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Odd Jobs - Six Files from the Department of Inhuman Resources: A Horror Anthology
They don't want you to read this.
This manuscript—leaked to the public by the (former) director of the Department of Inhuman Resources, TJ Price—comprises six accounts about the Company from award-winning and noteworthy authors:
AI JIANG details a terrifyingly plausible ordeal in a near-future where every day is slick with oil.
IVY GRIMES tells the tale of one promotion-obsessed worker in a very strange bookstore.
ERIK McHATTON delves into corporate horror to find the cosmic menace lurking in the sub-basement of an office.
CARSON WINTER relates a hellish onboarding experience with a body-disposal company in the aftermath of quarantine.
CHRISTI NOGLE recounts how an English professor is drawn into the investigation of a strange disappearance.
CALEB STEPHENS connects technological terror with the banality of human evil in a suspiciously familiar big-box electronics store.
Accompanied by facsimiles of HR documents from each case, this anthology aims to open your eyes to the nefarious doings of the Company, for whom you may already be working—even if you aren’t aware of it. Consider this a new handbook to the working world, and follow its warnings carefully, else you might be caught unprepared when called to that mysterious office on the top floor…
This manuscript—leaked to the public by the (former) director of the Department of Inhuman Resources, TJ Price—comprises six accounts about the Company from award-winning and noteworthy authors:
AI JIANG details a terrifyingly plausible ordeal in a near-future where every day is slick with oil.
IVY GRIMES tells the tale of one promotion-obsessed worker in a very strange bookstore.
ERIK McHATTON delves into corporate horror to find the cosmic menace lurking in the sub-basement of an office.
CARSON WINTER relates a hellish onboarding experience with a body-disposal company in the aftermath of quarantine.
CHRISTI NOGLE recounts how an English professor is drawn into the investigation of a strange disappearance.
CALEB STEPHENS connects technological terror with the banality of human evil in a suspiciously familiar big-box electronics store.
Accompanied by facsimiles of HR documents from each case, this anthology aims to open your eyes to the nefarious doings of the Company, for whom you may already be working—even if you aren’t aware of it. Consider this a new handbook to the working world, and follow its warnings carefully, else you might be caught unprepared when called to that mysterious office on the top floor…
- GenresHorror
321 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 13, 2024
2 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
T.J. Price
9 books34 followersTJ Price's corporeal being is currently located in Raleigh, NC, with his handsome partner of many years, but his ghosts live in northeastern Connecticut, southern Maine, and north Brooklyn. He is the author of The Disappearance of Tom Nero, a mixed-media novelette; his work appears in Nightmare Magazine, PseudoPod, Cosmic Horror Monthly, and The NoSleep Podcast, as well as various anthologies and assorted grimoires. He currently serves as Assistant Editor at Haven Speculative magazine, and has also performed as editor in various other ways.
He can be invoked at either tjpricewrites.com or via the blue bird @eerieyore. Failing that, one can make a circle of chalk on the floor, stand in the center, and burn a photograph of a loved one until all that remains is ashes. Then, listen for a murmuring from within the walls. Leave your message after the sound of the screb.
He can be invoked at either tjpricewrites.com or via the blue bird @eerieyore. Failing that, one can make a circle of chalk on the floor, stand in the center, and burn a photograph of a loved one until all that remains is ashes. Then, listen for a murmuring from within the walls. Leave your message after the sound of the screb.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 6, 2024
This anthology is fantastic. If you like your horror with just the right amount of weirdness mixed with the terrifying, this one certainly fits that bill.
These are stories which are connected by a company which basically owns almost everything. And each one tells of a different kind of business where the mega-corporation controls everything, including these employees.
But we start with a letter from the HR department as he's releasing these various files to the public as a warning. Things might not end well for him because they are always being watched and monitored.
Each one is accompanied by an HR file which are expertly done. And each story tells the tale of domination, control, and people as expendable resources.
From the moral consequences of working with big oil, to a bookstore in which promotion isn't a good thing, to a low level employee in a tech store who will face horrific consequences for his actions, these stories will terrify and make you wonder how far away this could be a reality.
I loved this anthology and I highly recommend it.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
These are stories which are connected by a company which basically owns almost everything. And each one tells of a different kind of business where the mega-corporation controls everything, including these employees.
But we start with a letter from the HR department as he's releasing these various files to the public as a warning. Things might not end well for him because they are always being watched and monitored.
