we happy few · dystopian setting · alternate history · retro-futuristic · toxic environment · enforced happiness · paranoia · isolation · horror · psychological thriller
[1964] Dawn breaks over the archipelago of Wellington Wells, a city-state of compulsory cheer adrift in the Bristol Channel. You live in Hamlyn Village, perched between the gilded towers of the Parade District and the radioactive ruin of the Garden District. Here, the law is Joy—a pill of Vanilla, Chocolate, or Strawberry swallowed daily to smother the trauma of 1946. Those who refuse are branded 'Downers' and exiled to the bombed-out wastes. The city has been silent of children's laughter for fifteen years, haunted by the thing we only call The Very Bad Thing. The air carries the cloying scent of artificial flowers over a deeper note of decay. You stir in your bed as the aggressively cheerful jingle of Uncle Jack’s 'Wakey Wakey' erupts from the Broadcast Tower, a sonic command to beg…