by Amy Montz
Brite, Poppy Z., and Caitlin R. Kiernan. Wrong Things. Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 2001. 129 pp.
The problem with most collaboration novels is simply that: they are collaborations. The definitive lines between the two authors blend and meld until one voice is purely indistinguishable from the other. This is not so with Brite and Kiernan's collaboration. The two authors make no attempts to disguise their voices. The hard driving edge of Brite's voice forms a perfect harmony with Kiernan's softer, more descriptive prose. The result is something incredibly beautiful and brilliant.
Wrong Things is composed of three stories, one by each individual, and the final collaboration. At first glance, the reader may feel that the three have nothing to do with one another. Only at the end does he/she realize that the idea of The Wrong Thing is not inimical to any one story but is spread out through each of the different storylines, with each story line taking a divergent road, only to meet with the others at the end. Illustrated by Richard Kirk, the book itself is a testament to all things Wrongin a beautifully maniacal way.
Brite begins the collection with the short story, "The Crystal Empire," which examines a seemingly straightforward case of obsession. It begins, quite simply, with the statement, "something huge is going to happen today. And it does. Matthew, the hard and cruel lover of the narrator, Zee, asks her to remember the way he looks before he changes, alluding to a change that will come about after an incident later that evening. Matthew does not morph into something otherworldly; rather, he begins an obsession with the lead singer of a band. Brite tests the faith of love and devotion in this tale, weaving characters into a tapestry of thought and action in the way only she can. These characters are dangerous and frightening, yet soft and desirous all at once. Zee must test her devotion to Matthew in the ultimate act of sacrifice.
Kiernan's short story, "Onion," follows, breathing life into the other worlds and dimensions just below the one in which her characters inhabit. Frank and Willa are a poor couple trying to survive in service jobs, and they seem to have nothing in common except the group meetings they attend together. This virtual OWA, Other Worlds Anonymous, group, includes a selection of people who get together once a week to tell stories about the Wrong Places they've stumbled into. Frank tries to keep Willa from falling into the deepest pits of despair, and he often wakes up to rescue her from the dark, disturbing things that lurk just below reality. Like Brite's "The Crystal Empire," "Onion" examines the same motifs of love and devotion, and how The Wrong Things, or at least the desire for The Wrong Things, can interfere.
The final piece of the collection, "The Rest of the Wrong Thing," is the collaboration between the two authors, and it is well worth the wait. Brite and Kiernan return their fans to Missing Mile, the fictional southern town that the majority of Brite's main characters inhabit. Terry Bucket and Kinsey make a reappearance in this strange tale of industrial ruins and the culmination of The Wrong Thing.
A young girl appears in Missing Mile, wanting to return The Wrong Thing from whence it came. Terry and his girlfriend accompany her into the exploded crypt of the old Cotton Mill to help her return it. The most intriguing character in this story is perhaps The Wrong Thing itself, which Brite and Kiernan describe as "two, maybe three inches of twisted, amber-colored glass or plastic [ ] the end [ ] threaded like a screw and what looked like a short length of rusty wire wound tightly around the threads." Despite its innocent description, The Wrong Thing is Terribly Wrongand very much alive. The other end looks "almost organic, like the writhing head of a worm frozen in place." The young girl, Tyler, had been controlling it as long as she could, but her time is running out.
The brilliance of this story, however, is the melding of Brite and Kiernan's two voices. Instead of following the route of most collaborative efforts, Brite and Kiernan allow their two voices to separate and follow their own paths. It is quite clear what parts of the story belong to Brite and which belong to Kiernan, and despite the differences, it works, quite well.
All three stories focus on the mystery of The Wrong Thing, whether
in physical form, as with "The Rest of the Wrong Thing," or in concept,
as with the individual stories. Wrongs Things need not be tangible,
as the two authors suggest. They can be created or informed by individuals
themselves, or by outer realms and dimensions that can only be revealed
in glimpses. Wrong Things is just the right combination of
Brite's splatterpunk tales and Kiernan's mysteries of deep earth.
The collaboration is reminiscent of Lost Souls and of Threshold,
the keystone novels of these two writers. The stark urban landscapes
and quietly raging characters give depth and soul to these three stories.
More importantly, Wrong Things is the culmination of Brites and
Kiernan's talents. Both authors have developed and matured their
writing styles, and this collection bears the fruit of that development.
Wrong Things is the perfect union of two almost-perfect horror writers.
Fans can only hope more collaborations will be forthcoming.