Each one is accompanied by an HR file which are expertly done. And each story tells the tale of domination, control, and people as expendable resources.
From the moral consequences of working with big oil, to a bookstore in which promotion isn't a good thing, to a low level employee in a tech store who will face horrific consequences for his actions, these stories will terrify and make you wonder how far away this could be a reality.
I loved this anthology and I highly recommend it.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
September 6, 2024
Wild and weird and scary, and a super fun read.
September 13, 2024
This is an excellent anthology of six, mostly corporate horror, stories, with copies of weird HR documents relevant to each case appended in the start of each tale. They revolve around the (mythical) Company - though the last three seem to be of the non-corporate, pretty much standalone kind. All six stories are gems and well-worth one's time. The "odd jobs" either take place in bizarre settings (dystopian, post-apocalyptic, darkly academic), have surreal descriptions (e.g., give ten years of your life to work towards destroying the environment), with an uncanny impact on the worker (e.g., promotion takes you to the basement and ambitions are fulfilled by demotion), or are entirely ordinary, until the workspace gets invaded by the supernatural (a guy who's fixing phones and consistently violates clients' privacy is forced to deal with the paranormal).
The anthology has a nice foreword by the editor, T.J. Price, a rather science fictional take on the fictional horrors of the book. It sets the tone for what follows, though the stories stand perfectly on their own and can be enjoyed independently of each other. Two stories stood out for me: "In the Lights of their Bones" by Carson Winter, and "Future Portraits of the Unhappy Dead" by Caleb Stephens. The first builds on the theme of the pandemic, and tells the story of an introvert joining a cleaning crew: they clean houses and neighborhoods of dead bodies found after the quarantine. The story's pandemic is very strange and the job is an odd job in itself, but it gets even weirder when the narrator acts on a very weird impulse during a stressing day of clean-up. The Stephens story I've already mentioned above: it's about a guy who works in a repair shop of phones, tablets etc. and enjoys picking at the clients' personal photos and videos. This could easily develop into a thriller type of story, but then the photographs come alive and start talking back and, well, the extraordinary happens and mayhem ensues. The unsettling ending delivers a little expected punch, though too much is left unexplained.
In sum, this is a superbly-crafted anthology, gripping, entertaining, and timely. If you like creepy, well-plotted, enjoyable stories (and who doesn't), do not miss it!
The anthology has a nice foreword by the editor, T.J. Price, a rather science fictional take on the fictional horrors of the book. It sets the tone for what follows, though the stories stand perfectly on their own and can be enjoyed independently of each other. Two stories stood out for me: "In the Lights of their Bones" by Carson Winter, and "Future Portraits of the Unhappy Dead" by Caleb Stephens. The first builds on the theme of the pandemic, and tells the story of an introvert joining a cleaning crew: they clean houses and neighborhoods of dead bodies found after the quarantine. The story's pandemic is very strange and the job is an odd job in itself, but it gets even weirder when the narrator acts on a very weird impulse during a stressing day of clean-up. The Stephens story I've already mentioned above: it's about a guy who works in a repair shop of phones, tablets etc. and enjoys picking at the clients' personal photos and videos. This could easily develop into a thriller type of story, but then the photographs come alive and start talking back and, well, the extraordinary happens and mayhem ensues. The unsettling ending delivers a little expected punch, though too much is left unexplained.
In sum, this is a superbly-crafted anthology, gripping, entertaining, and timely. If you like creepy, well-plotted, enjoyable stories (and who doesn't), do not miss it!
September 3, 2025
A real solid anthology of weird corporate horror. The intro by editor TJ Price and the facsimile documents attached to the start of each story blend the stories into a world of an overreaching evil corporate entity. While the stories don't necessarily fit into an interconnected story or seem crafted to represent goings on of a single corporate entity, they all have a common theme of the dread of the workday.
They all have at least a touch of that cosmic dread and are all really unique stories. If you've ever hated a job then this is a good one to check out.
They all have at least a touch of that cosmic dread and are all really unique stories. If you've ever hated a job then this is a good one to check out.
September 9, 2024
(Full Disclosure - One of the authors asked if I would be interested in reading this new book and I said yes because it sounded interesting.)
Odd Jobs: Six Files from the Department of Inhuman Resources is a collection of short stories by six horror authors. The book is edited by T.J. Price and they purport to be a series of files that have been released by an employee of the Dept of Inhuman Resources, a dangerous undertaking that might result in his death... or maybe firing.
