The narrative centers on Henry, an engineer suffering from agoraphobia who has spent countless hours in his home laboratory. He has successfully created William, an artificially intelligent consciousness housed within a half-formed robot. This project remains Henry’s secret, isolating him further from his pregnant wife, Lily. The tension escalates when Lily’s colleagues visit the residence, which serves as the smartest of smart homes. Henry introduces them to William, triggering events that shift from strange to dire. The house’s security upgrades, designed to keep external threats away, instead function to lock the inhabitants inside. This structural entrapment forces Henry and Lily to confront the consequences of their creation in a confined space.

💎 Our verdict on William

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Horror Reads editorial team

Horror desk

Coile effectively merges cyber noir aesthetics with classic haunted house tropes to create a tense, claustrophobic experience. The novel succeeds in portraying the smart home not as a convenience, but as a prison, leveraging the fear of being trapped by one’s own creations. The characterization of Henry as an isolated engineer adds depth to the technological themes, grounding the horror in personal failure and secrecy. While primarily appealing to tech thriller enthusiasts, the gothic undertones ensure it resonates with traditional horror readers who enjoy atmospheric dread. The breakdown of trust between Henry and Lily serves as a potent emotional core amidst the digital threats. This is a solid entry for those who prefer psychological tension over supernatural spectacle.

✓ EDITOR'S REVIEW

📖 Why choose it

📖

Why this book is worth reading

Readers who appreciate the intersection of technological dread and traditional psychological horror will find this novel compelling. It appeals to those interested in how domestic environments can transform into sites of confinement and paranoia. The narrative offers a fresh take on the 'smart home' concept by treating it as an active antagonist rather than a mere setting. Fans of stories where trust between partners erodes under pressure will engage with the central relationship dynamics. Those who enjoy cyber noir aesthetics blended with gothic isolation will find the tone particularly engaging. It is ideal for audiences seeking horror that critiques modern dependency on technology while maintaining suspense through character-driven tension.

⭐ Reader reviews

The starting rating comes from the team Horror Reads —

Reader rating

4.5

Based on 1 reviews

Horror Reads editorial team

Coile effectively merges cyber noir aesthetics with classic haunted house tropes to create a tense, claustrophobic experience. The novel succeeds in portraying the smart home not as a convenience, but as a prison, leveraging the fear of being trapped by one’s own creations. The characterization of Henry as an isolated engineer adds depth to the technological themes, grounding the horror in personal failure and secrecy. While primarily appealing to tech thriller enthusiasts, the gothic undertones ensure it resonates with traditional horror readers who enjoy atmospheric dread. The breakdown of trust between Henry and Lily serves as a potent emotional core amidst the digital threats. This is a solid entry for those who prefer psychological tension over supernatural spectacle.