Thirteen Storeys
- Downloads：3580
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-19 14:55:00
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jonathan Sims
- ISBN：1473228735
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
You're cordially invited to dinner。 Penthouse access is available via the broken freight elevator。 Black tie optional。
A dinner party is held in the penthouse of a multimillion-pound development。 All the guests are strangers - even to their host， the billionaire owner of the building。 None of them know why they were selected to receive his invitation。 Whether privileged or deprived， besides a postcode， they share only one thing in common - they've all experienced a shocking disturbance within the building's walls。
By the end of the night， their host is dead， and none of the guests ever said what happened。 His death remains one of the biggest unsolved mysteries - until now。
But are you ready for their stories？
Jonathan Sims' debut is a darkly twisted， genre-bending journey through one of the most innovative haunted houses you'll ever dare to enter。
A dinner party is held in the penthouse of a multimillion-pound development。 All the guests are strangers - even to their host， the billionaire owner of the building。 None of them know why they were selected to receive his invitation。 Whether privileged or deprived， besides a postcode， they share only one thing in common - they've all experienced a shocking disturbance within the building's walls。
By the end of the night， their host is dead， and none of the guests ever said what happened。 His death remains one of the biggest unsolved mysteries - until now。
But are you ready for their stories？
Jonathan Sims' debut is a darkly twisted， genre-bending journey through one of the most innovative haunted houses you'll ever dare to enter。
Reviews
Victoria Fuller
，
Well Jonathan Sims you managed to actually make me have a nightmare this time。 Very rarely have nightmares about the stuff I consume but you gave me a nightmare with the whole Prentiss thing and then while reading this in the middle of a strange fever induced time where I would read until I fell asleep and them wake up and read some more I had a nightmare。 A gasp awake hearing Knock Knock in my head echoing around me nightmare。 Congrats。
Puck
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Oh this was Fun
Kivrin
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Good little "Magnus Archives" in book form。 Creeping horror with a payoff that I quite enjoyed （well， in a dark sort of way）。 There's a nice build as the stories add up and the various pieces on the board are moved into position for the finale。 Good read。 Good little "Magnus Archives" in book form。 Creeping horror with a payoff that I quite enjoyed （well， in a dark sort of way）。 There's a nice build as the stories add up and the various pieces on the board are moved into position for the finale。 Good read。 。。。more
Sanne
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I think this is the one book that I might have *loved* as an audio book， especially if Jonathan himself read it out to me。 I've got to say that I read this in the voice of the Archivist， and this is specifically a book that people who like The Magnus Archives， might like too。It's horror， yes， but the title is a pun （there are 13 different stories， as well as 13 different levels）， and I can't get over that。 The stories themselves are relatively short but slowly reveal more and more about Banyan C I think this is the one book that I might have *loved* as an audio book， especially if Jonathan himself read it out to me。 I've got to say that I read this in the voice of the Archivist， and this is specifically a book that people who like The Magnus Archives， might like too。It's horror， yes， but the title is a pun （there are 13 different stories， as well as 13 different levels）， and I can't get over that。 The stories themselves are relatively short but slowly reveal more and more about Banyan Court and its strangeness （one would almost call it horrors but it seems to be very personal）。 By the time you feel like you know what's going on with the invite cards and Banyan Court and the people who are involved， you're on the thirteenth storey （and story） and you're waiting with bated breath to see how this is going to end。I was a little disappointed in the ending。 It worked， of course， but I didn't like the explicit calling-out of what things the 'haunted' stood for， it made the ending a little clunky and maybe too much "telling" instead of showing or allowing a reader to fill in the blanks for themselves。 I also remember writing down somewhere that the introductory chapter was strange， but it made sense in the entirety of the story。I'm going to complain very briefly about the quality of the paperback， though， because that's what disappointed me most。 I think I'd have preferred thicker paper and maybe even a hardcover， but it was hard enough to get a copy， so I'm just glad I read it。Anyway， in conclusion: did you enjoy The Magnus Archives， and you're not ready to let go of Jonathan Sims and his world of horrors？ Consider picking this up。 Maybe in audio book format if it's there。 。。。more
