A New York apartment generally looks nothing like you see on TV and in films, unless the person renting it is uber-wealthy.

Check out New York’s ‘worst apartment’ if you don’t believe me. It’s basically a closet with a communal bathroom and a sink in the corner that would set you back upwards of R25 000 per month.

While that apartment is undeniably horrifying, it can be equally horrifying to find that your apartment is hiding space that you didn’t know you had.

That’s the general sentiment expressed by Samantha Hartsoe, who was trying to solve the mystery of the cold air that was seeping into her home.

She traced it to the door of the bathroom, and then the light switch, and finally, the bathroom mirror. She discovered it was loose, and when she removed it, she found a hole in the wall that led to an entire apartment on the other side.

“Curiosity killed the cat, curiosity is going to kill me”, she told NBC New York. “I can’t not know what’s on the other side of my bathroom”.

All of this was captured on TikTok:

Hartsoe couldn’t figure out why the video went viral, chalking it up to boredom.

I think it had more to do with the fact that her apartment was so easily accessible from the other side of the wall.

The Guardian backs up the creep factor.

Hartsoe’s adventure, which took place earlier this month, was outlandish even in New York’s notorious housing market, where real-estate horror stories are almost a badge of honor.

The 26-year-old documented the ordeal online and millions tuned in, offering comparisons to films such as Parasite and Candyman.

That’s the dream – to have your apartment compared to Candyman.

“I was kind of expecting there to be somebody, especially with the water bottle being there,” she told New York magazine. “And that definitely put me on edge.”

After investigating, and locking the door of the apartment, she went back through the hole in the wall.

Perhaps the most disturbing thing about her discovery is that her building managers had no idea that it was there.

[source:nbcny&guardian]