A New York City woman was shocked this week to find an entire empty apartment hidden behind her bathroom mirror.
Samantha Hartsoe, who works for a nonprofit in the city, was confused to notice a cool breeze blowing in her bathroom, despite there being no window or working air vent nearby.
After some clever investigation, Samantha realized that the breeze was coming from around the mirror hanging above her sink — and removed it to reveal a large hole on the other side, through which she could see an entire half-finished apartment hidden away.
Viral TikTok mystery! A New York City woman was shocked this week to find an entire empty apartment hidden behind her bathroom mirror
Where’s it coming from? Samantha Hartsoe was confused to notice a cool breeze blowing in her bathroom, despite there being no window or working air vent nearby
Found it? She discovered that air seemed to be coming out of the hole where the door locks into the doorjamb and taped it up
Not over! But she kept feeling the breeze, and filmed her hair blowing as she stood still
Got it this time! That’s when she realized the cool air was coming from around her mirror
TikTok PI: Curious, she removed the mirror from the wall to see what was going on
Surprise! That’s when she discovered a large hole directly behind her mirror
Samantha had no idea what she was in for when she started investigating why her apartment was so cold, but gamely documented her sleuthing for TikTok.
‘I’m in my New York City apartment and it’s cold,’ she says in the first clip. ‘It doesn’t matter how high the heat goes, I’m cold.
‘So I walk into my bathroom,’ she says, pausing directly in the door frame, ‘and right here, I feel cold air blowing on me.’
She pans the camera around the bathroom to show that there is no obvious source for the cold air. There is a single air vent near the ceiling, which is used for ventilation and does not actually blow air out into the room.
But since blowing air felt strongest when she stood in the door frame, she paid close attention to the area, and discovered that air seemed to be coming out of the hole where the door locks into the doorjamb.
What’s back there? Upon closer inspection, she saw that the hole led to an entire room
Gotta get more info! She invited friends over to stand guard while she climbed through the hole to investigate further
Tricky! The hole was quite snug, so Samantha had to maneuver to get through it
Made it! Eventually, she managed to squeeze through and land on the other side
Assuming she’d solved the mystery, Samantha taped over the spot.
‘I don’t know why there’s cold air coming out of here, but we’re not having it,’ she says.
But the breeze didn’t go away. Samantha holds the camera up to show her air gently blowing as she stands in the doorframe.
‘So I start searching,’ she says. ‘There’s a little bit of air coming out of this light switch but there’s not enough air to blow this hard on me.
‘So I start feeling… and the air is coming from the mirror. And I realize the mirror moves. Let me show you what I found.’
Samantha lifts the mirror off the wall to reveal a large rectangular hole a couple of feet above her sink. Behind it are criss-crossed wires — and a large open space.
When she looks further, she notices an entire room hidden beyond the hole in the wall.
Got her gear! She wore a mask, gloves, and a makeshift headlamp for the excursion
Wow! Once she’s climbed through, Samantha realizes that it’s not just an unused room on the other side of the wall, but an entire empty apartment
Discoveries: She films one room with a gutted closet, an old toilet in the middle of the floor, and several trash bags
Not done: It’s only partially finished, with exposed insulation in some of the walls and a shower with no walls at all
‘The weirdest part is they didn’t fill it on either side of the hole,’ Samantha says, referring to how both sides of the dividing wall were left open
Samantha invites over two friends who investigate with her, and one of them suggests that a person could be secretly living back there, and references the Oscar-winning movie Parasite.
‘The weirdest part is they didn’t fill it on either side of the hole,’ Samantha says, referring to how both sides of the dividing wall were left open.
‘I need more answers,’ Samantha says. ‘I have to go in and figure out what is on the other side of my bathroom.’
So, dressed in gloves and a face mask — and carrying a hammer for protection — Samantha climbs through the wall, maneuvering to slide her whole body through the small opening.
