Name: Come Closer
Rating: 3.710546875 (128 reviews)
ISBN: 9780425210314

Sara Gran

Her happy marriage to Ed challenged by odd noises, petty squabbles, and the onset of disturbing blackouts with no medical source, Amanda begins to dream about a woman from her past and accidentally receives a mail-order book on possession, the arrival of which coincides with increasingly bizarre events. Reprint. 30,000 first printing.

A Novel

Come Closer

'A dark, seductive cocktail of a thriller, with a splash of black humour and a twist of horror.' Francine Toon, author of Pine There was no reason to assume anything out of the ordinary was going on. Strange noises in the apartment. Impulsive behaviour. Intense dreams. It wasn't like everything went wrong all at once. Shoplifting. Fighting. Blackouts. There must be a reasonable explanation for all this. 'It will scare the pants off you. It is a perfect horror novel.' Paul Tremblay 'Deeply scary.' The Times 'Terrifying.' Daily Mail 'Sinister.' Time Out

Adam Boulton

Patty Pforte

Ryan Mateyk

Possession in the first person makes for a terrifying read

Molly M

veryyyyyy 2003 but pretty spooky and delicious

Demonic possession or psychic break? One of Esquire's Top 50 horror novels of all time delves deep into the terrifying consequences of losing control. "A perfect horror novel."—Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World A recurrent, unidentifiable noise in her apartment. A memo to her boss that's replaced by obscene insults. Amanda—a successful architect in a happy marriage—finds her life going off kilter by degrees. She starts smoking again, and one night for no reason, without even the knowledge that she's doing it, she burns her husband with a cigarette. At night she dreams of a beautiful woman with pointed teeth on the shore of a blood-red sea. The new voice in Amanda's head, the one that tells her to steal things and talk to strange men in bars, is strange and frightening, and Amanda struggles to wrest back control of her life. A book on demon possession suggests that the figure on the shore could be the demon Naamah, known to scholars of the Kabbalah as the second wife of Adam, who stole into his dreams and tricked him into fathering her child. Whatever the case, as the violence of her erratic behavior increases, Amanda knows that she must act to put her life right, or see it destroyed. This new edition of the cult classic features a brand new post-script by the author and a "Are You Haunted?" questionnaire.

I devoured this in an evening, and I want more! 

It was so clear, so creepy, and such a compelling, heart-racing read. I was fully convinced the MC was possessed, and I loved how we knew from the start but she realized slowly. 

The writing was descriptive enough that I could really see the scenes but never got bogged down in detail or worldbuilding. 

My only complaint is the ending. It felt a little cliche.

Amelia

I devoured this in an evening, and I want more! 

It was so clear, so creepy, and such a compelling, heart-racing read. I was fully convinced the MC was possessed, and I loved how we knew from the start but she realized slowly. 

The writing was descriptive enough that I could really see the scenes but never got bogged down in detail or worldbuilding. 

My only complaint is the ending. It felt a little cliche.

Short and straight to the point , some parts had me weirded out but overall one of my favorite reads this year 

Maria Morales 

there’s a point where possession stories start reading like accounts of more unchecked mental health moments, just with a few demon names sprinkled in (ㆆ_ㆆ)

 by any means; this one was more a case of how i often feel like shorter pieces of media need to do even more to occupy what little space they do

have, bc there are things only something of that length can do really well. it’s almost double the letdown when a shorter story ends in a way that feels haphazardly cobbled together in the last stretch just bc it thinks its structure is designed to let it get away with it. 

there’s a point where possession stories start reading like accounts of more unchecked mental health moments, just with a few demon names sprinkled in (ㆆ_ㆆ)

that’s not exclusive to come closer by any means; this one was more a case of how i often feel like shorter pieces of media need to do even more to occupy what little space they do have, bc there are things only something of that length can do really well. it’s almost double the letdown when a shorter story ends in a way that feels haphazardly cobbled together in the last stretch just bc it thinks its structure is designed to let it get away with it. 

This book was... okay. I didn't like what was going on with the mythos and I am never going to be a fan of "Is it real or is our protag cRaAzY!!!!" stories (I wouldn't have read this one if I had realized before I started that it'd really lean into that ;) )  It's probably part of the reason it took me so long to read despite its short length.

One of my friends said it reads like not even the author knew which was true, which feels correct.

Also, personal gripe: I am never going to be a fan of a book that potentially portrays a violent psychotic the way this one does. As someone crazy... wasn't a fan.

Jules

This book was... okay. I didn't like what was going on with the mythos and I am never going to be a fan of "Is it real or is our protag cRaAzY!!!!" stories (I wouldn't have read this one if I had realized before I started that it'd really lean into that ;) )  It's probably part of the reason it took me so long to read despite its short length.

One of my friends said it reads like not even the author knew which was true, which feels correct.

Also, personal gripe: I am never going to be a fan of a book that potentially portrays a violent psychotic the way this one does. As someone crazy... wasn't a fan.

Finished in one sitting. I really enjoyed this unconventional storytelling. The writing style is exactly my taste. 

Christy Faun 

“What begins as a sly fable about frustrated desire evolves into a genuinely scary novel about possession and insanity. Hypnotic” (Bret Easton Ellis, author of American Psycho). A recurrent, unidentifiable noise in her apartment. A memo to her boss that’s replaced by obscene insults. Amanda—a successful architect in a happy marriage—finds her life going off kilter by degrees. She starts smoking again, and one night for no reason, without even the knowledge that she’s doing it, she burns her husband with a cigarette. At night she dreams of a beautiful woman with pointed teeth on the shore of a blood-red sea. The new voice in Amanda’s head, the one that tells her to steal things and talk to strange men in bars, is strange and frightening, and Amanda struggles to wrest back control of her life. Is she possessed by a demon, or is she simply insane? Described as “a new kind of psychological thriller” by George Pelecanos and “this year’s scariest novel” by Time Out New York, Come Closer has become a modern classic “with a kick that will stay with the reader for days afterward” (The Dallas Morning News).

Janice Hopper

The first part of this book was creepy AF, as the protagonist tries to figure out what is happening to her. But as it continues and (view spoiler)[she gets more and more taken over by the demon  (hide spoiler)], it just becomes kind of sad. 

Wanting not to be alone can be pretty bad sometimes.

Her marriage to Ed is challenged by odd noises, petty squabbles, and the onset of blackouts with no medical source, Amanda accidentally recieves a book on possession, the arrival of which coincides with increasingly bizarre events.

Ashlee

A good short little spooky read. It had all the good elements of a possession story, random noises in the house, changes in character, blackouts, that all point to a demon. The main thing I liked was also one of the reasons it’s not a higher rating. It was very straight to the point which made it a fast read and really made the haziness of a possession noticeable. The character really disappeared and the thoughts or actions that were hers and would’ve created more plot became less and less the further we went. And I know that’s a totally realistic progression but it still felt so jarringly fast. That’s a personal gripe though and I should’ve known from how short the book was. Still very good for a quick scary read!

Jasmine

This book just felt incredibly silly to me for whatever reason. It wasn’t bad, but just not really my cup of tea.

Rhiannon Jerrom

A very unsettling book, well written and one I’m glad to have read. It’s not necessarily scary but definitely unsettling and uncomfortable.

YES

short and amazing. very fast paced and very interesting. i love the authors writing style. you should check it out.

Come Closer A Novel

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