So I get this email from a rep at Tor saying “Hey, we are about to release this novella from an author you like, and we’d really like you to give it a read.” Seeing that it was Dr. Jones, I knew it would be a bit twisty, and very enjoyable.
What the hell did I just read?
Sawyer and his four friends have spent their entire childhood making pranks and trying to pull off stunts. Their silent partner in crime was a department store mannequin that they found in a creek. They’d dress it up, post it random places, and try to get reactions from the people around them.
Now, in the Summer right before their senior year of high school, and with one friend Shanna forced to work at a movie theater to pay for the damage done to her yard by one of the gang’s failed stunts, the abbreviated gang decides to pull the ultimate prank on Shanna.
Attending this year’s Summer blockbuster, they smuggle the mannequin into the theater and buy it a ticket for the prime seat. When the prank doesn’t go as planned, Sawyer is horrified to see the mannequin get up and walk out of the theater at the conclusion of the movie.
When Shanna and her family are killed by a runaway Mack truck that runs through their house late at night, Sawyer is convinced that it is “Manny,” and it must be stopped.
This novella had some very interesting themes to me. I could not ignore the unfolding of mental illness as Sawyer tries to logic out “the math,” and the actions he feels adamant about undertaking to stop Manny. Next was the very strong feelings of “the loss of innocence” as these young people are faced with mounting maturity and mortality. Naturally there is a fair amount of escapism as each of the friends deal with the situations that are unfolding around them.
I have noted from his previous writings that Dr. Jones is quite adept at getting the reader in the mind of his characters, and he does so masterfully with Sawyer. When things start to slide, I really had to question where the tipping point might be until finally realizing that it was far behind us.
Night of the Mannequins is a quick read, and something very different from typical slasher fare. I highly recommend it. Oh, did I mention it has won both the Bram Stoker Award and the Shirley Jackson Award? Yeah, it’s that good.
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