(Mostly) Human Resources Summary: Corporate Drones, Ancient Monsters & One Bargain That Changes Everything
Introduction
Alexys Keane handles employee files, compliance forms, and performance reviews.
Her employer, Entity LLC, treats monster hunting like any other corporate service industry—complete with districts, quotas, and billing codes.
But when her newest field Warden goes silent in rural West Virginia, Alexys steps away from her desk and into a nightmare that no HR training manual covers.
Grace Viall’s (Mostly) Human Resources mixes workplace satire with Southern Gothic horror. The result is a story that shifts between office banter and blood-soaked forest rituals.
It is a novel for readers who like their paranormal fantasy with sharp dialogue, slow-burn tension, and a monster that is not the worst thing hiding in the mountains.
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Story Snapshot
- Genre & Subgenre: Contemporary Paranormal Fantasy / Cozy Workplace Romantasy
- Core Narrative Tropes: Academic rivals-to-lovers, forced proximity, primordial bargain, workplace fantasy
- Tone & Atmosphere: Corporate satire and witty banter contrast with foggy, claustrophobic Southern Gothic horror
- Primary Conflict: Alexys and Nic must locate their missing Warden, survive a hostile wilderness, and escape a blood-sacrificing cult while a primordial entity takes personal interest in Alexys
- Pacing Style: Character-driven and snappy in the corporate setup, shifting into tense survivalist horror in the second half
TL;DR: The Corporate Ladder Ends at a Blood Altar
Alexys Keane is an overworked HR caseworker for Entity LLC, a corporation that manages supernatural threats.
Her new Warden, Elliot Harman, goes missing while unofficially investigating the Hollow Walker, an ancient cryptid in West Virginia. Alexys travels into a cellular dead zone to find him, joined by her smug research rival Nic Dyre.
They find a town, a ghost, a cult, and a primordial being called the Gray Man. Elliot is dead. Alexys makes a desperate bargain to save Nic’s life.
That bargain frees Silas Lockwood, an ancient entity who now has plans for her.
The novel ends with Alexys transferred to the field as a Warden and Silas promising to see her soon.
(Mostly) Human Resources Summary: Into the Dead Zone
SPOILERS AHEAD. This section recounts the full plot, including the ending.
Alexys Keane works for Entity LLC, a corporation that catalogs and contains supernatural phenomena across twenty national districts. She manages field Wardens from a desk.
She also suffers from violent nightmares that she believes have a paranormal cause. Official consultations are too expensive, so she researches secretly with Zach Hornsby, a purple-haired research assistant.
Corporate mandates now require HR managers to complete in-person field evaluations. Alexys selects a low-risk case in West Virginia involving “Silver Giants.”
Her new Warden, Elliot Harman, is eager to prove himself. Nic Dyre, the arrogant head of Research and Cataloging, takes sudden interest in Elliot’s quadrant after the young Warden reports evidence of the Hollow Walker—a Class F cryptid rumored to be unique and ancient.
Grace Viall places the turning point inside Alexys’s bathroom. She has a nightmare of her mirror bleeding. A voice says Elliot is dead and she is next.
When Elliot misses his check-in, Alexys flies to West Virginia. The area is a cellular dead zone. She checks into a run-down hotel and meets Silas Lockwood in the elevator.
He is polished, Southern, and cold to the touch.
Alexys breaks into Elliot’s room. She finds a frantic conspiracy wall of red string, maps of a town called Mercyhill, livestock deaths, and notes on the Hollow Walker.
Nic Dyre arrives, revealing that he encouraged Elliot’s off-the-books investigation. Alexys steals Nic’s rental car and drives into the mountains alone.
She tracks Elliot to Nanny Opal, a Granny Witch in Mossen Hollow. Opal says Elliot followed a strange whistling into the woods after dark.
A bone reading predicts change and death. Alexys enters the forest anyway. She meets Silas again, who says her time has not yet come.
Then she meets Waylan, a barefoot nine-year-old boy.
Waylan leads her to a skeletal ruin. He is a Haint—a ghost trapped in a death loop. At sunset he becomes a white-eyed shadow and chases her.
Alexys escapes by crossing running water. Silas reappears, commands Waylan to go home, and tells Alexys she is safe for now.
Nic is waiting at Opal’s porch. Their argument becomes a petty food fight. Opal throws them both outside. Forced to cooperate, they set out together the next morning.
A storm forces them into a cave. A monstrous Jackalope mimics Nic’s voice and steals Alexys’s purse.
Nic distracts a pack of them with whiskey from a flask.
While Alexys sleeps, Nic finds a metallic purple spider near her ear. It is a Dreamweaver, an extinct nightmare-parasite. He traps it in a specimen jar and tells her nothing.
They find Waylan again. He points them toward Mill Creek. The two rivals slowly shift into something closer. They trace the creature to the rusted ruins of Greenbriar Mine.
There they see the Hollow Walker: a twelve-foot-tall skeletal beast with antlers, no eyes, and moss growing through its bones. Its whistle is only wind moving through a hollow ribcage.
Inside the mine, they find mutilated corpses. Elliot’s severed hand and backpack are among them. A cult in black robes surrounds them, led by a redhead named Agnes. The cult sacrifices travelers to the Hollow Walker and the Marrow Witch once a month to keep the mountain safe.
