I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

I've been meaning to read this short story for a while, mostly because the title sounds cool, but also because it was the butt of many an internet joke last year (as seen above).

I think this is a great blend of horror and sci-fi. I'd categorize it as anti-survival horror, since a big portion of the story was about escaping the virtual reality hellscape. Though I'm confused at the ending. Ted says the group has tried to kill themselves multiple times, yet they succeed in the end (aside from Ted who gets caught by AM). 

Why didn't AM stop them this time? Was AM too, growing tired of the years and years of torture he was putting the group through? Was AM torturing themselves subconsciously by doing this? 

The imagery is what immediately hooked me into the story. Ellison is so grotesque and pinpoint with his detail, it's hard not to gag at some of the horrors he describes. 

Reading up on the story, I found out that there's an old point and click video game adaptation that Ellison helped write and direct. I think a video game is the perfect medium for the story to be adapted into, because it's easy to get sucked into a movie, but it's way easier to delve into a video game. It's only $5 so I'm considering buying it.

While I enjoyed the story and all the horrors of it, I feel like there's a hidden message here I'm not getting. I think it's less of "technology is going to kill us all" than people think it is. There's something about Ellen being the only woman and being the only described person of color in the cast that feels weird. Especially her hyper fixation on sex (though she claims before they entered AM she was a virgin). Yes, AM is the one who reworked her to think the way she does, but what is that saying? Is AM supposed to be a manifestation of the male gaze? Is that why he turned Gorrister, the only non-straight member of the group, into a monkey-like creature? There's a lot to digest in the story and I'll have to read it a few more times to fully grasp what it's trying to say. But I enjoyed it; very spooky.