When Trelkovsky, a Parisian in desperate need of a place to live, comes across an affordable apartment, he jumps at the chance to rent it, undaunted by the fact that the previous tenant hurled herself screaming through the window. What happens next is a harrowing descent into paranoia and madness as a series of bizarre events unfolds that leaves Trelkovsky doubting his sanity and fearing for his life. First published in French in 1964 and adapted for Roman Polanski's 1976 film version, Roland Topor's surreal and hallucinatory horror masterpiece
The Tenant
returns to print at last in this edition, which includes a new introduction by R B. Russell.
"As closely coiled, as cold and quiet and deadly as a snake in the bed." - John Collier, author of
Fancies and Goodnights
"Echoes of Kafka, Poe, and Hitchcock . . . not recommended to any average reader who may be easily shocked." -
Bestsellers
"Grotesque and harrowing,
is a powerful fable set in the twilight zone." -
The Observer