Matthew Salinas, Real Television
reviewed by Alison McBain
Real Television Publisher: Sabala & Salinas, LLC Date: February 10, 2026 Length: 132 pages ASIN: B0G5959RWW |
“This is how I’m going to die... on television... with everyone watching.”
I’ve had the great pleasure of working with Matthew Salinas as the editor of his short story collection A Little Conversation: Diatribes & Dialogues, and so I looked forward to diving into his latest novella, Real Television. The book’s genesis comes from a space near and dear to the author: all proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to the American Cancer Society in honor of the author’s late sister, Lisa Salinas. So, you get a great story out of it as well as supporting a worthy cause.
And horror fans will get a good exchange for their dollars: it’s a quick-paced novella that keeps you on the edge of your seat. If Saw and The Truman Show got married, this would be one of their gory children. It will appeal to readers who appreciate dystopian stories that give us a peek into a future that feels both real and horrendous at the same time. It sucks you in with common elements that we can see today in aspects of reality TV, but which take it to an extreme and unexpected conclusion. For fans of Squid Game or The Hunger Games, this could be a good fix to tide you over until the next season/movie comes out.
The novella begins with a mysterious scenario: five characters wake up in a bare cell lined with the cots they’re lying in and little else, unsure of how they got there. But it doesn’t take long until they realize they’re trapped at one of the infamous detention centers set up across the United States. The purpose of these prisons? They’re temporary holding cells for contestants, who will shortly enter a life-or-death game show. Their only crime was being critical of the current American government, which carries the equivalent to a death sentence. They’ve all lived through a civil war where the grassroots revolution against authoritarianism has failed, and now the government forces have one specific way to silence dissidents: throw them into this gladiator-style TV show.
The story is told from each character’s viewpoint in subsequent chapters. From calm and collected Dawson, the first guy to wake up, to Marcus, who panics and retreats from the others in the cell. Stevie is the last to awaken, and Millie is the only woman of the bunch, and she tries to be practical in her outlook. Even more practical is Silas, a grizzled, older man who’s participated in these games countless times and lets them in on a little secret: all but one of them is going to die. And Silas makes no bones about the fact that he intends to be the one to survive to the last round of the game.
Before the characters even start to plot an escape, they’re confronted by the over-the-top host of the game show, Chet Steazle. He waltzes into their cell, surrounded by guards, and gleefully informs them of the fate they’d already guessed: they’ll be put on live television in a contest to the death. In this near future, the many news channels of the present day have been condensed down to one option, and Chet is Ox News Network’s sadistic star.
And so, the games begin. Who will emerge the winner of each round? Will any of them survive to the end-or are their fates to be sealed in torture and death?
This is a novella that’s not for the faint of heart. While reading it, I was reminded of dystopian works rife with censorship and brutality, such as Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George Orwell’s 1984. But this book has more contemporary sensibilities, and combines the popular slasher genre with darker political overtones, so you get a mixture that is sure to appeal to modern horror fans looking for lots of blood and gore. I’d recommend it for readers who enjoy a quick-paced read to keep them up at night with the question: “Could this ever happen to us?” Life can sometimes imitate art, and the answer might unfortunately be: “Yes.”
Copyright © 2026 by Alison McBain