Once she’s climbed through, Samantha realizes that it’s not just an unused room on the other side of the wall, but an entire empty apartment.
She films one room with a gutted closet, an old toilet in the middle of the floor, and several trash bags.
It’s only partially finished, with exposed insulation in some of the walls and a shower with no walls at all.
It’s unclear if the apartment is currently under construction or had been previously abandoned
Shocking: Samantha didn’t indicate whether she’d heard any construction currently going on
Recently occupied? Among the trash, Samantha finds a used water bottle, remarking that there are ‘signs of life’
When she walks down to the lower level, she finds a door at the bottom — which she locks, since whoever comes through it could gain entry to her own apartment
Trouble: Finally, Samantha climbs out and puts the mirror back on her bathroom wall, quipping, ‘My landlord’s getting a really fun phone call tomorrow’
Even more remarkably, the apartment has an entire staircase that leads to a lower level.
‘Wow, this is a whole other apartment,’ Samantha says.
It’s unclear if the apartment is currently under construction or had been previously abandoned. Among the trash, Samantha finds a used water bottle, remarking that there are ‘signs of life.’
When she walks down to the lower level, she finds a door at the bottom — which she locks, since whoever comes through it could gain entry to her own apartment.
She also notes how cold the entire apartment is, solving the mystery as to why her own apartment is never warm enough.
Finally, Samantha climbs out and puts the mirror back on her bathroom wall, quipping, ‘My landlord’s getting a really fun phone call tomorrow.’
TikTok commenters have gone wild for her unusual discovery, with many voicing concern for her safety, noting that even if the hidden apartment is under construction, leaving the cavity behind the mirror open poses a safety risk to Samantha.
‘I’m still scared for you,’ wrote one.
‘Thank you for locking [the door],’ wrote another. ‘It’s clearly being renovated but anyone can access your apartment through the bathroom.’
A lot of people on Twitter compared Samantha’s terrifying discovery to the 1992 horror movie Candyman, in which a woman discovers a killer’s secret lair hidden in a residential building.
Terrifying: Many people are comparing Samantha’s videos to 1992 horror movie Candyman in which a woman discovers a killer hiding in a secret lair in a Chicago housing project
Score! TikTok commenters have gone wild for her unusual discovery, with some insisting that she should keep what she learned a secret and enjoy having access to a second apartment
Oh no! Several, though, have voiced concern, noting that even if the hidden apartment is just under construction, leaving the cavity behind the mirror open poses a safety risk to Samantha
The stuff of horror movies! On Twitter, many viewers had scary murder scenarios on the brain – and a lot of people compared Samantha’s story to 1992 horror movie Candyman
Theory: One person revealed the origins of the Candyman story and explained why holes in the walls between apartments exist for construction workers to use
‘I wouldn’t have gotten in there, I’ve seen the Candyman,’ wrote one.
‘She really finna go in there and be nosy she must not have seen Candyman,’ another said.
One Twitter user made a rather startling comparison between Samantha’s story and the real-life origins of the Candyman story, which is understood to be inspired, in part, by the 1987 murder of a Chicago woman.
‘This is a refurbished project,’ the Twitter user wrote. ‘Maintenance guys used to not want to stand in the hallway if the tenant wasn’t there, so they had entrances [through] the bathroom mirror.
‘Candyman was inspired by a guy in Chicago who was getting in those and sexually assaulting women.’
The Chicago case that he seems to be referring to is the murder of Ruthie Mae McCoy, who was shot four times after calling the police to report that someone was trying to break into her apartment through her bathroom mirror.
However some have insisted that she should keep what she learned a secret and enjoy having access to a second apartment.
‘Girl don’t say anything, you just got a second apartment,’ wrote one.
‘She found a whole other apartment, girllll renovate it,’ commented another.
‘You should clean it up and renovate it and use it as a guest apartment or secret hangout area,’ added another.
‘You woke up and chose a 4 bed 4 bath today,’ quipped one more.