The Watching Monad

by Sandor Karacsony

A mysterious video appears on Thomas's phone. By lunchtime, he can no longer look away. As an inexplicable fixation takes hold, the software product manager begins to lose control of his thoughts, his impulses, and eventually his grip on reality.

At the same time, across town, HR director Susan finds herself haunted by disturbing visions and the growing certainty that someone—or something—is watching her.

What begins as an ordinary workday for both of them soon spirals into a nightmare of obsession, fractured perception, and impossible pursuit. Set against the quiet backdrop of the Northern Rockies, The Watching Monad blends psychological horror with literary fiction in the tradition of Joyce Carol Oates, John Darnielle, and Brian Evenson, exploring obsession, attention, and the fragile boundary between observer and observed.

Genres: Horror

78 pages, ebook

Published October 1, 2026

About the author

Sandor Karacsony writes literary fiction infused with magical realism, travel, and quiet metaphysical inquiry. His debut novel, Seven Loves — which briefly topped Amazon’s Metaphysical and Psychological Fiction charts — explores impermanence and the many faces of love across the islands of Micronesia. Its companion novel, Existential Thread, follows travelers and exiles whose lives intersect through memory, time, and unseen forces. Drawing on years of work and journeys across Europe, Asia, and the Pacific, Sandor’s fiction traces the fragile connections between place and identity, and the invisible threads that bind us to one another — and to the planet itself.

Reviews

[Keith]

*Received an advanced review copy via NetGalley*

"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.

[D Dyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this a lot more than I actually did, I find the concept of the monad incredibly intriguing, in an age where video is so easily disseminated the idea of a viral video that takes you over could definitely go to places that are incredibly chilling but this book filled at first cluttered with unnecessary character details and then if it were jumping to a significantly bloodier register without taking time to build dread first. I think this might benefit from being either significantly shorter or significantly longer but as is, I just wasn’t all that impressed.

[Kenia H S Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author has used language brilliantly to capture both the characters' internal monologues and their external reality. I particularly enjoyed experiencing the different narrative perspectives and the way the novella explores multiple psychological layers. I also appreciated its contemporary feel and was impressed by how much the author was able to achieve within the constraints of the novella form. Considering its brevity, the depth of characterisation and thematic exploration is remarkable.

[✩｡°⋆ Lala ⋆｡°✩ · Rating 3 out of 5]

• 3.5 ☆ •


── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
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!
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

If you like:

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

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

📅 Pub Day: Aug 3, 2026 📚
💌 Thank you to NetGalley and Sandor Karacsony for gifting this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to the author, Sandor Karacsony, part of the Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, and thank you to NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this novella.

I want to start by saying I deeply respect those brave enough to write for others to read, to independently publish, to solicit honest reviews, and to explore new genres. This is Karacsony’s debut horror.

Now on to my honest thoughts. This novella does not so much build plot or character as it builds atmosphere. It makes you uncomfy, and that sensation grows as the narrative continues. This is the one success of the novella, but I honestly have a hard time even giving credit for this as a lot of other things were left seriously lacking. The writing isn’t awful but it’s somewhat repetitive and really needs a proofreader. My main issue with the book is that it’s a poor man’s version of an extremely overdone trope. Think, It Follows, Smile, and The Ring (movies) and Bird Box, multiple Stephen King books, and Stolen Tongues (books). The concept can still be made into an interesting narrative, but it just wasn’t well done here, and it didn’t capture me. I had no buy in to the characters at all. I actually wonder if this had been extended into a full novel, with good writing and character development, it would have had a more successful impact. Regardless, I don’t recommend. There is much better than this out there.

[Cris G · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really do try to be nice in my reviews. I try to find something to latch onto, even when a book isn't working for me. But The Watching Monad tested me. 😅📚

First of all, ask me what the monad is. 🤷‍♀️

Go ahead. 👀

Because after 76 pages, I still don't know. 😵‍💫

And that's kind of my biggest issue. This is a very short book, yet I found myself checking how many pages I had left more than once. I was fighting the urge to DNF, which is not something I expected from a novella. ⏳📖

The characters never really clicked for me either. It felt like the story wanted to connect them by jumping from one character's POV to another, with each section picking up where the last one left off since they worked at the same company, but I never felt those connections come together in a meaningful way. Instead, I spent most of the book wondering if I was missing something. 🤔🌀

Maybe I'm just not the target audience for this one, and that's okay. Not every book is for every reader. 💛

The one positive thing I can say is that the concept has potential. There are some interesting ideas buried in here, and I can see what the author was aiming for. Unfortunately, the execution didn't quite land for me. ✨📌

In the end, I finished the book with more questions than answers, the biggest one being:

"What exactly is the monad?" 🤔❓

[Kate Connell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly, it kind of feels like large portions of this novel were written by AI.

There is no emotional depth to the characters, lots of em dashes, heavy use of unnecessary metaphor and simile, and something as simple as the song lyrics being referenced in chapters are incorrect (Thomas' second section begins with an incorrect reference to the song Some Nights by fun). I didn't connect to this book at all and am doubting that a human wrote most or any of it. There is also no real story.

Other examples:
The main character starts the story discussing how he smokes weed every day and even talks about the wood color of the stash box he uses for the flower, then later refers to his 'vaping habit' when discussing his smoking. He discussed his love interest in similar terms to the FMC, both having a few extra pounds but being beautiful anyways. The elevator is broken when Susan gets to work, then in the next chapter (that same morning) Thomas goes to take the elevator and it's functioning normally.

If it was written by a person, with no reliance on an AI aide, they need to hone their skills more before they publish.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this novel.

[KazReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 Stars

Starting off in the mundane lives of Thomas and Susan, only the prickles of something other making themselves known, we learn about who they are outside the influence of the watching Monad.

Thomas is compelled by a TikTok video that alters his behaviour and perception. At first he’s aware of the discrepancies in his actions, but as he’s pulled deeper into the hypnotic video, he looses himself to it. Susan isn’t directly compelled but is being targeted by the force too.

I enjoyed seeing how Thomas fell deeper into the Monad’s influence and how his perception of himself shifted from being aware and concerned to being fully engulfed and separated from reality. And seeing how his perception of himself after the point of no return contrasted with the outside perspective.

However, I feel like the story ended just as we were getting to the good part. It didn’t feel like enough to evoke that sense of psychological distress. Perhaps if it were longer, there would be room to truly allow the Monad’s unsettling presence to sink its claws in.

[Balazs Kadar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book I had the chance to read from this author and I'm really impressed how the writing style is evolving. In this one the description of the scenes, the everyday lives of the main characters works the best for me, I can see the town, the streets, the mountains, their houses etc. in front of my eyes, all very vivid and tangible. As for the story I think it is built up with optimal pace, starting slowly, going into almost boring details, but just as the protagonist's mind it turns into madness quite rapidly so does the plot. It is from then on where I found it hard to really grasp what's going on anymore. This could very well be by design, leaving the readers in a guessing game, whether the actions are happening in real life or the whole story just turns into a nightmare, a hallucination, did Thomas ever exist at all or is he just a ghost... I just can't tell why and how the events unfolded the way they did and that left me with a feeling of something crucial missing here - what is the Monad???

[André LR · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evidence of mutual desire
Thomas stands at an office water cooler, watching Susan through a glass wall. He notices the colour leave her face and feels exhilarated by it. In Sandor Karacsony's The Watching Monad, the alternating narration shows Thomas taking authority over Susan's actions by interpreting fear and withdrawal as evidence of mutual desire.

Susan feels watched before she can identify who is watching, and the chapters move between the same places without producing the same account. Thomas knows he is the source of that unease, yet his version converts her alarm into intimacy. The reader sees both positions at once. Thomas recognises the signs correctly: his distortion begins after perception, in the story he builds around what he sees.

Full review: https://www.notesonbooks.net/the-watc...

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn on my response to this story. Initially it reads like a series of statements, rather than a cohesive narrative. Our MMC is mechanical, and maybe that's by design, but it doesn't make for an enjoyable read. As other's have stated, there are some inconsistencies in the beginning, but given the way the story transitions, thinking of them like an early symptom of the infection makes them ok in my opinion. I did really enjoy the dual perspective of each characters' reality at the end.

Overall not an unenjoyable story in itself.

[Emily Graves · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novella had an interesting and promising concept, but I was disappointed by the execution. There were grammatical and spelling errors, typos, and inconsistencies throughout. At one point, a character climbs four floors because the elevator is out, and several pages later, the elevator is functional without any mention of it previously not working. Although there were a handful of well-written lines, this piece read like a first draft, not something ready to publish.

[Balthazarinblue · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @ 10%

I could not get into this author's writing at all. There was a lot of superfluous information that didn't drive the story forward, and was recounted so distantly it didn't give much insight into who our MC is either. This is Karacsony's first foray into horror after having previously written literary fiction. I think his extremely descriptive and somewhat cold style is more suited to that than genre fiction.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 stars, rounded up.

An intriguing premise with lots of potential that was, unfortunately, dragged down by the diction. I saw the narration as too simplistic - most of the time I felt as if I was reading the kind of Wattpad stories I would seek out in high school. Both narrators and too much of the story followed the same pattern of "I do this. Now I do this. I look at this - this looks x and y. I feel like this. Now I move on to this." I wanted to like it more than I did.

[Kandace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m struggling to review this one…
On one hand, the premise of this was interesting. I mean, a mysterious video seemingly turning someone crazy? Technological horror? An interesting idea.
Unfortunately for me, I think I found myself more confused than anything. I dont know. This was a hard read.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great premise for a book. Writing was good. Overall I could have used more details, background, and build up around the Monad. Ending was creepy.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

Unfortunately, I gave this a one-star rating purely because I didn't really understand what was happening. It was a short read, and the writer isn't bad at all, but it felt like a lot happened, yet also nothing happened. Thomas watches a TikTok and suddenly becomes obsessed with this random woman at work, and then... well... devolves? But we have no idea what the video is, or why it's done this way.

There's definitely potential here, but it wasn't fully realised with this book.

Also...the cat!