The six stories highlight odd jobs, some for the Company, presenting either a dystopic world or strange happenings.
1. Lips Sealed, Steeped in Oil, Pores Opening like Mouths by Ai Jiang
2. Rags to Riches by Ivy Grimes
3. These Little Tyrants by Erik McHatton
4. In the Lights of their Bones by Carson Winter
5. Investigation into a Disappearance by Christi Nogle
6. Future Portraits of the Unhappy Dead by Caleb Stephens
The stories themselves aren't horrifying, rather more creepy and unsettling, each author presenting their story in their own unique style. The only writer of the group who I've tried previously is Ai Jiang, the author of Linghun.
In Lips sealed, a young lady begins working for the company. She wants to be an environmentalist but decides to work for this 'oil' company first. It's a limited term and it will give her the money to switch to environmentalist issues, so she believes. But the experience will leave her incapable of living in the 'real' world. This oil world seeps into the real world, destroying forests, animals, people. But it also sinks into her very skin, her very pores, her soul.
(Oh yes, at the beginning of each story, a personal or performance report or mental evaluation is provided on the main character. It's a neat touch)
In Rags to Riches, Penny works in the Bookstore, a strange sort of place. She is filled with ambition and wants to rise to the executive level. Each level strikes her as odd and she wants to change things. The Owner is watching her and moves her along quickly. But it's not what Penny expects. (Although quite different, it did make me think of a graphic I'd read about the Albertan oil sands, Ducks0
In These Little Tyrants, the main character is being abused by her boss Michelle, being made to perform the most mundane of tasks. She complains to Bill, a potential boyfriend, who disappears suddenly. However she finds herself being promoted, but not to where she expects. She is moved to production, cleaning pink slime from vats in the basement and sees many strange things... (I'm somewhat reminded of Soylent Green... somewhat)
In the Light of their Bones - A young man begins a new jobs, after a 'pandemic' of sorts. It's not completely explained but it seems a 'light' has done something to the insides of people. Finally allowed outdoors, he joins a clean-up crew. Released from the safe zone each day, they move to empty apartment buildings, homes, cleaning out any bodies, the furniture, sanitizing the homes. But something happens to the young fella.....
In Investigation into a Disappearance, an English professor is interrogated by a.... police officer? about the disappearance of one of her students or a girl she mentored. Only briefly mentioned, the various departments; Fine Arts, History seem to be empty, falling into disrepair. When the investigator doesn't show up one day, the Professor tries to find Debi, this budding author she tried, unsuccessfully to mentor. We now move to Debi's house... (now this had me thinking of House of Leaves, or Doctor Who).. The house is not what it seems from the outside. What had Debi done? (Oh one of the Classic Twilight Zones is about a young boy who has very strong mental powers....)
Finally, there is Future Portraits of the Unhappy Dead where we meet Ronald Hart who works for a telephone / computer repair shop in a small town in Texas. Ronald begins seeing things in the phones / laptops where people are being abused or killed and after not doing anything the first time, he decides he has to stop the perpetrators. He also loves the girl in charge of the shop, but she only has eyes for another fella. (Think the Dead Zone with this one).
Every story is interesting and different. They leave you feeling unsettled at the very least. The endings are always open to your interpretation. A neat concept and an entertaining collection. I think it's worth checking out the individual authors works. (4.0 stars)
Odd Jobs: Six Files from the Department of Inhuman Resources is a collection of short stories by six horror authors. The book is edited by T.J. Price and they purport to be a series of files that have been released by an employee of the Dept of Inhuman Resources, a dangerous undertaking that might result in his death... or maybe firing.
The six stories highlight odd jobs, some for the Company, presenting either a dystopic world or strange happenings.
1. Lips Sealed, Steeped in Oil, Pores Opening like Mouths by Ai Jiang
2. Rags to Riches by Ivy Grimes
3. These Little Tyrants by Erik McHatton
4. In the Lights of their Bones by Carson Winter
5. Investigation into a Disappearance by Christi Nogle
6. Future Portraits of the Unhappy Dead by Caleb Stephens
The stories themselves aren't horrifying, rather more creepy and unsettling, each author presenting their story in their own unique style. The only writer of the group who I've tried previously is Ai Jiang, the author of Linghun.