Alex Jones
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12 solid， interlinked stories with the 13th being a satisfying conclusion。
Manon Klatt
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I originally thought of only giving this 4 stars because I struggled a bit to get in， having each story told by a different protagonist made it a bit hard for me to latch onto but oh my god the last few chapters I was flying through and the ending was so very satisfying and sexy that I have to give it five stars。
Jessica Coombes
，
Chilling， intriguing， macabre， Sims weaves a story - several stories - that weave together seamlessly。 Each new piece of information kept me wanting more。 I couldn't stop reading for the chills up my spine。 Chilling， intriguing， macabre， Sims weaves a story - several stories - that weave together seamlessly。 Each new piece of information kept me wanting more。 I couldn't stop reading for the chills up my spine。 。。。more
the darklings wife
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dnf at 27% （pg 109） but i marked it as read i really wanted to like this i put it on the backseat for a while but then i just never hot round to picking it up。 it wasn't awful it just wasn't what i was expecting。 they seemed more like short stories which i wasn't prepared for but it shouldn't discourage you from reading it。 dnf at 27% （pg 109） but i marked it as read i really wanted to like this i put it on the backseat for a while but then i just never hot round to picking it up。 it wasn't awful it just wasn't what i was expecting。 they seemed more like short stories which i wasn't prepared for but it shouldn't discourage you from reading it。 。。。more
Tim Pulo
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That felt like a bit of a chore
kerry
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Outstanding One of the best books I've read in a very long time。 Absolutely amazing read and couldn't put it down。 Outstanding One of the best books I've read in a very long time。 Absolutely amazing read and couldn't put it down。 。。。more
Lily
，
This book really said "Eat the Rich"😌 This book really said "Eat the Rich"😌 。。。more
Laura
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Eat the rich。。。
Helena R
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weird， but in a good way。 The cannibal girl haunts me >:（
Emily W
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！！！There are spoilers after the first two paragraphs！！！This is a really really good book。 I'd say it's probably my favorite horror book I've ever read。 Admittedly I've really only read a handful of goosebumps as a kid and The Tommyknockers by Stephen King so it's not like my standards for horror books are particularly high， but I have absorbed enough horror media besides books to easily call myself a fan。 But I would go so far as to say that this book is now one of my favorites I've ever read， r ！！！There are spoilers after the first two paragraphs！！！This is a really really good book。 I'd say it's probably my favorite horror book I've ever read。 Admittedly I've really only read a handful of goosebumps as a kid and The Tommyknockers by Stephen King so it's not like my standards for horror books are particularly high， but I have absorbed enough horror media besides books to easily call myself a fan。 But I would go so far as to say that this book is now one of my favorites I've ever read， regardless of genre。 Perhaps it's because I've matured as a reader （highly unlikely） or perhaps because I'm already familiar with Jonathan Sims' writing through The Magnus Archives， but something about this book was so easy to understand， and yet nuanced at the same time。So often when I read books， especially newer books marketed for adults， I find myself lost， and not in a good way。 I end up floundering， feeling like I've missed out on some context， or like I've missed some kind of social clue as to why characters are acting the way they are。 I encountered nothing of the sort here， and the only kind of pondering I did was the kind that shows just how much thought went into the writing。 I'll admit I had to flip back a couple times to remember names， but that has more to do with the fact that I essentially read it in one sitting than with the actual writing。 There were times where the message felt a bit heavy handed， particularly towards the end， but that's not a complaint， because messages like this one deserve to be spread and spread loudly。 And I promised spoilers so I might as well take advantage and say that the inclusion of cannibalism？ Eating the rich？ Perfect。 Wonderful。 I'd say something about those above feeding those down below， or make some insightful remark about trickle down economics， but if you're reading this you've read the book and if somehow you haven't please do， it's very good。 I'm going to have my mom read it。 Also， and this is the real reason I said spoilers， although its really very minor， the fact that Damien wears a chest binder made my week， my month even。 