Alexys and Nic are captured. Nic wakes tied to a blood-soaked stone altar. Alexys wakes bound nearby. Both try to trade their own lives for the other.
As Agnes raises an obsidian dagger, Silas speaks to Alexys. He offers to save Nic in exchange for a bargain. Alexys whispers for him to save Nic and shakes his cold hand.
The altar shatters. Silas reveals himself as the Gray Man, a primordial entity imprisoned by the Marrow Witch’s magic. The sacrifices were meant to keep him caged.
He kills Agnes and the cultists, heals Nic’s wound, and leaves a thin pale scar before vanishing.
An Entity Post-Encounter Concealment crew scrubs the scene and returns Alexys’s rental car. Nic takes her to his South Carolina home to recover.
He gives her her late father’s original field journal from his private collection.
At headquarters, Alexys expects to be fired. Instead, Entity eliminates most HR positions. She is transferred into the Wardens department and assigned to Elliot’s old quadrant under a Reaper named Delaney Rourke.
In her old office, she finds a business card with a message from Silas: “See you soon, Miss Keane.”
The book ends with Alexys and Nic holding hands in his basement office. He promises to talk about the kiss they shared in the mine.
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Summary by Chapter
SPOILERS INCLUDED. Chapters are grouped by narrative movement rather than listed individually.
The Inciting Nightmare and Corporate Demands (Chapters 1–10)
Alexys Keane struggles with her HR workload and secret nightmares. Entity mandates in-person field evaluations for HR managers. She selects a safe “non-case” in West Virginia.
Elliot Harman discovers traces of the Hollow Walker, catching Nic Dyre’s obsessive attention. A premonitory nightmare about Elliot’s death sends Alexys into panic.
Arrival in Mercyhill and the Red-String Board (Chapters 11–18)
Alexys arrives in a cellular dead zone and cannot reach Elliot. She enters his hotel room and finds a true-crime-style wall mapping cult activity and the Hollow Walker.
Nic arrives. Alexys steals his rental car. Nic meets Silas Lockwood, who shares folklore about the Old Ones.
Wilderness Decoy and the Forest Haint (Chapters 19–27)
Alexys finds Nanny Opal, who says Elliot followed a whistling into the dark forest. A bone reading predicts death. In the woods, she meets Waylan.
He leads her to a ruin and reveals himself as a Haint. He turns hostile at sunset. Alexys escapes across a creek. Silas intervenes and gives a chilling warning.
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The Cave, the Jackalopes, and the Dreamweaver (Chapters 28–36)
Alexys returns to find Nic at Opal’s cottage. A food fight ends in a tense alliance. A storm drives them into a cave. A vocal-mimicking Jackalope steals Alexys’s purse.
Nic throws whiskey to distract the pack. While Alexys sleeps, Nic captures the Dreamweaver spider responsible for her nightmares and keeps it secret.
Trek to Greenbriar Mine and the Hollow Walker (Chapters 37–43)
Alexys wakes to Elliot’s mimicked voice. She and Nic escape another Jackalope pack. Waylan points them up Mill Creek.
They see the Hollow Walker up close—a massive skeletal beast whose whistle comes from wind through its bones. They follow it to the abandoned mine in the dark.
Sacrificial Climax, Primordial Deals, and a Restructured Future (Chapters 44–57)
Inside the mine, they find Elliot’s remains and are captured by the cult. Tied to the altar, Alexys makes a bargain with Silas, the Gray Man.
He slaughters the cult, heals Nic, and vanishes. Entity clean-up crews arrive. Alexys is transferred to the Wardens department. Silas leaves a card promising a reunion. Alexys and Nic hold hands, and Nic promises to address their kiss.
Characters in (Mostly) Human Resources
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Alexys Keane | District 13 HR manager transferred to the field as a Warden; daughter of the late Michael Keane. |
| Nic Dyre | Head of Research and Cataloging; Alexys’s rival and love interest who secretly captures her nightmare parasite. |
| Elliot Harman | New field Warden killed by the Hollow Walker and the cult after pursuing the creature alone. |
| Silas Lockwood / The Gray Man | Ancient primordial entity imprisoned by the Marrow Witch; manipulates Alexys into freeing him. |
| Nanny Opal | Granny Witch who directs outsiders into the woods to be sacrificed. |
| Agnes | Red-headed cultist who performs ritual sacrifices in Greenbriar Mine. |
| Waylan | Ghost boy trapped in a death loop; hostile shadow entity after sunset. |
| Natalie | HR caseworker and Alexys’s best friend. |
| Kristin Satter | Regional HR Director who reassigns Alexys to the Wardens department. |
| Zach Hornsby | Nic’s research assistant who helps Alexys with off-the-books nightmare research. |
| Carol Keane | Alexys’s mother who resents Entity for her husband’s death. |
| Delaney Rourke | Reaper appointed as Alexys’s new Warden Team Leader. |
Who Will Enjoy (Mostly) Human Resources?
Readers who appreciate workplace fantasy, banter-heavy romantic tension, and characters hiding personal pain behind professional facades.
Best suited for those seeking a setup-heavy first half that shifts into fast survival horror and high-stakes bargaining in the second half.
Recommended If You Liked: Fans of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, or the narrative style of Megan Bannen’s The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy.
