• 3.5 ☆ •


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The Watching Monad is eerie and atmospheric and genuinely creepy, which I mean as a compliment. It isn't traditional horror. It's that gut feeling that something is fundamentally wrong just outside your line of sight and never quite being able to pinpoint it.

The tension builds through mood rather than traditional horror beats, and I think that works here. The way the Monad creeps into ordinary moments is where the horror actually lives. Subtle and strange and just disorienting enough to keep you slightly tense the whole time.

Thomas and Susan's chapters feel distinct. Thomas has this drifting foggy quality, that slow loss of awareness of what's happening to him, while Susan's sections feel sharper and more grounded in actual danger. The contrast gives the story a rhythm even when the plot is being deliberately vague.

The writing is sparse but purposeful. It leans into sensation instead of over explaining anything, and you're meant to feel unsettled more than you're meant to understand. For this kind of horror, that's exactly the right call.

Overall, a rather enjoyable and unique horror novella. If mood over monsters is your thing, this is worth picking up!
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If you like:

✔️ psychological unraveling
✔️ dual POV horror
✔️ cerebral creature horror
✔️ identity and perception horror
✔️ short unsettling reads
✔️ modern technology horror

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"The Watching Monad" is a speculative novella by Sandor Karacsony in which two people who casually know each other, Thomas and Susan, are brought together by a mysterious supernatural force known as the Monad. The novella length feels right for this story, as we don't dwell too long in any particular scene or on the plot as a whole.

The dread that we experience throughout the story is really conveyed with how sublime everything starts off. We get descriptions of the morning routines that Thomas and Susan are going through that are ultimately hijacked by the Monad. Thomas becomes increasingly drawn into the trance, to the point that he engages in behavior that disturbs his colleagues. Susan, meanwhile, also gets freaked out by the prospect that someone is watching her, yet at the same time puts herself in a dangerous position for Thomas/Monad to get after her.

There is one element of the novella that feel a bit like a loose end, which is how the Monad transmits from one victim to the next. At first, Thomas comes into contact with the Monad via social media. Because that serves as his introduction to the mysterious force, Thomas's selection feels random. That randomness adds to the dread of the entire novella: what happens if we're randomly chosen by a mysterious force that we are increasingly compelled to obey, even at the cost of our physical safety and sanity?

Ultimately, Thomas eliminates himself at the climax of the story and Susan is suddenly drawn to David, a coworker of hers, to presumably be the next victim of the Monad. Having the Monad attach itself to another victim is terrifying, but does it happen through technology or direct contact? To me, this aspect felt a little murky. While we don't need to have every rule related to the Monad revealed, it would have been nice to have a better understanding of how it's transmitted. If it's through some sort of preexisting relationship, then Thomas being randomly selected via social media doesn't fully make sense.

Granted, if Thomas is intended to be the first victim, then the mysterious origins via social media is plausible. Ultimately, "The Watching Monad" is a fun, brief read that serves as an entertaining way to fill an evening.

Always a big fan of scary technology books. Had goosebumps throughout! Very fun read for dark nights