Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill - A Great Follower of Classic Horror Novels

Adam Nevill has been one of my top favourite authors since his chilling psychological horror novel The Ritual. He is a worthy follower of classic horror masters like H. P. Lovecraft – his writing manners are literary, his vocabulary is magnificent, the tone of his books atmospheric, what else could I wish? These are the characteristics I always want to see in a good horror novel.



Apartment 16 is a story of an aspiring young artist Seth who works as a night watchman in an once sumptuous, by now rather seedy part of London, in Barrington House. There is one apartment in the dilapidated building which seems completely abandoned: nobody has stepped through its threshold for fifty years. During a night shift, Seth hears odd sounds from inside the apartment and enters. He does regret it…
In the meanwhile, a young American lady Apryl inherits an apartment in Barrington House from a great aunt. Aunt Lillian was said to be mad, and died under odd circumstances. Apryl intends to sell her inheritance and return home, however, she finds and reads the auntie’s diaries and learns that Aunt Lillian experienced something terrible several years ago. Apryl decides to investigate the past of the house and Apartment 16.
Fifty years ago a strange painter, a certain Felix Hessen has lived here, he dabbled in occult and painted sinister pictures. Something frightening emanated from those pictures and poisoned the whole Barrington House, its residents became ill and died before their time. Now, as Seth entered the room, he is tormented by hallucinations and possessed by something. He paints new pictures through which something vile enters this world…

Apartment 16 is highly recommended - especially for those who love Stephen King’s 1408 or Pickman’s Model by H. P. Lovecraft, or The Temptation of Harringay, an awesome short story written by H. G. Wells.

Adam Nevill’s other book The Ritual was The Book of the Month on Fantasy Book Review.

Description of Apartment 16:
Some doors are better left closed...In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And it's been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever. A young American woman, Apryl, arrives at Barrington House. She's been left an apartment by her mysterious Great Aunt Lillian who died in strange circumstances. Rumours claim Lillian was mad. But her diary suggests she was implicated in a horrific and inexplicable event decades ago. Determined to learn something of this eccentric woman, Apryl begins to unravel the hidden story of Barrington House. She discovers that a transforming, evil force still inhabits the building. And the doorway to Apartment 16 is a gateway to something altogether more terrifying...