Misery and Other Lines
C.C. Adams
Sinister Horror Company
I was lucky enough to attend the launch of this collection and pick up a copy prior to the official release day, which is today!
Over the last few years, Sinister Horror Company have put out some of my favourite collections. Tracy Fahey’s I Spit Myself Out and John McNee’s Doom Cabaret are stellar collections, and with Misery and Other Lines they have another winner.
C.C. Adams tales in this collection are all set on Halloween night, and all set (in part) on the London Underground. Little details, like the route taken by the characters at the start of the story help bring this to life, and if you know the tube at all, there is sure to be something familiar about this to you. Adams captures the tube both at its most bustling when its truly alive with busy noise and when at its most eerie and near abandoned. It’s certainly written from the perspective of someone who knows the city inside out and wants to bring every important detail to life.
Each of the fourteen tales in this collection is given room to breathe. I feel we get to know the characters before they suffer some kind of awful fate. I was going to say that character work is among the strengths of the collection, but the sense of place is right up there too, and then the stories themselves. While there’s similarity in terms of places, the collection does offer variety, with some stories psychological, some uncanny, and some downright nasty, and some with a touch of eroticism – though of course, it’s anything but normal. And it’s not just the protagonists who are well drawn. The evils we face here aren’t 2D horrors. Each has its own motive, each is interesting in its own way.
One real joy of the collection is when we reencounter characters from earlier stories to catch up on their narrative. Stories that seemed unfinished aren’t as we come back for the next slice. This was particularly notable with Charlie’s story, which starts off intense enough with an encounter with a massive python on a train, but from there, the night only gets worse for him. The whole collection is well-designed. It kicks off with ‘Someone is Late’ which sets us off well by establishing the tube as an important aspect, but also showcasing the uncanny that’s going on here. Time gets screwed up, and we know we’re in for one hell of a ride with this one.
‘Delightful’ demonstrates Adams’ ability to ramp up the tension. It’s a significantly different story too, so already I felt I was getting a decent mix of styles. By the time you get to ‘Dancers Like Nishka’, towards the end, I had a real appreciation for this variety.
Ideas of infection spread into a number of the stories in the collection. While it’s set pre-COVID, it feels this aspect cannot be escaped. As such, some of the stories are almost claustrophobic. It feels like the passengers on the tube are sitting right next to you, and you really don’t want them breathing their foul stink of you!
Misery and Other Lines is a strong collection. Those with any experience of the tube are sure to recognise it, but even without that connection, there’s plenty to enjoy from these Halloween horrors.