The Caretakers is very successful at creating an impeding sense of doom. The characters have all gathered at a hotel for what seems like an important meeting that quickly goes awry. What this meeting is about, and what exactly went wrong? Readers have no idea really! There are some inferences one can make, but too little has been left to the imagination, leaving that final note of dread manifested conspicuously absent.

This one was delightfully vague and thought provoking. I was inspired to read it after seeing karen's review. But don't read her 'spoilers' until after you read the short. You can come up with your own theories that way.

Tor.com is really a great place to find weird stories. Like this one.And like several goodreads people, I don't quite get it, the exact point of this story, but without a doubt, it is a story which builds tension and creepiness....which makes it a great read, though a bit undefinable. 3.5 rating for me in the end, still nor sure. And finally... amazing book cover.This is the storyline: a strange tale about a group of people called to a meeting with their intimidating boss. The newest member of t...

"Amy’s voice sounded very small and much younger than Evelyn knew her to be. She was not a child, not really, but she was inhabiting one, perhaps remembering those nights when she lay awake in a cold bed, with emptiness gnawing like a rat in her belly… in a home where the only notion of escape was intertwined with death, where hope was death because that was how poverty was for a child"… Let's just say again that it's an another OK short story for me. Though judging by its cover and when

I loved the unsettling atmosphere of this short story, the creeping tension and vague plot reminded me of a David Lynch film. And as with a David Lynch movie despite having no idea what happened I really enjoyed it.

“I didn’t breathe,” said Miss Erish. “Underneath those cold waters of the Great River, how could I? ..." I have no idea what I just read, but I know it was terrifying. Chills... Everything about this is cold. I want to put on an extra sweater. What does Miss Erish want? What do any of them want??Read it yourself (then tell me what it all means): http://www.tor.com/2016/01/20/the-car...

You know when you think you've worked out the twist way ahead of time? When you call it wrong, it makes the whole thing even creepier. A cleverly insidious little story.

The Caretakers is a short story about a group of people drawn together for a meeting with their mysterious employer, to whom they are all weirdly and obsessively attached. Well, except for that one girl.A genuinely eerie and atmospheric short story, with nicely drawn characters. It's the kind of story that keeps its secrets by burying the lede, then offers only glimpses of what it had been hinting at the whole time. This can be frustrating for some readers, and the story's ambuiguous ending risk...

Description: The Caretakers" by David Nickle is a strange tale about a group of people called to a meeting with their intimidating boss. The newest member of their organization is not so sure she wants to even be there.Opening: The meeting with Miss Erish started earlier than scheduled, in a room other than the one arranged. That meant they were all late, even Evelyn Simmons, who had flown in the day before and, unable to properly sleep owing to the time difference, risen long before the dawn.Re...

Dark and vivid short story. Have only the slightest clue as to what happened.

Another tale with fine writing, although less fine than the previous example, but that seems to go nowhere. I did like the set up - the mystery of the people meeting like travelling executives, but in the service and at the whim of the strange and mysterious Miss Erish, however we never find out to what end, or even get a hint of what they do ( unless I missed something ) and then the story just ends, leaving this as a vignette or sketch rather than a fully realised story. This can be done to gr...

Goddesses and drownings and business meetings and sterile hotels. Right.This is what I wanted to do after finishing this story: It's simply flummoxing. A group of "employees" meet with their "boss", but not really. Or yeah, or no. I'm not really certain. Again, confusion and the state of being flummoxed.Here are my thoughts on this strangeness, because I need to justify what I think it's about or tidal waves and jellyfish will invade our lives.THE QUEEN BEE SYNDROMEThere is a current trend in...

As with many other Goodreads reviewers, I didn't fully understand what happened in this odd little story.But despite not understanding everything... it was chilling. Cold. Frightening. Eerie.After having finished reading it, I just want to wrap myself up in a fuzzy blanket and get a cup of tea. It doesn't matter that I didn't fully comprehend what it was about. My brain got the message I think. :)

A strange story about which I can admit that I did not understand much. There's a meeting in a conference room, and the attendees show up, but the meeting's been cancelled with no prior notice. What to do? What to do? The newest invitee gets uptight and leaves, and there's a strange compulsion from some of the other participants to remain. There's also intimations that the meeting leader is some type of vampire. This story is strange, slightly spooky, and not easily understood.

A good story, but not well told.

Welcome to Day 11 of my 2021 25 Days of Short Stories Christmas Advent Calendar. Each day I will be reading a short story from the collection of over 600 short stories and novellas available for free on Tor.com. This is a collection of horror, sci-fi and fantasy. I will be letting fate (and the random number generator) decide what I read each day.Day 1: The Art of Space Travel by Nina AllanDay 2: These Deathless Bones by Cassandra KhawDay 3: Swift, Brutal Retaliation by Meghan McCarron> (Trigger...

in a telegram stop would just mean punctuationokay, i'm not sure i understand this one any better than y'all, but i'll give it a shot. before we dive in, i just wanna say that i think sometimes it can be fun to not "get" everything that's going on in a book, and for me there's a difference between things that are totally over my head and things that are deliciously ambiguous, and in this case, i think you can enjoy the atmosphere and the gentle dread of the story without knowing exactly what's g...

Very creepy and well written. I was sitting at the edge of my seat and having chills down my spine as I read it.But since I don't understand it all, I found the ending quite unsatisfactory.

A curious book. Eerie and unsettling. Well written without a doubt but as I'm not sure the point and don't understand it I'm not quite sure how I feel about it.

This was incredibly haunting, yet fascinatingly vague. We leave the story without being sure what it is about, but the atmosphere beneath it all is still enough to make it a worthwhile read.At first I wondered if the author was trying to create an allegory to vice and the dependency it causes, with Miss Erish working as the physical embodiment of that unhealthy relationship, but it just seems too easy.I still have no idea what this is, but it is definitely worth the read. You can read it here.