Park Avenue South, New York City, is the location of a skeezy clothing store selling more than teen and toddler dresses. It’s the place where one young college student desperate for cash hopes to score a few extra bucks. But not before she discovers that modeling as a mannequin in a window is just the beginning of what parts of her are really for sale. “Mannequin Model” can be found in the pages of Tamika Thompson’s collection, UNSHOD, CACKLING, AND NAKED – the winner of the 2024 Next Generation Indie Book Awards for Best Horror.
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The Plot
A broke college student sees a newspaper ad for “gorgeous dolls” to work as mannequins in a Manhattan department store. She is all in. Broke and desperate, she jumps at the chance to remedy her two most pressing financial needs – tuition and money to support her grandmother. The young woman was eager to give back to the elder who raised her when her mother chose to be with a man who liked young girls a little too much.
The store owner, Maggie Nguyen-Nwagwu is no-nonsense and a bit abrasive. She runs a clothing shop catering to teens and younger. Stick a pin in this revelation because it will mean something later. The unnamed protagonist’s job entails standing in the window that faces into the mall. She must stand in the same pose for four hours modeling itchy clothes. The money is better than any she had ever seen so, although she has to skip class to be on time for this gig, she is excited to do it.
Her first day of work will be her last.
Maggie’s choice to hire a college student for junior and teen clothing is odd, to say the least. The young woman wears a red holiday dress with a high lace collar, satin bodice, tulle, petticoats, and thick black lace tights when she steps in the window. The style is better suited to a young girl than a teenager or a woman. When Maggie locks the woman inside the window, things really take off.
As the woman stands still, passersby deluge her with unsavory opinions and nasty comments, but no one lifts a finger to intervene as she remains motionless, helpless from the verbal assault, on display in a window. And the crowd continues to grow and grow until something has to give.
What Lies Underneath
Women subjected to society’s gaze is the straightforward interpretation. Women subjected to choices based on economic circumstances are obvious. The themes of sexual trauma are not graphically detailed, but the hints are strong. All these tropes surface regularly in the horror genre. But how do society’s gaze and economic insecurity create the perfect storm to erase a woman’s humanity, rob her of her agency, and increase the risk to her safety?
“Mannequin Model” outlines the carefree and careless way that women are discussed as a form of entertainment and public property. The story also points out the subtle ways people feel emboldened to engage in this kind of discourse. The crowd, a cross-section of men and women, old and young, hurls insults illustrating how the young woman is not safe from critique by any and everyone.
When she stands in the window being visually consumed by others, she is invisible as a human being, yet openly dissected by anyone who passes by. The reader doesn’t know the protagonist’s name until the end of the story when a college classmate sees her in the window. That is the first time she becomes a ‘real’ person to anyone on the other side of the window and even in that moment, the classmate displays scorn when he sees her.
The story ends with the woman making a break for freedom that, incidentally, gives the book its title.
What Makes It Killer
Horror has long been an incubator for exploring social commentary and Tamika Thompson continues the tradition. “Mannequin Model” combines a magical realism aesthetic and grounded style that makes the story feel present-day and otherworldly at the same time.
Find my review of Tamika Thompson’s entire collection, UNSHOD, CACKLING, AND NAKED at Goodreads.
Short Story Title: “Mannequin Model”
Publisher: Unnerving Books
Tamika’s literary agent/agency: Rebecca Podos, Senior Agent at Rees Literary Agency.
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