The Caretakers

by David Nickle

"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.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Supernatural, Science Fiction Fantasy

20 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 20, 2016

About the author

David Nickle is the author of several novels and numerous short stories. His latest novel is VOLK: A Novel of Radiant Abomination. His novel Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism (to which VOLK is a sequel) was a finalist for the Aurora Award, the Sunburst Award and the Compton Crook Award. His story collection Monstrous Affections won the 2009 Black Quill Reader's Choice Award. He's a past winner of the Bram Stoker Award and Aurora Award. He lives and works in Toronto.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

in a telegram stop would just mean punctuation

okay, 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 going on, but more importantly, without feeling dumb about it, because the story is deliberately enigmatic, with its meaningful glances and subtext and its "don't ask, don't tell" approach to exposition:

“Why are we—”

“You know why.” Andrea fell emphatically on the sofa and scowled at Bill.

so, come with me if you wanna do a deep reading of this. or go read the story for yourself if you don't. or go make yourself a sandwich if you're hungry.

so, near as i can figure, miss erish is some kind of ancient deity, probably some kind of water elemental/demigoddess/river incarnation - i'm just guessing on terminology. obviously she's not quite human; her skin squeaks when she touches it, it gleamed in the low light, like carved mahogany: sanded, stained, and nearly as hard, and there's something inherently powerful within her, apart from those superficial physical details:

Miss Erish looked down at the light. It seemed to grow brighter as she did so—as though the sensor had noted some competing glow, and automatically tuned the illumination higher.

amy calls her a vampire, but "vampire" is figurative; it's just the nearest taxonomical approximation of what she is that amy can comprehend, and the references to "deeper movements" and "celestial spheres" and "balance" point to something even more arcane and elemental than a vampire. miss erish seems to need to feed, not on blood, but on attention, affection, love.

it stands to reason that deities are immortal and viable only as long as someone believes in and worships them, and miss erish's MO towards procuring devotees is to approach her subjects when they are children, particularly children whose home lives are traumatic: so awful that Evelyn could barely recall it except in the abstract, or, as evelyn imagines amy's past, 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…

miss erish selects the most at-risk, the most powerless as her caretakers; those living in poverty, lacking opportunities, lonely and in need of a benefactor. and miss erish provides - money for school, for lodgings, for a chance at a better life, in exchange for devotion. drop-everything-and-come-to-where-i-am-devotion. answer-the-phone-in-the-middle-of-the-night-and-listen-to-me-ramble devotion. gods are generally jealous creatures, they'll make their subjects jump through hoops, the cost of their "gifts" usually outweighs the benefits, and debt must be repaid.

“Amy,” said Evelyn, sternly, “where do you suppose you would be now, if not for Miss Erish’s generosity? Amy?”

“Yes?”

“Miss Erish likes to talk. Sometimes she calls in the evening.”

“And when she calls—we come, right? No matter what?”

“That’s the deal, Amy.”

miss erish requires absolute fidelity, in the "you shall have no other gods before me" tradition. and when that fidelity is threatened by love of another; even by a human love for another devotee or a child, and whether the threat is real or just suspected, her power weakens. sacrifice has always been a component of worship, but there are also rewards for honoring the commitment.

“You were here earliest,” she said. “While the others were sleeping, you were awake and about.” She set the tablet on its back, so it lit the curtains, the ceiling. “Of all of them, even Mr. Allen… you arrived first.”.

even a momentary distraction from her is frowned upon, on the occasions when her caretakers have been assembled: Miss Erish didn’t care for calls, in or out, during a meeting: it disrupted the foci as she put it. It was a dilution, which i postulate refers to a dilution of attention, which seems to be supported by miss erish's petulant complaints to evelyn towards the end:

“I am alone”

and

“You took too long”

that miss erish doesn't want her subjects distracted by outside love or attention is made clear a number of times, like when evelyn prevents leslie's amorous advances:

His hand moved to the nape of Evelyn’s neck and slid down the flesh of her back…

Evelyn took Leslie’s hand, lifted it away, and Leslie sighed.

She let her fingers intertwine with his and drew him back down the hall in the direction of the bar.

“Not today?” asked Leslie, and Evelyn said, “Not now,” and as they emerged into the bar, Leslie agreed: “Especially not now.”

