The comedy is black as pitch, the horror genuinely bone-chilling, and the book as a whole a resounding read.
 âWe could devote our lives to making sense of the odd, the inexplicable, the coincidental. But most of us donât, and I didnât either.â
â Sara Gran, Come Closer
đď¸I received an e-ARC of this story from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. Come Closer (2021) will release on 29th June!đď¸
So this is a review for the upcoming Faber & Faber reissue of this book, but I will preface this review by saying that Come Closer (2021) was actually first released a whole eighteen years ago, all the way back in 2003, and I do think that context is important to bear in mind when reading this review. I never read this book back when it was originally released, but then again, I was only nine years old in 2003, and although my love for horror blossomed around that time with the likes of R. L. Stineâs Goosebumps books, I wasnât reading adult horror like this at that point, naturally.
It had, however, been sitting on my Amazon Wishlist for several years prior to me reading it this month. I didnât know it was getting re-released this year, but when I saw it pop up in my NetGalley feed, I jumped at the chance to finally read it. Iâd heard so many great things about this one, so many instances of it being labelled as a modern classic, and it definitely didnât let me down even with such high expectations.
In Come Closer, we follow the story of an architect named Amanda as she experiences increasingly bizarre events, hearing unusual sounds and experiencing vivid dreams involving an imaginary friend from her childhood called Pansy. As these events both worsen and increase in frequency, it becomes apparent that the figure in Amandaâs dreams may not be a mere imaginary friend, and is in fact something so much worse. Soon enough, she finds herself locked in a battle for mental and physical control of her body against a seemingly demonic being.
In many ways, this book reminded me a lot of Rob E. Boleyâs The Body Will Follow (2020), which I first read back in February this year, and it feels a little ironic saying that, considering Come Closer was released a whole seventeen years before that book. I would actually be very surprised if this didnât serve as inspiration for Boleyâs story, given the myriad similarities between the two. Both are, at least on the surface, tales of a womanâs possession, and chart the increasingly depraved and twisted acts that the possessive entity forces the protagonist to participate in. Both also have a strong comedic vein to the writing, though the tone of the comedy in Come Closer is considerably darker.
Where this book differs from Boleyâs though is in the sheer ambiguity of the possession. Amanda often feels like a highly unreliable narrator, and itâs never entirely clear just how much of her story we can take as the truth. Gran expertly weaves the questionable narration of Amanda with her increasing paranoia to create a complex and empathetic lead. The whole story is very well written and incredibly readable â I myself devoured all of its 176 pages in one sitting, and in my opinion that is a mark of an excellent story. The narrative is highly engaging, moves along at a brisk pace, and is just so easy to devour in one go.
I loved the descriptions of the entity at the heart of Come Closer, and the dreamlike (or perhaps more accurately, nightmarish) sequences in which Amanda interacts with it were so vivid and easy to picture. The horror scenes were genuinely creepy too, and the way they escalate as the plot unfurls is just fantastic. I think my only slight points of contention would be that some things in the narrative happened a little too conveniently, and on the odd occasion certain things were repeated too often, such as the checklist for demonic possession. I understand it had its place in the plot and the repetition was probably done intentionally for effect, but it was just a bit too often for my liking.
I wasnât quite sure how Come Closerâs plot was going to end, but suffice to say the finale doesnât disappoint. In hindsight, the plot plays out like a car crash in slow motion; each page adds to the impending sense of disaster, and all the reader can do is bear witness in mute horror as the narrative hurtles towards its inevitably dark conclusion. And boy, is it a dark ending. Iâve said it time and time again, happy endings are simply not my thing, and certainly not within my horror reading, so I absolutely loved how this story wraps up.
VERDICT: Stories concerning possession are very common in horror literature, and in many ways the trope had been done to death even by Come Closerâs original release in 2003. However, this book takes this concept and twists it into a superbly original and delectably dark tale all of its own. Granâs writing is so damn compelling, and urges you to discover Amandaâs unfortunate fate. The comedy is black as pitch, the horror genuinely bone-chilling, and the book as a whole a resounding read â by turns amusing, blood-curdling and with its haunting final paragraphs, genuinely heart-breaking.
I originally gave this book four stars immediately after finishing, but upon reflection I think that is a little unfair, as this really was a chillingly good read. Iâve since amended my score, and it's now a ââââđŤ/âââââ from this reviewer. I also want to say a humongous thank you to both the author Sara Gran, publisher Faber & Faber, and to NetGalley, for providing the ARC and giving me the chance to read and review it early.
I am an avid reader and an enthusiast of the horror genre, and have recently turned my attention to writing stories of my own. At Night Terror Novels, I strive to provide fresh horror, mystery and thriller reviews of all forms and flavours.
or
Or sign up with an
Or sign up with your social account