Haunted Technology: When Everyday Devices Turn Against Us

Technology is supposed to make our lives easier. Phones connect us instantly. Smart speakers answer our questions. TVs and computers entertain us, inform us, and distract us from the stresses of daily life. But what happens when the very devices we rely on, the tools we trust, become the source of dread? Horror has long recognized the chilling power of turning the everyday into the uncanny, and few things unsettle us more than when the machines we depend on start working against us.

Welcome to the world of haunted technology, where static on a screen, a sudden electronic voice, or a cursed file can terrify us more than a monster in the shadows.

The Roots of Tech Horror

The fear of haunted technology is not new. Even in the early days of radio and television, horror storytellers tapped into the unsettling potential of “the new.” Radios could broadcast disembodied voices; what if one wasn’t from this world? TVs, with their glowing screens, already felt ghostly in darkened living rooms. In fact, Poltergeist (1982) famously turned a static-filled TV into a gateway for malevolent spirits.

Japanese horror also embraced this theme. Ringu (1998) weaponized a VHS tape, one of the most mundane household items of its time. Watch the tape, receive a phone call, and die in seven days. The brilliance was in the ordinary: everyone had VHS players, and everyone used them. The horror felt unavoidable.

These stories illustrate the core of tech horror, when the ordinary becomes corrupted, the line between safe and unsafe blurs, and suddenly, even your living room feels like a haunted house.

Why Technology Makes Us Nervous

Why does haunted technology work so well in horror? Part of the answer lies in psychology.

1. Loss of Control:Technology is built to serve us. When it malfunctions—or worse, turns against us—it feels like a betrayal. A smart home that locks you in (Smart House meets Black Mirror) is scarier than a haunted castle because it uses your trust against you.

2. Uncanny Valley Effect:Devices that “mimic” humanity (AI voices, humanoid robots) can cross into the uncanny. They’re almost familiar, but not quite, triggering unease. Horror thrives in that space.

3. Constant Presence:Unlike ancient ruins or cursed forests, technology is everywhere. We can’t escape it. That makes it a perfect horror vehicle—because no one is safe.

Iconic Examples of Haunted Tech in Horror

Poltergeist (1982)

The TV set becomes the centerpiece of terror. When young Carol Anne declares, “They’re here,” while staring at static, every household television suddenly felt sinister.

Ringu (1998) & The Ring (2002)

Few horror concepts are as simple and terrifying as a cursed VHS tape. Its power lay in universality, everyone watched tapes at the time. The sequel’s evolution into cursed phone calls made it even more invasive.

Pulse (Kairo) (2001)

This Japanese horror masterpiece turned the internet itself into a portal of despair. Instead of connecting us, it isolated us, trapping ghosts in the very wires meant to bring us closer.

Videodrome (1983)

David Cronenberg explored how media reshapes our bodies and minds, with television signals literally warping human flesh. Its surreal body horror blurred the line between hallucination and reality, leaving viewers unsettled.

Unfriended (2014)

A ghost in a Zoom-like chatroom stalks and kills, showing how even the most banal digital interaction can harbor supernatural terror.

Host (2020)

Filmed entirely during lockdown, this found-footage hit used a simple Zoom séance gone wrong to create dread in a moment when screens had already become our lifelines.

The Modern Age: Smart Homes, AI, and Digital Demons

Horror continues to evolve alongside technology. Today’s filmmakers and writers have endless material. Consider:

• Smart Speakers: What if your Alexa or Google Home began answering questions you didn’t ask, or worse, revealing knowledge it shouldn’t have?

• AI Chatbots: With AI blurring human-machine lines, what if a chatbot developed obsessions, attachments, or vengeful desires?

• Social Media: Already home to creepy pasta legends like Slender Man, the digital town square can easily become a playground for malevolent forces. Viral horror spreads faster than ever.

• Surveillance Devices: From nanny cams to doorbell cameras, modern homes are filled with “eyes.” In horror, who’s watching whom?

As our lives become more wired, the opportunity for horror grows. A haunted castle might be avoided, but a haunted phone is always in your pocket.

Why Haunted Technology Resonates

At its core, haunted technology speaks to a timeless truth: we fear what we don’t fully understand. Most of us don’t know how Wi-Fi signals work, how AI “thinks,” or how algorithms shape our lives. We trust the mystery to function. When horror reveals that mystery as malevolent, it scratches at deep cultural anxieties about dependence, control, and hidden systems.

It also reflects generational fears. In the 1980s, TVs and VHS tapes were new and ripe for horror. In the 2000s, the internet became the stage. Today, it’s AI and smart devices. Each wave of haunted tech horror mirrors the technology that dominates its era.

Conclusion: Fear in the Wires

Haunted technology works because it feels inescapable. We can avoid creepy forests or abandoned asylums, but we can’t avoid our phones, our computers, our TVs. Horror thrives when the ordinary turns hostile, and nothing is more ordinary, or more essential, than technology.

From cursed videotapes to haunted Zoom calls, tech horror reminds us of a chilling truth: the scariest monsters may not lurk in the shadows. They may already be glowing in the palm of your hand.

My award-winning novel The Given is a cult horror and adventure tale out now.

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