A tale of mystery, intrigue and suspense

December 28, 2009 8:37 PM

'New Yorker' short story posted in the last year, or the last few years, about a man who lives with the ghost of his parents. Link?

I recall something about a dead body that the protagonist and a co-worker tries to hide, in an office closet of all places, but it starts to smell so they bury it at an archeological site. It is, of course, discovered.

His parents are nightly subjected to being murdered by a group of drugged up foreigners. He is also eventually murdered, but it all has a happy ending. If you can provide me with a link to this, I'd be incredibly happy.

I am almost 100% sure this was on 'The New Yorker' website, but I've searched their archives to no avail. The phrase "You never know who you're living with" comes to mind, but I don't know if that is a line in the story or my own creation.

posted by caveat to Writing & Language (4 answers total)

Best answer: This one? It seems to have some of the details you said.
posted by pecknpah at 8:49 PM on December 28, 2009

Response by poster: Yes! Yes!! Thank you very much. It was older than I thought.
posted by caveat at 9:04 PM on December 28, 2009

Good story!
posted by Kerasia at 10:06 PM on December 28, 2009

George Saunders. He's pretty awesome. If you liked this story you will want to read lots more of him, he's an addiction worth indulging. In Persuasion Nation and Pastoralia are both excellent books.
posted by Erroneous at 8:17 AM on December 29, 2009