The Caretaker

by Marcus Kliewer · 2026

When recent college graduate Macy Mullins is desperate for cash, a cryptic Craigslist ad promising three days of caretaking work on the Oregon coast seems like a lifeline. The house she enters is isolated, its owner a mysterious elderly man, and the surrounding woods hum with an unsettling presence. What begins as a short‑term gig quickly spirals into a nightmarish ritual—‘the Rites’—that threatens far more than her paycheck. As inexplicable horrors surface, Macy discovers she may be the only barrier between an ancient, malevolent force and the survival of humanity itself. Forced to confront the darkness lurking in the house and within herself, she must decide whether to flee or become the reluctant guardian of a world she never imagined.