Spoilers are for the Drb0sch FNV horror series on YouTube! Watch it now, or a video that explains it, if that sounds interesting to you!
TLDR: Book with a protagonist suffering in a lonely, warped hell that distorts the world they're used to and haunts them.
I fell in love with the desolate depiction of the out of bounds from this Fallout New Vegas ARG. The protagonist in this set of videos goes out of bounds of the playable map, and finds himself in a "hell", an alternate timeline where the game world as we know it is twisted into an empty, lonely wasteland with no one, not even enemies- or at least visible ones.
It has constant references to the "what could have been" that haunts the FNV fanbase, references of cut content from "Van Buren", the cancelled Fallout installment from the original studios that made the first two games. It was almost like the game was punishing the player for holding onto FNV, for constantly wanting more and mourning for everything that we didn't get.
I'm really trying to sell it and capture the sheer atmosphere to the best of my abilities, because I absolutely adore it. I want more of this feeling and atmosphere. I understand that what makes me like this so much is because it hits so close to home for me, but the feeling of loneliness, that PERFECT execution of the backrooms concept, being where you're not supposed to be in a twisted version of the status quo, but there still being that out of sight but constantly looming threat (there was a point in the series where the character is crouched, and the danger marker at the top of the screen read "Caution", then a sound plays that is usually only heard when the player character with the "Cannibal" perk devours a corpse. Wwwahhh so scary.) I LOVE IT.
I don't usually read much, so I'd figure a place with a lot of experienced horror readers is a good place to ask. So I'd like assistance with my search for books that align with these themes! Thank you, and I strongly recommend that you watch the series, or a video that covers it and explains all the nich-er references. My apologies for the long post. And again, thank you sincerely for any recommendations.