"especially not now," meaning when miss erish is already displeased that the group was unable to anticipate her needs after the rather passive-aggressive rescheduling of their meeting*. she enjoys unsettling them, leaving them off-balance as a test of devotion. typical immortal boredom resulting in overly-complicated tests of conviction. although rarely do they involve dry-erase boards.

also in keeping with the typical demands of ancient deities, she requires demonstrative gratitude, and isn't too aloof to fish for it: “I was rereading that note just this morning,” said Miss Erish, “as I waited. I had been looking forward to seeing Miss Wilson, you see. She had seemed grateful for all I have done for her.”

“We’re all grateful,” said Bill, and both Leslie and Evelyn nodded and agreed until Miss Erish appeared satisfied.

she even has her own origin story; her self-control and willpower over her own bodily needs allowing her to transcend mortality and become ... whatever she is.

Evelyn felt herself smile. Miss Erish first told Evelyn that story on her eleventh birthday, and brought it up from time to time, quite often. It was, as Miss Erish herself described it, foundational.

and the ending is an accumulation of all of this - of what happens when her power is threatened. out of her caretakers, one is dead, one is escaped, and the one who has gone after amy is potentially compromised, causing miss erish to panic:

“What do you think about Miss Retson? She pursued little Miss Wilson very swiftly. As though she were very worried…very worried. Might she… Might it be love? No. That cannot be. I shall send her a message. Instruct her—” Miss Erish’s fingers clacked furiously against the glass of her tablet. “Oh damn, damn.”

and for all evelyn's assertions - telling miss erish what she needs to hear, even though miss erish can see right through her:

“I love you. I am your friend.” But she didn’t, and she wasn’t, not at that moment. Miss Erish shook her head slowly.

it's just not enough; evelyn needs the rest of them to restore the balance.. whatever comfort evelyn can offer her goddess in the form of lip service and physical contact, it's insufficient, and they remain somehow growing colder themselves, in one another’s embrace.



but let me know what YOOUUUU think it's all about.



*which is something i still have a question about. are the five of them the only people there for miss erish's meeting? because amy is told she was the first to arrive, but we are also told Unbeknownst to her or any of the others, the meeting had commenced at that moment, in its new room and on its new schedule, absent nearly all of them. does "nearly all of them" just mean that miss erish was the only one present, or are there more people who made it to the conference room with its half-erased pictographs who got to see them unerased? are the "eight chairs" significant? am i overthinking a tor short?

read it for yourself here:

http://www.tor.com/2016/01/20/the-car...

i love you, she texted. She didn’t send that one right away. She wanted to add something to it: i do this for you, maybe. i cannot stop it was probably more to the point, or we all must pay our debts.

***************************************
DAVID NICKLE HAS A TOR SHORT!!??

guess i know what i'm doing tomorrow.

come to my blog!

[Bettie · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

Read here

Yet another cracking cover from Tor.

Miss Erish is undead and Amy has her sussed out and escapes through the snow with her phone, wallet and dirty mouth. Highly atmospheric.

[Annet · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 their organization is not so sure she wants to even be there.

I love Tor.com, will do a lot of exploring there.

[GoldGato · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 SYNDROME
There is a current trend in workplace leaders who use their position to bully and build their empires. Nominally women, they want to be worshipped and thought of as the only sun in the sky, even though their ethics are not where they should be. I thought of this when reading about the story's "leader", who has the business group under her thrall.

OPIOD SYNDROME
The usage of prescription drugs as though they were candy has become a societal problem over the last twenty years, and when reading this tale, I thought of the group becoming so absorbed in their "fix" that they can't remove themselves from the leader because that would mean losing their ongoing high.

Then again, I may have been reading too much into it.

The words are lovely, but I wanted more. SO MUCH MORE. Serialisation, please? And where can I get that poster?

Book Season = Winter (barren coffee bars)

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 risks abusing the reader's good faith. But if you think about it for a minute, the payoff is satisfactory enough. An effective tale from a talented writer.

