My Two Cents (Book Review): AIR CONDITIONED NIGHTMARE by David K. Slater

Anyone who has ever found themselves trapped in a mundane job they hate but can't afford to leave will appreciate the horror at the heart of "Air Conditioned Nightmare" by David K. Slater. Anyone who has ever felt the tug of despair to realize your life isn't what you'd wanted or dreamed of, that instead you've found yourself a slave to corporate monotony, forced to pander to and patronize ungrateful customers who don't view you as a human being any more than the administrators and executives profiting off your labors, padding their golden parachutes at your expense -- you will feel this book to your soul.

Slater perfectly taps into that zeitgeist of middle-class, white-collar disillusionment, the quiet but insidious agony of corporate drone work, the dehumanizing, demoralizing, crushing reality that is being an office worker bee. The protagonist of "Air Conditioned Nightmare" is Daniel, who works for an unnamed company in a call center where he willingly undertakes after-hours overtime almost every day, fielding endless calls from disgruntled and abusive customers who unleash their frustrations and outrage at him.

The reader accompanies Daniel on his daily sojourn from his cramped and cluttered apartment, which he shares with his cat, Vito. Every day looks and feels the same to Daniel: cloudy, cold, and gloomy, and we learn he's been suffering from a respiratory ailment for several months now, one that leaves him hacking up phlegm, but that doctors keep reassuring him is nothing of concern.

The only breaks in the monotony in his life come in horrific fashion: strange voices and shadowy figures, threats that are first indistinct but slowly, treacherously come into better focus. As they do, Daniel's grasp on reality appears to loosen, leaving the reader to wonder if his apartment is really haunted, or rather, is it all in his head?

There are truly terrifying moments in "Air Conditioned Nightmare," and horrific imagery that will be burned into my brain for a long time. More than anything, though, I think it was Daniel's growing despair that makes the story so compelling and unforgettable. At one point, Daniel makes several detours on his way home one night to avoid a group of teenagers he finds intimidating. They seem to show up no matter which way he goes, and the violent encounter that eventually results seems inevitable. It's a good analogy for Daniel's character in this story, a man who keeps trying to navigate a safe and steady course, but who we know in our hearts is heading for a horrifying fate.

At turns quick-witted and funny, then poignant and heart-wrenching in others, Slater's writing is infused with aching vulnerability. Daniel is a sad, pathetic man, but he also lends a voice to the internal monologues of many readers, capturing how we feel, and it's impossible not to feel connected to him. We want his luck to change, for something good to come his way, for him to find even one fleeting moment of happiness in his otherwise miserable existence--even though we know that won't happen. This isn't a fairy tale, after all, or a rom-com movie starring Hugh Grant. This is horror fiction, and for me as a reader, Slater just set the bar to beat in 2026.

In "Air Conditioned Nightmare," Slater reminds us that true horror isn't always loud, or bloody, or infused with murderous rage. Sometimes it's quiet, lurking, visceral, and gnawing. And just like real life for so many wading through unfulfilling lives as corporate stooges or front-line employees, there's no way to escape.

"Air Conditioned Nightmare" is available here.