Sarah Langan is an American author of horror fiction. She is best known for her award-winning novels The Missing (2007) and Audrey's Door (2009). Her latest work, the mixed-media novella Pam Kowolski Is a Monster (2025), blends dark comedy and psychological horror.
Sarah Langan grew up on Long Island. While studying in Waterville, Maine, she published her first short story, 'Sick People'. She went on to receive an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University and later earned a Master's degree in Environmental Health Science and Toxicology from New York University. She now lives in Brooklyn, New York.
She began gaining recognition in the mid-2000s. Her novel The Missing won the Bram Stoker Award for Outstanding Novel in 2007 and was nominated for the International Horror Guild Award. That same year, it received the Dark Scribe Editor's Choice and the American Library Association award.
In 2008, Langan won the Bram Stoker Award for Outstanding Short Story for 'The Lost'. Her next novel, Audrey's Door, won the Bram Stoker Award in 2009 and was selected as a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice.
In her 2025 novel Pam Kowolski Is a Monster, Langan turns her focus to failed journalist Janet Chow. The story begins when Janet sees her high school rival, Pam Kowolski, transformed into a national celebrity and psychic.
Pam is rich, beautiful, and adored, while Janet is unemployed and stuck in a rut. Determined to prove that Pam is a fraud, Janet begins to dig into their shared past. As she uncovers buried memories, she begins to wonder: What if Pam is telling the truth?
Described by Paul Tremblay as 'the novella that 2025 deserves', this book explores themes of trauma, memory and the absurdity of fame.
Photo credit: www.sarahlangan.com
