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Woman finds an entire apartment behind her bathroom mirror in viral TikTok

‘So, what you are saying is you now have a bigger apartment,’ one viewer joked

Chelsea Ritschel
New York
Thursday 04 March 2021 20:49 GMT
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NYC renter discovers creepy, hidden room in apartment
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A woman has enthralled people on social media after she discovered and explored a “secret” apartment behind the bathroom mirror in her New York City apartment.

On Wednesday, Samantha Hartsoe began the four-part saga with a TikTok in which she explained that she couldn’t find the source of a breeze in her bathroom.

In the clip, which has since been viewed more than 7.7m times, Hartsoe showed viewers that cold air is blowing enough to move her hair, despite the bathroom having no vent.

After searching the bathroom, Hartsoe discovered that the air is coming from behind her wall-mounted bathroom mirror.

“So I realise the mirror moves … let me show you what I found in my New York City bathroom,” Hartsoe concluded the first video, which she captioned: “Seriously never would I have expected to find this ... and I documented all of it.”

Read more: Two strangers get married in Las Vegas after meeting on TikTok

In a second TikTok, Hartsoe removed the mirror to reveal what at first appeared to be a hole in the wall housing electrical wires, only for the camera to pan to an entire room through the same hole in the wall.

@samanthartsoe

seriously never would I have expected to find this... and I documented all of it ##mystery ##fyp ##nyc ##secret ##foryou ##apartment ##storytime

♬ Mysterious - Andreas Scherren

“I have to go in and figure out what is on the other side of my bathroom,” Hartsoe says in the video, before expressing her concern that someone may be living in the hidden room, prompting comparisons to Parasite, or the horror film Candyman, which sees a murderous evil spirit appear after its name is called multiple times into the mirror.

In the comments, viewers urged her to continue exploring and to be careful in equal parts, with many expressing their concern over the three-hour delay between videos.

In the third and fourth clips, uploaded on Thursday, Hartsoe squeezed herself through the hole in the wall armed with a hammer, a mask and a flashlight headband, only to find an entire apartment on the other side.

While the apartment appears to be filled with trash bags and other garbage, it is otherwise empty and does not look like it is being lived in.

@samanthartsoe

crawled through a wall for this mystery so enjoy the finale 🕵🏻‍♀️ ##mystery ##nyc ##apartment ##secret ##storytime ##storytime ##fyp ##foryou

♬ Mysterious - Andreas Scherren

Hartsoe concluded the final TikTok explaining that she would be cementing her mirror onto the wall and calling her landlord.

The “hidden” apartment prompted mixed reactions from viewers, with some encouraging Hartsoe to use the space to her advantage, while others expressed their dismay over the idea of living in a home without realising the existence of another entrance.

“As a New Yorker, my first thought was ‘wow, extra storage space,’” one person commented.

Another said: “Girl don’t say anything you just got a second apartment.”

However, someone else wrote: “The fact that the door was unlocked and there was a very recent brand water bottle instantly makes me think of a spying situation. That’s just my anxiety talking,” while another person suggested Hartsoe put a fine layer of flour on the floor to check back for footprints.

As of now, Hartsoe has not revealed whether she contacted her landlord and if so, what they said.

The Independent has contacted Hartsoe for comment.

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