The book contains eleven short stories, a novella (The Tain), a novelette ("Reports of Certain Events in London"), and a comic book-esque tale ("On the Way to the Front"), which was illustrated by British comic book artist Liam Sharp.

The short story, "The Ball Room" was co-written by Miéville, Emma Bircham and Max Schaefer, and the novella, The Tain, was published as a free standing book in 2002.

The stories are as follows: In 2006 it was announced that the story Details was turned into a script by Dan Kay, and subsequently picked up by studio Paramount Vantage.

[2] The script was said to expand upon the original story's exploration of pareidolia and rework the plot to feature a father and daughter.

As of November 2008, Martyrs director Pascal Laugier is attached to direct.