Set in the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio, the story follows Amy, a retail employee struggling with debt. When the staff discovers damaged inventory and strange puddles, the cynical manager, Basil, enlists Amy and several others for an overnight shift to investigate the vandalism. They discover the warehouse was built atop an 1840s penitentiary. As night falls, the store’s sleek, maze-like floor plan transforms into a torture facility where a spectral warden attempts to "rehabilitate" the employees through gruesome labor and physical punishment.
Fans of corporate satire and supernatural horror read this for its critique of minimum-wage labor and consumer culture. The narrative mimics the layout of a furniture catalog, using assembly instructions to mirror the rising tension. Readers walk away with a cynical appreciation for the dehumanizing nature of big-box retail and a visceral reminder of how modern workspaces can feel like psychological traps. It appeals to anyone who has navigated the repetitive, fluorescent-lit exhaustion of service industry environments.
- Published
- 2014
- Language
- EN
