PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Have you ever wanted to know what blood and carrion taste like? Author Sara Tantlinger gives us an idea in the mind of her protagonist, Andi, who is captivated by vultures, in her first novella, To Be Devoured. But this fascination becomes an obsession as the girl delves deeper into her infatuation with the creatures that eat the dead. This psychological thriller will keep you going as Andi spirals into insanity, all the way to the epic ending that even this reviewer did not see coming.
Also by Sara Tantlinger
I empathized with Andi. She lost everything, and yet she continued. However, I understood that she was mentally unstable. Her girlfriend, Luna, tries to be supportive but just doesn’t understand Andi’s deeply complex mind.
When we think of vultures, we think of the dead. They consume the deceased to survive, just like Andi, who first lost her brother and then watched her parents follow him into the grave. She doesn’t just like the deadly predators… she also wants to be one. I thought her delusion to devour death was deep-seated in her psyche. She sees herself as a consumer of the deceased because of her family’s deaths. Her only hopes are her girl, Luna, her neighbor, Mr. Landon, and her therapist, Dr. Fawning.
I was drawn in by Andi. She suffers from mental illness which was relatable to me personally. Her obsession with vultures was creepy and gross, although Tanlinger’s prose makes the horror of it all beautiful. I wasn’t expecting the twist ending. I assumed it would wrap up in a completely different manner. The ending was truly horrific and unexpected.
Final Thoughts
To Be Devoured entered into the topics of obsession, insanity, and death. I devoured the novella as I flew through each page, all the way to the epic ending. The language gave beauty to the horrific nature of Andi’s diseased mind. Any horror fan that loves a psychological thriller dealing with obsession, insanity, and death needs to read To Be Devoured.
The novella is currently on Amazon as a paperback and eBook, and is available through Kindle Unlimited.
Get To Be Devoured Right Here!
About Sara Tantlinger
Sara Tantlinger resides outside of Pittsburgh on a hill in the woods. She is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Devil’s Dreamland: Poetry Inspired by H.H. Holmes. She holds an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, where she also studied English literature and creative writing during her undergraduate years. She is a member of the SFPA, an active member of the HWA, and a contributing poetry editor for the Oddville Press. Her other works include Love For Slaughter, the forthcoming To Be Devoured, and many other shorter works that can be found at saratantlinger.com.