In Lips sealed, a young lady begins working for the company. She wants to be an environmentalist but decides to work for this 'oil' company first. It's a limited term and it will give her the money to switch to environmentalist issues, so she believes. But the experience will leave her incapable of living in the 'real' world. This oil world seeps into the real world, destroying forests, animals, people. But it also sinks into her very skin, her very pores, her soul.
(Oh yes, at the beginning of each story, a personal or performance report or mental evaluation is provided on the main character. It's a neat touch)
In Rags to Riches, Penny works in the Bookstore, a strange sort of place. She is filled with ambition and wants to rise to the executive level. Each level strikes her as odd and she wants to change things. The Owner is watching her and moves her along quickly. But it's not what Penny expects. (Although quite different, it did make me think of a graphic I'd read about the Albertan oil sands, Ducks0
In These Little Tyrants, the main character is being abused by her boss Michelle, being made to perform the most mundane of tasks. She complains to Bill, a potential boyfriend, who disappears suddenly. However she finds herself being promoted, but not to where she expects. She is moved to production, cleaning pink slime from vats in the basement and sees many strange things... (I'm somewhat reminded of Soylent Green... somewhat)
In the Light of their Bones - A young man begins a new jobs, after a 'pandemic' of sorts. It's not completely explained but it seems a 'light' has done something to the insides of people. Finally allowed outdoors, he joins a clean-up crew. Released from the safe zone each day, they move to empty apartment buildings, homes, cleaning out any bodies, the furniture, sanitizing the homes. But something happens to the young fella.....
In Investigation into a Disappearance, an English professor is interrogated by a.... police officer? about the disappearance of one of her students or a girl she mentored. Only briefly mentioned, the various departments; Fine Arts, History seem to be empty, falling into disrepair. When the investigator doesn't show up one day, the Professor tries to find Debi, this budding author she tried, unsuccessfully to mentor. We now move to Debi's house... (now this had me thinking of House of Leaves, or Doctor Who).. The house is not what it seems from the outside. What had Debi done? (Oh one of the Classic Twilight Zones is about a young boy who has very strong mental powers....)
Finally, there is Future Portraits of the Unhappy Dead where we meet Ronald Hart who works for a telephone / computer repair shop in a small town in Texas. Ronald begins seeing things in the phones / laptops where people are being abused or killed and after not doing anything the first time, he decides he has to stop the perpetrators. He also loves the girl in charge of the shop, but she only has eyes for another fella. (Think the Dead Zone with this one).
Every story is interesting and different. They leave you feeling unsettled at the very least. The endings are always open to your interpretation. A neat concept and an entertaining collection. I think it's worth checking out the individual authors works. (4.0 stars)
January 4, 2025
Odd Jobs: Six Files... is a fun compilation of strange and bizarre stories. A great showcase of talented authors, each story (and introduction) is a display of diversity and style. There are many unsettling moments here, but I really loved the different takes on humor scattered throughout. Highly recommend!
September 15, 2024
Amazing anthology definitely worth checking out! I loved every story as well as the framing device, but my favorites had to be Ai Jiang's and Ivy Grimes' beautiful and strange stories. Highly highly recommend!
September 23, 2024
“Starfish 32
I want to hold your hand
but I don’t know which to choose.”
— “Rags to Riches” by Ivy Grimes
Absolutely loved this corporate horror anthology. Wonderful mix of the unforgettably weird and uncompromisingly real, with a dash of absurd humour. Impossible to pick a favourite story to single out when even the foreword and accompanying HR files are works of art (particularly enjoyed Penny’s employee info form prior to Ivy Grimes’ “Rags to Riches”).
We begin with Ai Jiang’s haunting tale of a woman faced with a moral choice between a low-paying job with an NGO and high-paying one with X Oil Corp, and the stories don’t let up from there. You’ll find Kafkaesque bureaucracies, strange bookstores, dark academia, PPE-clad cleaners in a bone-evaporating pandemic, phone and computer repairs, and more.
Will definitely be reading more work by all of the contributors.
*I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review
I want to hold your hand
but I don’t know which to choose.”
— “Rags to Riches” by Ivy Grimes
Absolutely loved this corporate horror anthology. Wonderful mix of the unforgettably weird and uncompromisingly real, with a dash of absurd humour. Impossible to pick a favourite story to single out when even the foreword and accompanying HR files are works of art (particularly enjoyed Penny’s employee info form prior to Ivy Grimes’ “Rags to Riches”).