I'll get a bit personal here （because really I doubt many people will read this review） and say that I am a person who binds their chest， and just yesterday was having some thoughts about how that made me feel （poorly） but seeing this character who is only ever described as masculine and male， being briefly described as wearing a chest binder？ I don't think I can articulate how that made me feel in the moment other than loved。 It's just a throwaway line really， but I will treasure it。 I bet when my mom reads this book she might not even notice but when she's finished I show it to her， probably with a big dopey smile on my face。 Long story short this is a really really good book。 I hope Jonny Sims knows just how thankful I am that I got to read it， and that I'll read anything else that gets written by him from now until forever。 If you read this review and didnt read the book please go do that， and also hi， it was nice talking to you。 Now if you don't mind I have so much homework I need to do。 。。。more
Megan
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Jonny Sims says eviction is death！ Jonny Sims says no war but the class war！But no， really， this book is incredible。 What if the scariest thing to exist， the rot at the center of it all， is capitalism？！ How does it corrode everything it touches？ How does trauma linger？ Where does grief go？ What does choice look like and can it even exist under oppression？I listened to the audiobook version and the narration was incredible- I'm very familiar and love Sims' vignette style （full disclosure， I read Jonny Sims says eviction is death！ Jonny Sims says no war but the class war！But no， really， this book is incredible。 What if the scariest thing to exist， the rot at the center of it all， is capitalism？！ How does it corrode everything it touches？ How does trauma linger？ Where does grief go？ What does choice look like and can it even exist under oppression？I listened to the audiobook version and the narration was incredible- I'm very familiar and love Sims' vignette style （full disclosure， I read this book in the wake of finishing his other work， The Magnus Archives: Season 1） and even though I've listened to all 200 episodes of TMA it still took me until the 4th chapter to realize that I should have start my mental yarnboard from the very beginning。 The story and characters are compelling， and an intense critique on capitalism， classism， racism， work， choice， wealth， and family。 I loved it from beginning to end， especially the end。 If you're like me and enjoyed the more critical aspect of TMA （the conversations about work， working conditions， wealth inequality， hierarchies， etc。） you'll really， really enjoy this book too。 And the scares are as horror-rule breaking as they were in TMA （looking at you， "the blanket never did anything" levels of breaking the rules about imaginary friends）。 。。。more
Kenzo Vereecken
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Contains a series of interconnecting short stories。 Some more haunting then others but all interesting。 It all comes together in quite a satisfying manner。
Aengus Lewthwaite
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Jonathan sims is easily one of my favourite contemporary horror authors and I can't express how excited I am for whatever he does next。 Thirteen stories is an excellent book and absolutely mandatory if you enjoyed the magnus archives Jonathan sims is easily one of my favourite contemporary horror authors and I can't express how excited I am for whatever he does next。 Thirteen stories is an excellent book and absolutely mandatory if you enjoyed the magnus archives 。。。more
Zara Fennell
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Really fun and creepy at times。 Great and surprising read。 Devoured it in a day！#EatTheRich
M
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Okay， how do I begin？Probably by saying that this is the book that made me realise again how much I love reading。 This book was everything I could've wished for。 The horror elements are beautifully suspenseful and horrifying， the characters diverse and intriguing and the different stories are all fascinating in their own ways！ I found myself theorising about this so much and the hints as to what was happening were just vague enough that you felt like you could somehow guess what's going on but o Okay， how do I begin？Probably by saying that this is the book that made me realise again how much I love reading。 This book was everything I could've wished for。 The horror elements are beautifully suspenseful and horrifying， the characters diverse and intriguing and the different stories are all fascinating in their own ways！ I found myself theorising about this so much and the hints as to what was happening were just vague enough that you felt like you could somehow guess what's going on but only to a certain degreeSPOILERSThere are some details that especially made me happy stim so I'll write them down here:The clear critique of the class system， capitalism and also discrimination。