Escape (Novella)

“The cinema is an invention without a future.” 
―Louis Lumière



***

Ruby’s father started taking her to picture shows when she was a little girl. Even then, he rarely stayed to watch them. “Off to see a man about a dog,” he’d whisper when he handed her a ticket. “I’ll come and get you later.”
Ruby was small and smart enough not to be noticed by the ushers when they cleaned up in between shows. Only when the lights went down once more did she sit up in whatever seat she’d been hiding under and watch the picture again.
Ruby wasn’t quite so little now, but she still loved the picture shows. By now, the theater on 13th Street felt more like home than any of the tenements she and her father rented. She always felt a little sad when it was over and she found herself back on the sidewalk waiting for her father. She felt even sadder when she recognized his silhouette lurching down the street. The father who picked her up from the theater always walked, talked, and most of all, smelled different from the one who dropped her off.
“What’d you watch today?” he asked her as they walked home one night in the rain. “I like the cowboy pictures best.”
It was never easy for Ruby to describe the film she’d seen, no matter how many times she’d sat through it. Today, there’d been a young man who got involved with gangsters in an effort to save his father’s farm—no, his father’s grocery store. Ruby rarely paid attention to the details of the plot. She got used to doing that when she was too young to read the title cards. She’d been happy enough just listening to the music and gazing at the images that flickered on screen, like a whole other world, more magical and manageable than her own.
And then she saw the Smiling Girl.
That’s what Ruby called her to herself. She wasn’t named in any picture, never did anything of note. She just appeared—in nightclubs, on streets, at train stations, mixed in amongst the crowd. Sometimes she was glamorous in an evening gown, sometimes down and out in rags. But no matter what she wore or what she was doing in the picture, Ruby always recognized the smile that spoke of secret joy, all the more obvious thanks to the white powder makeup and dark lipstick.
In this picture, she’d been a guest at a fancy party to which the hero had somehow gotten invited. There was a champagne toast, Ruby remembered, and just before she drank, the Smiling Girl looked right at her. Right at Ruby, as if she could look right through the movie screen at Ruby in the twelfth row, looking back.
She was so surprised she didn’t even notice when a man a few seats away from her moved closer. Not until he put his hand on her knee. Then she froze.
Once, when she was younger, a man in the theater suggested Ruby sit on his lap for a better view. She had run away then. She ran away now, and waited in the lobby until the theater closed and her father turned up.
“Why didn’t you find some nice lady to sit next to?” her father said when she told him about it.
“You said I shouldn’t let anyone notice me too much, because I…”
“Looks like you got noticed all right. What a goof. Shoulda moved away before the sap sat down. What a bunny.”
They walked in silence for a moment. “’Course, there was no reason to be rude about it,” he said thoughtfully. “Maybe the fella just wanted to chat. You’re too old to be a baby about everything. You’re almost grown up.”
She didn’t dare ask her father’s opinion on the Smiling Girl. That would really make him think she was a goof. So she thought about it on her own that night, while her father snored across the room. And the next day at school. And in the afternoon, mending a pair of socks for a nickel. Had the Smiling Girl really been looking at her? She desperately wanted it to be true.
The Smiling Girl was beautiful, she realized, with pale white skin and dark eyes full of bright movie lights. Ruby allowed herself to imagine being in a movie herself as she darned. Perhaps she would meet the Smiling Girl in person. They might become friends, and Ruby’s own eyes would be as bright as her smile...."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - "Fun Dark Quartet About Moviegoing in the 1920s

Book 1 of the Sinister Century anthology series offers readers four enjoyable dark tales themed around movies in the 1920s.

'The Girl Who Smiled' by Meg Belviso - Ruby grew up in the city, raised more by the people on screen at the picture shows than the father that continually left her there as he went off on his own exploits. She starts to notice the same girl in all of the movies, and it eerily seems that the girl has noticed her, too, and taken an interest. Spooky, with a satisfying ending.

'Shadow Tracer' by F. Malanoche - sweet Amador takes the lovely Juana on a date, hoping the spark he feels is reciprocated. Unbeknownst to the couples in the theater, a shadowy specter floats among them. And it's hungry. Great atmosphere and suspense.

'Dressed to See' by Jane Doring - Ethel gets all dressed up to be seen at a movie premiere, but she secretly doesn't want to watch the show. Perhaps she had a feeling that during the film, things in the audience would get a bit...strange? A fun little slice of weird horror.

'Unscheduled Transmission' by Cherie Mitchell - Trixie has snagged a movie date with wealthy catch Robert, making all the girls she knows jealous. But the monster movie he takes her to see ends up a bit too realistic for her liking. Enjoyable creature feature with a nice twist." -Rachel (Goodreads Review)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - "'Escape' (Scary Cinema_The 1920s)" is the first entry in the Sinister Century anthology series by Disturb Ink Books. As the title says, it's about films and cinema theatres in the 1920s, when movies were exclusively in black and white, if they had sound they were called "talkies," and theatres were a much more significant affair than today. The anthology exploits all of these themes, offering four terrific short stories full of atmosphere and insight into the social issues of the day, with completely satisfying endings. The first story, "The Girl Who Smiled" by Meg Belviso, is a very cruel tale about a father-daughter relationship, mediated through the daughter's visits to the cinema. It's literally about escaping, and, though I don't condone the morality of the ending, I was emotionally pleased with it. "‘Shadow Tracer" by F. Malanoche is equally cruel: a couple on a first date express their feelings for each other, blissfully unaware of their participating in a bloody creature feature. "Dressed to See" by Jane Doring, another tale about a couple's visit to the cinema (though this time they're married), is a very weird tale of cosmic horror (probably), delightfully creepy in its ambiguity. "Unscheduled Intermission" by Cherie Mitchell is a great story of cosmic horror, very similar to the second story, though much more sinister in its implications and with a totally different ending. The first and the last story were my favorites." - Milt Theo (Goodreads Review)

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - "First of all, I love this cover!

Secondly, I'm really enjoying the short '90 minute read' format with this series. It's so easy for themed anthologies to get repetitive after a while, but by utilizing only four or five quick stories, these books never get stale.

The 1920's cinema setting with a supernatural twist makes for a ton of fun, and each of the stories was creative and unique. I look forward to checking out the rest of the series."
-Katie Brunecz (Goodreads Review)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - "Escape is a collection of fascinating stories that all take place in the corners of matinees and theaters in the golden age of film. The stories are entertaining and dark against the glamorous backdrop of the 1920s. The contrasts make the book beautiful!" -F. Malanoche (Goodreads Review)