'Come Closer' a smart horror novella

Three and a Half out of Five Stars

By Abby Cowels
Staff Writer

Amanda, a successful architect, starts to have dreams of lying on a red beach next to a seductive woman with pointed teeth. You can find “Come Closer” digitally on Audible, and for free through your local library app on Libby and Hoopla.

“Come Closer” is a 2006 horror novella written by Sara Gran. The protagonist begins to worry when she starts to lose autonomy over her actions, some of them deadly. She fights insatiable desire to give in to the urges, and watches herself as she slowly slips away.

Horror is my favorite genre. I am always looking for the next terrifying story to keep myself awake at night.

“Come Closer,” at only 198 pages, was a quick and entertaining read. It accelerates at a speed to which the disorientation and helplessness is equally felt by the reader, as it is to the narrator.

The story was quite anxiety inducing. I found myself attributing certain aspects of my life to Amanda’s. These include the fears of losing control, losing your support system and losing the grip you have on your own reality.

This is a book for those who indulge in too much introspection, and anyone who has ever thought they may be lured into insanity by betrayal of their own mind; or, for someone who feels extra curious about the perverseness of the human mind.