The Sinister Cabaret

Donald Humbie, an Edinburgh advocate of every kind of substance, undergoes an interior experience of humiliation and terror, totally losing his way in a surreal Scottish Highland adventure. John Herdman's classic tale of Jungian mania is brought to you in this new edition, introduced by the author. Douglas Humbie, leaving behind his career and his wife in Edinburgh, heads north to familiar places for a short break. Unfortunately, the familiar places have become unfamiliar and even hostile. Each setting, each character, each event is an unsettling side-step away from normality in a dark, brooding surreal landscape that has Douglas fleeing manically around the country and the reader deeply uneasy. Fearing that his wife has been abducted, he seeks out MacNucator, a private detective, to find her. Meanwhile the Sinister Cabaret of the title, led by the strange and unfathomable Mr Motion, pursues him relentlessly. John Herdman's characters inhabit a dark universe illuminated by his profoundly laconic wit. Gothic, surreal, fun and type Jungian in the extremes, this hypnagogic novel will take you to the edge of reason.