We begin with Ai Jiang’s haunting tale of a woman faced with a moral choice between a low-paying job with an NGO and high-paying one with X Oil Corp, and the stories don’t let up from there. You’ll find Kafkaesque bureaucracies, strange bookstores, dark academia, PPE-clad cleaners in a bone-evaporating pandemic, phone and computer repairs, and more.
Will definitely be reading more work by all of the contributors.
*I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review
September 8, 2024
This was the year I discovered a new favorite author, Ai Jiang, who helped open my eyes to exploring more indie horror and speculative factor writers. So, when she offered her followers an opportunity to read the newest collection of short stories she is in, I gleefully jumped at the chance!
Odd Jobs takes us into six author’s visions of the future of work, and there is precious little we can look forward to. These are visions mixing the bureaucratic hellscape of movie Brazil with the melancholic dystopia of Nagamatsu’s How High We Go in the Dark. And I loved every second of it.
The stories express the full weight of fighting to be a good person while under the constraints of capitalist pressures and priorities, and as a civil servant myself (not to mention former bookstore employee), Jaing’s Lips Sealed and Grimes’ Rags to Riches especial spoke to me, but there are no favorites here: everything from the haunting Light of Their Bones by Winters to the revenge tale-gone-oh-so-wrong in Stephens Future Portraits are tight, intense experiences.
I highly recommend this collection and look forward to leaving more about the contributors in the future!
Odd Jobs takes us into six author’s visions of the future of work, and there is precious little we can look forward to. These are visions mixing the bureaucratic hellscape of movie Brazil with the melancholic dystopia of Nagamatsu’s How High We Go in the Dark. And I loved every second of it.
The stories express the full weight of fighting to be a good person while under the constraints of capitalist pressures and priorities, and as a civil servant myself (not to mention former bookstore employee), Jaing’s Lips Sealed and Grimes’ Rags to Riches especial spoke to me, but there are no favorites here: everything from the haunting Light of Their Bones by Winters to the revenge tale-gone-oh-so-wrong in Stephens Future Portraits are tight, intense experiences.
I highly recommend this collection and look forward to leaving more about the contributors in the future!
October 2, 2024
Almost like a concept album, you would think this is all short stories about 'the company' and that there are certain rules and all that buuuut not really. Some of the stories revolve around similar odd corporations but really 'Odd Jobs' is the key here. Forget that they're all supposed to connect because they don't. With anthologies you get a bunch of different writing styles so that's fun! My least favorite was tapped as a favorite by several others so I think that's just great. Overall it's uneven but gets better after a bit of a rough first half. Definitely packs in different brands of horror, from existential to quirky to gross-out. Would recommend to readers looking to discover new voices and folks to follow.
February 19, 2025
This was a really solid collection of work-themed stories. The first few dug into the theme a little harder and centered around the feelings of oppression and alienation modern work culture forces on us, while the latter half of the book seemed to focus more on how workplace obsessions bleed into our personal lives. There's a lot of diversity for such a small selection of stories. Included is everything from apocalyptic cosmic horror (from Carson Winter), surreal weird fiction (Christi Nogle, Ai Jiang), Ligottian absurdism (Erik McHatton), a kind of workplace fairy tale (Ivy Grimes) to a straight up nail-biting thriller (Caleb Stephens).
August 10, 2025
Disappointing. The description reads as though the anthology contributions are going to be linked with some kind of wraparound with “the Company.” Nope. There’s zero connection of any kind. I was looking for biting commentary on capitalism and corporate life, but there’s just not much there. A couple stories are interesting, but again, the thread that we were promised is non-existent.
Also, it’s so frustrating to find SO MANY TYPOS. And ones that even Word would catch! Undertaker Books does such a disservice to its authors not to have a solid copy editor.
Also, it’s so frustrating to find SO MANY TYPOS. And ones that even Word would catch! Undertaker Books does such a disservice to its authors not to have a solid copy editor.
September 23, 2024
Strange, Corporate, Fantastic!
I had a blast with this one. I enjoyed all these stories, but my favorites were “Rags to Riches," “These Little Tyrants," and “Future Portraits of the Unhappy Dead." Highly recommended for fans of the weird and the horrific!
I had a blast with this one. I enjoyed all these stories, but my favorites were “Rags to Riches," “These Little Tyrants," and “Future Portraits of the Unhappy Dead." Highly recommended for fans of the weird and the horrific!
February 4, 2025
A little too on the nose for me I think. Too much commentary and not enough horror.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews