Hypochondria

by Sarah R. New

Hypochondria is the story of Emma, a young woman who becomes possessed by hypochondriac thoughts after the traumatic death of her mother. Whilst trapped in a spiral of anxiety and grief, her life starts to collapse in on itself while her brain attempts to convince her that she is actually unwell.

Hypochondria is a horrific literary fiction piece that is largely based on my own experiences with grief and hypochondria as a disabled and chronically ill person. The idea for this novelette came during a long diagnosis period, and the health anxiety that has surrounded my life.

Please be advised, this work has depictions of death, abuse/self harm, swearing and panic attacks in it.

84 pages, Paperback

Published January 30, 2026

About the author

A baker, film analyst and lover of cats, Sarah started writing in early childhood and has never looked back. Her ‘first’ story, The Toilet Monsters, got rave reviews from her six year old peers.

Before deciding to follow her writing dreams, Sarah got a degree in Film Studies from the University of Winchester and dabbled in screenwriting, before returning to literary fiction. Sarah lives in the U.K., but frequently travels internationally. She specialises primarily in horror or fiction with horrific elements, but also writes speculative fiction.

You can follow Sarah on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and her personal blog.

Reviews

[L.N. Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hypochondria is smart and emotional with a compelling, unreliable narrator and just the right amount of body horror. Like some of Sarah’s other work I’ve read, the dread in this is done so well. You can feel things escalating, and you are totally powerless to stop it, placing you perfectly—and extremely uncomfortably—in the protagonist’s shoes. There is one scene with Emma that I will NEVER forget, as the horror was a little too effective! Additionally, the anxiety representation in this hits hard and true, and I loved how Sarah connected Emma’s hypochondria to the unrelenting pain around the loss of her mother. The female rage and internal thought in this are also absolutely stellar. Overall, it’s a short read and well worth the time.

[Basile Lebret · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick and free read since it can be found on the author's website.

I spotted a few typos and the rythm sometimes built up way too fast, but it's a nice story about losing one's mom and trying to recover from said hardship. I guess it'll soothe some aching heart. Go take a look: https://sarahrnew.wordpress.com/hypoc...