Thirteen Storeys

Let's meet our cast of characters. There are thirteen, if you can believe it. Violet A stubborn workaholic who loves doing night shifts and proofing her mother wrong. She also hates how little work ethic most people have. Others have it so much worse... Jésus A snobbish rich art dealer who acquires a very captivating painting. Literally. I mean, I'm all for appreciating the art but some things are just toxic. Carter A tech savvy gym bro who is obsessed with data having a female AI based on a woman he knew? I see no world in which that could go wrong, keep going man. Anna A little girl with a very hungry imaginary friend who insists that she isn't imaginary at all. But why can nobody else see her then? Gillian An aspiring lawyer with no money and an unholy workload that reveals a dangerous conspiracy. Let's hope they don't find out. (They already know). Alvita An insomniac single mother who is exhausted with existing in general. Late Night TV isn't good for your health, I think, but the host of that one show is promising her really nice things... Cari An aimless nepo baby journalist who struggles to find her footing and has a passion for ghost hunting. Well, this building certainly has seen some things. Laura A ruthless estate agent who desperately wants to get rid of an apartment that seems to be haunted by something. Something she may have caused herself... Leon A very stressed out businessman with an unhappy wife and a grey stain on the wall that just won't come off, no matter how hard he tries to remove it... Jason A down on his luck concierge who's working the front desk of the building with a colleague that loves being mean to everyone but him. You see a lot at the front desk of this house, you know? Janek A nonchalant plumber who just tries to make sense of the pipes in this damn building... and why there's blood coming out of the showers. Damian An ex-homeless ex-alcoholic who knows all about spaces and the spaces here are just WRONG. The walls are literally closing in on him... Tobias An old reclusive billionaire who throws a very extraordinary dinner party... OF DOOM! I didn't like all the stories the same, but there isn't one of them I found boring or struggled to finish. I also love those moments in people's stories where you point at another character like "I know youuuu!" and how things from the first stories get more and more context as we get new perspectives. This building absolutely is haunted, that is not a spoiler, that is just a fact. But sometimes the ghosts aren't the worst thing it has to offer... so enter and see for yourself. Also, apparently Leon's wife Andrea decided to be called Angela for two pages which kind of reminds me of Carla/Clara from that one Magnus Archives episode and made me smirk because I had to think about the Archivist's rant about how it doesn't matter if he misspoke some words. That's why Jonny gets a free pass for things like that from me for all eternity.

I’ve known Jonathan Sims from his works in the podcast world (or rather from the phenomenal audio drama ‘The Magnus Archives’). Already there he proved that he’s a fantastic writer of everything ghoulish and downright terrifying and when I found out that he’s written a book, I could not faster buy a copy of it. And in Thirteen Storeys he again showed his talent of weaving interconnecting stories filled with fantastical, suspenseful, and most nail-biting moments. I devoured every chapter (and loved every bit) and was truly satisfied with the conclusion (or rather ending) of the story. If you need a book that keeps you on your toes than I just implore you to lose yourself in this world filled with ghosts.

i must preface this by saying i spent most of my read convinced this would be five stars. all first 12 chapters were incredibly immersive, and i absolutely love the diverse cast of characters jonny has so wonderfully conjured up. i genuinely got the chills reading this, and i found it so hard to put it down. my only criticism is that the 13th chapter wasn't very immersive due to the constant pov-switches, that made it difficult to really get into the story and also (in my opinion) made the writing flow weirdly. all in all i would still say that this was an amazing read, and i really can only recommend it!

Fear, obsession and a death leading to a fight for your lifes... Sometimes the thrill suffered from the ongoing change of perspective each chapter, wich was confusing. BUT there were a lot of strange and unusual shocking moments and acts. Mostly the protagonists in each chapter loose some kind of "sense for reality/their positions in life" and start panicing or ignoring everything. This "haunted house" is clearly something new and worth to be looked at.