Come Closer

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 an "Are You Possessed?" questionnaire.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *Come Closer* by Sara Gran delivers a chilling, intimate story of possession told entirely through the protagonist’s first-person perspect...
This was a great short story. I picked this up a few years ago, and I am really disappointed that I did not read this sooner. I think this book really is asking, Is what you wish for, truly what you want when you get it? Our protagonist Amanda just wanted her husband Edward to love her and never leave her. When Amanda finally gets what she wishes for from another, does she really want that? Great book, and I don't want to say to much as it is a short story and I would hate to give anything away!
This was a super quick read with many unresolved questions. I’m not sure if that’s why I had issues with this book, but I wouldn’t put it on my reading shelf again.
Short read about demonic possession. Overall pretty great.
Come Closer is one of the most unsettling books I’ve ever read, and it does it so quietly you almost don’t notice until it’s too late.
It’s not loud or dramatic. It’s personal. Intimate. Watching Amanda slowly lose control felt disturbingly real, like something was shifting just beneath the surface the entire time.
And getting to talk with Sara Gran during our bookclub's Zoom Q&A made it even better. Hearing her talk about Amanda and the story just added another layer of eerie brilliance.
Finished it in one sitting and then sat there questioning my own thoughts.
Short. Sharp. Deeply uncomfortable.
Quick. Kind of depressing. Very dark!