“This world was designed to generate winners and losers, and it showed a lack of character to wish yourselves a winner without accepting what it does to those who lose.”
At the time of writing my mansion is still in the post, meaning I’m still living in an apartment complex. But, whilst that might mean I am missing out on my ‘Baron’ status, it did help to make Jonathan Sims’ 2020 book Thirteen Storeys very appealing. As the name suggests, Thirteen Storeys is a collection of short horror stories all set in the same building. But how scary was games designer Jonathan Sims’ debut novel? Check out What We Reading for our Thirteen Storeys book review!
Date Published: 2020
Author: Jonathan Sims
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Pages: 390
Goodreads Rating: 3.93/5
Premise
Thirteen Storeys is set in the fictional Banyan Court, a towering complex constructed by the mysterious Tobias Fell. One of the most successful, albeit extremely controversial businessmen of his day, Fell built the luxurious complex with his penthouse at the very summit, though there also exists a poorer side at the back of the building whose residents live in near-squalor.
The book is a collection of thirteen different short horror stories following occupants from both the affluent and poor parts of the building. The stories naturally feature different perspectives, and all culminate in an invite to a dinner party with Fell in the penthouse.
What Worked
Off the bat, I’m a big fan of books with multiple perspectives and the format of having thirteen different short stories all set in the same location really felt original. Having characters stumble across one another without realising it is such a small thing to pick up on, but I loved it when I recognised figures from earlier in the book. It really sells this as one interconnected book, rather than an anthology of spooky stories.
And whilst thirteen perspectives sounds like a lot, and it is a lot, for the most part, I think Sims does a solid job of keeping them all memorable. Whilst some of the characters became hard to distinguish, their stories are all unique enough that I could usually get by with a: ‘oh yeah, that one from the story with the…’
I think I could probably recall the names and stories of 10 or 11 out of all the perspectives, though the way the symbolism and themes of their stories come together, in the end, was a satisfying touch from Sims.
And some of the stories really stand out as the sorts of dark, twisted and deliciously disgusting tales a good horror book needs.
The Knock, Smart, Bad Penny, Sleepless, Viewing Essential, A Stubborn Stain and Round The Clock were all genuinely chilling reads and, props to Sims here, all came with wildly different horror themes.
From spooky children, and technology going wrong, all the way to gory body horror and violence, Thirteen Storeys nails all of them.
What Didn’t
As with most anthology-styled novels, there are a few duds in the mix alongside the high points. A few of the stories fail to pack the punch of others around them, whilst a couple only feels included to dump a load of exposition about Fell or the building.
I also found the ordering of the stories to be less impactful than they could have been. Obviously, Sims has to have certain elements of the plot revealed at certain times, however kicking off with Night Work (probably my least favourite in the book) nearly lost me from the get-go.
The finale in the penthouse generally worked, however, I also thought it was a little on the predictable side and just a little rushed compared to the short stories earlier in the novel.
Finally, another personal taste note, this was one of the first books I actually had trouble reading. The paragraphs weren’t broken up nearly enough – these great big blocks of text lining every page just made things a real slog to get through. I also think some of the descriptions of certain events were overly complex it became a little jarring trying to work out what was a metaphor and what supernatural occurrences were actually going on.
Love horror books? Check out our The Chalk Man book review by C.J. Tudor!
Verdict
Overall, Thirteen Storeys was genuinely a lot of fun. All of the stories work as their own short stories, tapping nicely into different parts of the horror world, and there are some real gems across the novel that left a striking impression in the best possible way.
I really liked how interconnected Banyan Court and the lives inside it feel, and Sims deserves great credit for balancing all these different perspectives together nicely. There are some really original ideas at play across the book, and that is always more interesting than stories that play things to a tried-and-tested formula.
A few forgettable stories and a couple of personal gripes around formatting and the ending means I’m probably not as attached to Thirteen Storeys as some, however, it is still undoubtedly a must-read for any horror enthusiast looking for a good scare.
Our Rating: 4/5
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
