2023-03-07 4:59:59 ¶ ●

Okay so this October just gone I went to a panel at comicon that Jonathan Sims was speaking at, and it was great! I’m obviously a fan of his work and some other great writers were on it too, so I really enjoyed it. During this panel, Jonathan said something along the lines of ‘A really unnerving piece of cover art can go a long way to prime your audience’. So I thought “huh yeah that makes sense!” yknow, however the phrase goes, we all do judge a book by it’s cover to some extent and it definitely helps to be in the right mood for what you’re about to read. But I don’t think I really fully understood until just now exactly how right he was.

I’m a uni student so obviously I’m pretty broke, but I’d been wanting to read Thirteen Storeys for ages, so you can imagine my excitement when I found a second hand copy for £1.50! It wasn’t in the great condition, but it was good enough, and I’d take any hardcover for that price!

The arrival of the book happened to coincide with my sleep schedule being even more messed up than usual, but this was kinda welcome in context! I love horror, but I read a lot of it so I’m a little desensitised; this combined with doing ghost hunting for fun means that horror media is the best for me when I’m sleep deprived and on edge.

As expected from the first couple chapters the writing was excellent and the story delightfully engaging, but to my pleasant surprise it was really quite creepy! And made all the more enjoyable by how relatable it is. For some reason though, chapter three really got under my skin. Stuff with kids freaks me out in general, that creeping sense of dread as the story builds up to its climax, and an odd memory from (much hated) church as a child all built together to make it stick in my mind for the entire day, and following night.

I mostly read late at night so when I picked the book up again to carry on, I was still thinking about chapter three, still freaked out, and still sleep deprived as hell. I kept thinking about the woman I bought the book from, I’m not sure why. I guess I was thinking about kids and wondering if she had any that would’ve messed with the book to get it into that condition, but whatever. I kept reading, enjoying it just as much, if not more for the lingering taste of chapter three.

By the time I put the book down it was around 3am, and i was pleasantly spooked enough to go to sleep. I don’t know why but I stopped for a moment to look at the cover, partially examining the marks and scratches, partially admiring the design.

That’s when I saw 'PENNY’ written messily on the back and when I tell you my heart DROPPED. I don’t know what I thought! But my 3am mind was racing, scared as FUCK. Had this random woman’s kid read the book? Had they just decided to scribble out the first name they read when they opened it? Why that one!?!? Why could it not be LITERALLY ANY OTHER NAME???

And that is when I realised that it is PART OF THE FUCKING COVER ART. Well played Sims, well fucking played. In one simple design detail I was forced through the entire emotional journey of the story again in SECONDS. I could’ve dropped dead. (though to be honest, someone found dead clutching a copy of the book would probably be good publicity considering).

So yeah, moral of the story? Good cover art can do ALL MANNERS OF THINGS to your audience. For my sake, use it wisely.