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

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. :)

[Badseedgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 Allan
Day 2: These Deathless Bones by Cassandra Khaw
Day 3: Swift, Brutal Retaliation by Meghan McCarron> (Trigger warning: Emotional abuse of children and women)
Day 4: Freeze Warning by Susan Krinard
Day 5: Daughter of Necessity by Marie Brennan
Day 6: The Girl in the High Tower by Genniger Albin
Day 7: Come See the Living Dryad by Theadora Goss
Day 8: Black Friday by Alex Irvine
Day 9 Up From Hell by David Drake
Day 10: The Tallest Doll in New York City by Maria Dahvana Headley
Day 11: The Caretakers by David Nickle

Much of this story is left up to the readers own interpretation as to what is going on and the back story to this short. If that is something you can’t deal with, this is probably not the right story for you. This is my own personal interpretation. Based on the crumbs of back story we got on Miss Erish, I suspect that she is inhabited by a demon or spirit. Miss Erish has “lived” since humanity lived in the Nile Delta, which is where she originated. I believe she is some sort of psychic “vampire” and requires people to be at her beck and call to feed on. I guess she must have been pretty upset when goop started selling this.

You can read The Caretakers by David Nickle here.

[Nadine in NY Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

“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...

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Netanella · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A staff meeting falls apart under the intimidating presence of the boss.

This story really defies description. Read it for yourself. Recommended.

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Amanda Alexandre · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Paul Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 great effect, when the reader gets a sense of that which moves behind the scenes, beyond the frame - Thomas Ligotti being something of the master at this, and I thought this was building toward a similar place - but here the writing left me unsatisfied.


Edit: I've upped the rating to 3*. I think my annoyance at the abrupt ending was a little unfair, and the whole atmosphere was very effective.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story, but not well told.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Maggie Gordon · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy story.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Alex Sarll]

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.

[Amit · Rating 3 out of 5]

"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 finally finished it of course I thought then it could be much better. While that girl named amwilson7@gmail.com (Amy) sensed something fishy about Miss Erish but Evelyn ignored it; maybe from that point the story could make an turning or say a twisting point. Well of course in here I am not the author and by the way I mean no offense with it...

But the story was good to me it just that; like others me too didn't understand what was the main theme of it...

But have to admit I loved that Cover, it's a meaningful cover art in many ways, though I don't want to go there to explain it...

[Faiza Sattar · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★★☆ (4/5)

A selection of my favourite passages from the book

• But in her consideration, she trembled, and her thumb brushed near enough, and just like that, the decision was made
• Miss Erish didn’t care for calls, in or out, during a meeting: it disrupted the foci as she put it. It was a dilution.
• It caught me afire; that is how it was. On fire in the midst of extinguishing waters. Do you think you will suffocate if you keep that up?
• Miss Erish sat quietly for a moment, then delicately lifted the tablet so the yellow light from its screen climbed her torso like a dismal sunrise and finally illuminated her face, the eyes casting ravenously as if from the barren solitude of a tomb

[OldBird · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, so... What just happened? This short story oozed suspense and oppressive atmosphere, and even though I had trouble remembering the characters (they're just names; I even forgot which one was the 3rd person POV at times) I loved the idea that this not-business meeting gone weirdly (maybe paranormally) wrong was going somewhere interesting. The ending sadly lacked any answers and just ended, so left me disappointed. I'd check out more by the author, but I'm no fan of inconclusive storytelling that doesn't quite give you enough to go on (yeah, I know, think for yourself... But sometime you just want to be told a good story!)

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't mind a story with an ambiguous ending, but this one just kind of died--or fizzled more like.

[Ranjana · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very strange book about a group of people that get together for a meeting with their weird boss.

[Puffthemagicbunny · Rating 2 out of 5]

TW: Graphic drowning/suffocation. Moderate alcohol. Minor cursing.

I read this in the Best of Tor dot com 2016.

Disturbing despite the lack of trigger warnings. This felt like a story started in the middle and ended before it was finished. There is menace but you never really know who are where the threat is coming from.

It also may trigger dreams about missing important meetings.

[E.A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange and atmospheric, but didn't give me a strong sense of story. Too much was elided. I'll have to read it again to figure it out, but I'm not sure I want to.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm only giving this short 3 stars because this was quite a good story all the way up until that ending...
I'm just going to say it... What the fuck?? I mean really! Could you not give the reader just a little something more? Sorry but for me this was a big buildup to a total letdown. Way too many things left unanswered. That just sucks!

[Rita · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know what did I read. I have no idea what this short something was about. There was a beginning, some snow, a lot of mystery and no real information at all. We can't know anything about the situation, of what's going on, we just... we can just read some pages about snowing and a woman who helped other people. In a way we also don't know.
We know nothing. We may all be John Snow.