I was happy to find it has the same characteristics as all the finest Magnus Archives episodes, and indeed all the best horror: it's mostly grounded in reality, and it manages the difficult task of crossing the line into unadulterated supernatural terror without becoming overblown or silly.Įach story ends with the protagonist receiving an invite to a dinner party hosted by Tobias Fell, so it's pretty obvious throughout that the climactic chapter will depict the party. I am extremely picky when it comes to podcasts, and Sims has written some of the best episodes I have ever heard.* However, I think the currently airing series of the podcast (the fifth) has lost its way, so I wasn't necessarily predisposed to think Thirteen Storeys would be a work of genius. Like many readers, I was initially interested in this because of The Magnus Archives. The tenth is another highlight: focusing on a mismatched pair of security guards, it boasts a blinding twist. The fourth story features a little girl and her imaginary friend, and contains a few lines that are more blood-curdlingly creepy than anything I've read this year. This story mixes ekphrasis, which is one of my favourite literary devices regardless of context, with horror it's a winning combination, and the result is electrifying.
When I reached the second (Jésus, a wealthy and arrogant art dealer), however, I knew I was getting into something good. The first – about Violet, who works night shifts – is good, but not remarkable it's a readable, workmanlike tale of modern life and its cruelties, depicting an exhausted woman struggling to stay afloat (and awake). There are – you guessed it – thirteen stories in all.Įvery story is engrossing, though they vary in quality. Each chapter concentrates on the story of an individual resident these characters hail from both sides of the building, and sometimes from outside it. It's divided into two parts, and they are polar opposites: a set of expensive luxury apartments on one side, a designated block of 'affordable housing' on the other. Banyan Court is the creation of billionaire entrepreneur Tobias Fell (who supposedly inhabits the penthouse, though nobody ever seems to see him). The debut novel from Jonathan Sims, best known as the creator and star of the horror podcast The Magnus Archives, revolves around a London building.
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