As someone who is very passionate about those topics the ending was an absolute delight！First of all they actually 'eat the rich' which I found hilarious。 And then they brutally murder a man that's so vile， heartless and rich that even the 'ghosts' turn on him。 To me the whole ending was very cathartic， especially seeing the poorer characters rip apart this billionaire。The stories themselves。 Each story had a completely new setting without being completely detached from the main story。 I loved how the author experimented with different character mindsets， different social backgrounds and different fears。 The way all of the supernatural happenings could be traced back to the character's own issues and trauma was very satisfying to read since it wasn't completely obvious but also not too vague。 The casual queerness。This is not a major thing in the book but that's what made me happy about it。 We don't see a lot of queer representation in horror and even less representation that's done well。 So you can imagine how delighted I was about characters causally mentioning they're attracted to the same gender or how it's casually revealed that Damian wears a binder。 It's not however hollow representation， the book clearly mentions how queerness can impact your life when it talks about how Damian was homeless after being kicked out and how he was misgendered at his dad's funeral。As someone who is queer themselves it's very important for me to see this kind of representation in media that's not focused on it。Just the overall spookiness。I， as many others， got to know Jonathan Sims through the podcast The Magnus Archives。 So I was already familiar with how his writing could scare me but I was somehow sceptical of his book doing the same。 I have never been scared by a book before and I always assumed I just couldn't。Boy， how wrong I was！ Jonny Sims has a way of subtly building up tension that's equally terrifying and exhilarating。 Not all of the stories scared me but the one's that did will haunt me for a while。 My favourite stories have to be Jésus， Anna and Janek。 Jésus story surprised me since I didn't feel scared about the first story。 But the cut after he manages to distance himself from the painting to him crawling out of the room three days later somehow shook me a lot。Anna's story was just brilliant。 Writing horror from the view of a child is a very smart way to creep out your reader。 The way she casually describes Penny's mother looking absolutely terrifying and the occasional comments on Penny's weird anatomy were just small enough to make the story really eerie。And Janek's story just got to me because of the description of the corpse in the plumbing。 That was just very well described body horror， something I love a lot！Overall I loved this book with all of my heart and I could probably write wayy more about this！I am very excited about all the things that this author might write in the future！ 。。。more
lucile
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 3。5 stars moreso。 the ending felt a bit cheesy :（ bonus point for the lesbian wedding and for saying fuck billionaires
Emily
，
From the creator of the Magnus Archives podcast， a novel that’s about as much like the podcast as it can be without being at all related to the podcast: a series of interconnected spooky/mildly gruesome tales of the residents of a sinister London apartment building。 Part The Westing Game， part House of Blue Leaves， I guess。 I listened to the full-cast audio， and some chapters work a lot better than others; sometimes the writing is a bit weak， sometimes the voice acting is。 But it’s fine， in an u From the creator of the Magnus Archives podcast， a novel that’s about as much like the podcast as it can be without being at all related to the podcast: a series of interconnected spooky/mildly gruesome tales of the residents of a sinister London apartment building。 Part The Westing Game， part House of Blue Leaves， I guess。 I listened to the full-cast audio， and some chapters work a lot better than others; sometimes the writing is a bit weak， sometimes the voice acting is。 But it’s fine， in an uneven way， if you’re in the mood for this sort of thing。 。。。more
Sarah Jo Smith
，
I love Johnny Sims。 This one got a weensy bit political， especially at the end， but it was an honest to goodness haunted house story， and those are rarer than I'd like。 I love Johnny Sims。 This one got a weensy bit political， especially at the end， but it was an honest to goodness haunted house story， and those are rarer than I'd like。 。。。more
Lute
，
I really， really liked this book。 Jonathan Sims' particular voice and style of storytelling comes through loud and clear。 While this book has nothing to do with The Magnus Archives， it feels like it could have easily taken place in that world。 The result is a creeping， eerie slow burn of a haunted house story that will make you feel uncomfortable in your own home late at night。It's a book that could so easily read as heavy-handed， and。。。 it does， but not in a way that detracts from how genuinely I really， really liked this book。 Jonathan Sims' particular voice and style of storytelling comes through loud and clear。 While this book has nothing to do with The Magnus Archives， it feels like it could have easily taken place in that world。 The result is a creeping， eerie slow burn of a haunted house story that will make you feel uncomfortable in your own home late at night。It's a book that could so easily read as heavy-handed， and。。。 it does， but not in a way that detracts from how genuinely enjoyable it is。 The end was really， truly satisfying。 。。。more
