Nine Rooms in The House is an unflinching exploration of life, death, and what might—or might not—come after.

In "John’s Book," humanity has reached its quiet, inevitable end. John Ringrose, perhaps the last of his kind, lives contentedly among ruins, anticipating that the planet and its creatures will soon celebrate humanity’s final breath. His journey to a decaying house on a hill, haunted by the ghosts of the past, marks the beginning of an unsettling meditation on extinction.

The story shifts to Virgil John, a flawed writer confronting his own mortality. In "Alison’s Book" and "Scap’s Book," Virgil navigates a surreal afterlife—guided first by a nameless spirit, then by his loyal dog, Scap—through rooms that echo his failures and regrets. Each space forces a reckoning with what can’t be undone. Finally, in "Virgil’s Book," he emerges into a distorted version of life, where the familiar feels alien. Is this redemption or something far stranger?

A dark, unconventional narrative inspired by The Divine Comedy, Nine Rooms in The House is for readers who embrace bewilderment, reject tidy conclusions, and find beauty in discomfort.

David Ellis was born in 1965, near Birmingham in the UK. He attended local secondary Schools, first the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School and then the Queen Elizabeth Mercian High School. In 1984, he enrolled at the University of Exeter in the South-West of England, studying chemistry and graduating in 1987. Finding himself enthused by the subject, he completed a doctorate in 1991. Student life re-ignited an old passion, writing, and this has continued ever since. David has composed over six hundred poems, many short stories, sketches, and eight extended pieces. This book is the fourth to be published through Atmosphere Press, following the novel A Book Of Life and two short story collections, Dark Horse and Other Stories and Resolution Stories. He now lives in Edinburgh, where he teaches and carries out research at Heriot-Watt University.