THE DEEP ONES: "The Underground Economy" by John Langan

"The Underground Economy" by John Langan

Discussion begins December 13, 2023.



First published in the October 2018 issue of Nightmare Magazine online.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?833492

SELECTED PRINT VERSIONS

No print versions to date.

ONLINE VERSIONS

https://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/the-underground-economy/

ONLINE AUDIO VERSIONS

No online audio versions found to date.

MISCELLANY

https://johnpaullangan.wordpress.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Langan
https://www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/interview-john-langan/
http://stjoshi.org/review_langan.html
https://tinyurl.com/yc8uycuh

I thought this story was a good read, but I don't have any sound theories to explain Nikki and the crew of the van. In some ways, it seemed like the whole tale was built to contain the speaker's evanescent perception:

When I’d started working at The Cusp, I’d thought that I was entering the world as it really was, a place of lust and money. Now I saw that there was a world underneath that one, a realm of blood and pain. For all I knew, there was somewhere below that, a space whose principles I didn’t want to imagine.

Agreed - I liked the story, but there doesn't seem to be any way to figure out what Nikki and the crew were about.

I am of the same mind as >2 paradoxosalpha: and >3 AndreasJ:.

Yes, those are the crucial sentences of the story.

On the other hand, this was written for a Robert Aickman tribute anthology so it seems appropriate we get weird incidents with no clear explanation.

I happen to be reading H. P. Lovecraft's Selected Letters V which has his 1936 letter to C. L. Moore laying out his theory that a weird story is all about atmosphere and a climactic revelation featuring a violation of physical law, an upturning in the perceived order of the universe. Plot should be only developed enough to do that.

This story doesn't comport with Lovecraft's definition of the weird tale -- and clearly didn't intend to be. But I suspect some author could write a story set in a strip club along Lovecraft's lines. Maybe it could even be done without concentrating on the obvious sexual and erotic elements.

Apparently Nikki has passed on her initial status to the customer, when she gained entrance to the underground world / joined the van crew. Her glazed eyes and unexpected power over others around her, described during her time at the Cusp, show up later in descriptions of him when he takes on three bouncers, totally uncharacteristic of him before. Which suggests her initiation (prior to the story opening) was as unknowing and inadvertent as his.

The guy became agitated, said he had to see her, it was important she know about the cards, the hearts.

But what's with the cards? Does it have anything to do with her stash?

>4 RandyStafford:

Ah! I missed the "First published in Aickman's Heirs in the fine print at the top of the web version. It really does have the sort of pacing and opacity of an Aickman story.

>5 elenchus:

Whatever the importance of the cards, Nikki seems to be doing well, or at least hilariously, without the knowledge.