Bookshire Cat
，
Very Magnus Archives-like - whether it’s a good or bad thing depends on your liking of the podcast。 I liked it a lot but I feel the conclusion wasn’t as jaw-dropping as I expected。 I enjoyed the individual POV’s much more than the overall arch。And， dear future editors， ban Jonathan Sims from using the phrase ‘ever so slightly’ more than once per book， I beg you。
Sarah Mitchell
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Jonathan Sims， the king of horror everybody。
Jayne Lamb
，
A great Hammer House of Horror portmanteau of linked stories， ending in a finale with symbolism as subtle as a brick to the face。 Seriously， my 8 year old would have gotten the point， which is the only reason I knocked off one star: it didn't need to be spoon-fed Still couldn't help but love it and it left me smiling。 A great Hammer House of Horror portmanteau of linked stories， ending in a finale with symbolism as subtle as a brick to the face。 Seriously， my 8 year old would have gotten the point， which is the only reason I knocked off one star: it didn't need to be spoon-fed Still couldn't help but love it and it left me smiling。 。。。more
Gabrielle Maria Subroto
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Okay， first of all this wasn't what I expected AT ALL。 The story was completely the opposite of what I had in mind when I read the synopsis。 I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THIS AND READING IT AT NIGHT MAKES IT A LOT WORSE。 I thought it was going to be a murder mystery and turned out it was nothing like that。To be honest， I had to admit this story was creepy， terrifying and spooky。 The atmosphere in this story was enough to gave me chills and I had troubled sleeping after reading this with all the ghosts a Okay， first of all this wasn't what I expected AT ALL。 The story was completely the opposite of what I had in mind when I read the synopsis。 I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THIS AND READING IT AT NIGHT MAKES IT A LOT WORSE。 I thought it was going to be a murder mystery and turned out it was nothing like that。To be honest， I had to admit this story was creepy， terrifying and spooky。 The atmosphere in this story was enough to gave me chills and I had troubled sleeping after reading this with all the ghosts and the haunted house。 Even though I really like how the atmosphere feels like I was in a haunted house in the middle of the night， there were some things that made me bored。I might have enjoyed it more if the pacing wasn't that SLOW。 There are some points in the story that I wanted to just skipped it and even skimmed past it numerous times。 There are some chapters that I really liked， but some of them was extremely boring to me and when things started to get interesting I realized the story was almost over。Another problem was too many characters involved which made it harder for me to remember who's who。 Moreover， there was so little connections between the characters in this books that tied them to the real mystery at the end of the book。This one had a great potentials but I liked to think that this book just wasn't my cup of tea。 Most of the times I felt bored which made the story felt less intense and I wasn't really caught up with how the story progress in the end。Another contributing factor to why I didn't really like this one was I wasn't a big fan of slow pacing story and after reading this I figured out that horror wasn't really my favorite genre and I probably won't read any horror novels any time soon。 。。。more
Willa
，
capitalism is evil
Katie
，
Holy crap this was so good
Nazanin
，
More like 3。5 stars。 Ok I loved the way the story was told but the ending was too supernatural for me。 It was too random。 I needed all the puzzle pieces to fit together in one puzzle。。。 not fit in different random puzzles。 Nevertheles， there was so much creativity and dark beauty in the 13 storeys told that I enjoyed the book。 Here's to reading more horror :） More like 3。5 stars。 Ok I loved the way the story was told but the ending was too supernatural for me。 It was too random。 I needed all the puzzle pieces to fit together in one puzzle。。。 not fit in different random puzzles。 Nevertheles， there was so much creativity and dark beauty in the 13 storeys told that I enjoyed the book。 Here's to reading more horror :） 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Thirteen Storeys
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Thirteen Storeys&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Thirteen Storeys&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0