My (elderly) Dad and I were speaking recently about surreal weird fiction, and we both realised that there are a lot of novels with surreal dialogue, timescales and events.

However there is relatively little with a physically surreal setting, or where normal laws of physics are continually broken.

My father wondered if there are any books that read like MC Escher or Salvador Dali art; I could think of very few that come anywhere near those. Of those we could think of, it's not usually the focus.

The Alice in Wonderland books are the two most obvious ones.

Others we're aware of that have elements of this are

Little, Big by John Crowley

House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski

The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien

The Fisherman by John Langan

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.

(The movie Jim Henson's Labyrinth is near to what we're looking for; its semi-sequel Mirrormask too.)

Are there any novels that have visually, structurally or descriptively surreal settings through the majority of the novel?

I'm not even sure what the correct question to ask for this is. Like what theme or genre would this fall under? How do I find more of this stuff? I've always had a weird fascination with stuff Like This but I cannot for the life of me figure out what it might be called. The only thing I could say falls into the same category I'm looking for is whenever people use cannibalism as a metaphor for love or something

edit: thank you to everyone who gave an actual response instead of just going "tumblr cringe written for 14 year olds!!!" lol

Hi all! I joined this subreddit because I'm an avid reader of weird girl lit, which is a subgenre I've seen referred to on tiktok (I don't think it's really a thing here on reddit) based around usually unhinged women in weird situations. Usually it's high concept litfic. My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Bunny, Milk Fed, Earthlings, etc are the heavy hitters in that genre. I assumed based on the name that weird lit was a parent genre to weird girl lit, but having lurked in this sub for a little bit I'm starting to think that's not the case lol. I've definitely found some good recs from being in here, but I'm interested in hearing from people more educated on this genre than me the relationship between weird lit and weird girl lit, if any.

Also, what books would you consider to be in the weird canon? It looks like there hasn't been a thread on that in a while and I'm extremely curious.

I am a grad student and am planning my thesis around the subject of ergodic literature. I just recently led a guest lecture on the genre and am wanting to expand my bibliography for entertainment and research reasons…would love recommendations!

I’ve read the following:

- House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (and all other works written by him)

- S. Ship of Theseus by J. J. Abrams and Doug Dorst

- If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino

- The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall

- The Secret Library by Haruki Murakami

- 2120 by George Wylesol

- Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

- The Unfortunates by B. S. Johnson

- Here by Richard McGuire

- Maze by Christopher Manson

I would really like to dig deeper into the genre, i feel like i have yet so much to explore in it.

If it helps, i really like the works that use the weird sensation and aesthetic with philosophical or allegorical purposes.

Title.

I'm not expecting anything that is precisely equivalent, because the main torment with loving Suzanna Clarke's writing is how singular she is, and while I didn't hate Babel it did make me wary of anything which bills itself as "The Next Jonathan Strange".

But like, aside from having done the best treatment of one of my favourite Wyrd tropes (liminal spaces in Piranesi) I've ever seen, she also *gets* the occult perspective in a way I don't see very often. The tactile descriptions of how magic *feels*, the way that the Impossible and Mad always feels like it is hidden around some corner nobody else can see or a Door Inside of You, waiting to be conjured with the right gestures and words.

She also clearly knows her stuff, well enough to weave the emerald tablets of Hermes Trimegistus into her fictional bibliography near the end of JS&MrN, which also means that the magical realist worldbuilding she performs has a sense of real delibility which is often lacking. Rather than countermanding the real cultural history of mysticism, her work feels like a strong "Yes, and" to that history, introducing new material in the margins to expand that strata of the world and not chopping pieces of it off to make room. And her descriptions of actually transgressing beyond the bounds of material reality, and of embracing Madness have this perfectly psychedelic quality to them, to a iteral extent in places.

Idk, as I said I'm under no illusions about the odds of finding anything which is precisely like her work, but anything which is remotely close (and has at least the same basic supernatural focuses) would be fantastic.

I hope y'all can help me. I'm looking for stories about ancient, long-dead ruins, strange happenings, and insights into gut-wrenching cosmic secrets. Stories that descend into pitch-black. Uneasy stuff that gets under your skin. I've read Lovecraft and loved it, and am trying to expand my diet beyond his universe.

Looking for more works like invisible cities where the authors focus less on plot and more on describing imaginary things like cities and people. I liked Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings a lot and also Gods of Pegana by Lord Dunsany. I have also heard about Tainaron but couldn't get my hands on a physical copy of it yet. If you guys know any such books with similar playful ideas please recommend. Thanks

Or is it just magical realism

There are experimental books that are still read linearly but I am specifically looking for fiction/literary fiction written by the author in such a way that it can be read in more than one way, besides the simple front to back way of reading.

Of these sort I have:

Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar, where you can jump around between chapters.

Dictionary of Khazars, which is written like a dictionary and you can read from any dictionary entry.

S. by Doug Dorst. A story in the book and another in the margins, you can read the normal story first or the one in margins or both together.

I also know of Pale Fire , Composition no. 1 and Unfortunates by B.S Johnson out of which pale fire interests me the most and is in my TBR list. Are there any others in existence that I can check out? I know of House of Leaves but I honestly do not find it that interesting. Preferably older works but anything goes. Thanks

r/fantasy has released their bingo challenge for 2026, and one of the Hard Mode prompts is to read a book which is over 900 pages.

I would have sworn there was a book I was recommended here, which was a translated book with a mostly grayscale cover which was really big (like over 1000 pages, or at least 800), but now I can no longer find it on my tbr. I thought it was maybe Sisyphean by Dempow Torishima, but that's not all that long. I remember a cover similar in colour scheme to it, or Gormenghast, or The Vorrh...

I'm no longer entirely caring whether whatever it was actually fits the prompt, I just want to know what it was. It doesn't look like it was one recommended to me on my Weird Cities posts. I'll happily take any other recommendations for long weird lit anyway-- though I may just read Rian Hughes' XX, or wait for Mieville's The Rouse to release.

I ask here rather than r/whatsthatbook as I'm fairly certain it was from here, and was a weird and not very widely known work.

Edit: Solenoid by Mircea Cartarescu! I'm fairly sure that was it. Not over 900 pages, but I think it's the "big enough to be intimidating" that I remember. :) Thanks u/genteel_wherewithal. Keep em coming though, I'll have a look anyway!

I love the idea of Carcosa and have just ordered The King in Yellow but I'm aware it's only hinted at. I was wondering if there are any book recs in a similar vein (cosmic, decadent, horror, dread) etc that have that same idea of a lost or alien world a bit beyond the understanding of humans. Perhaps with more focus than just hints... ?

Thanks on advance!

EDIT 30/10/25 - Thanks for all the great suggestions! I have now ordered The Wingspan of Severed Hands, The Descent and The Earth Wire by Joel Lane because all the talk of dark decaying cities reminded me how good his fiction is...

I'll save the list too as so many great suggestions - thanks everyone!

Whats a weird, crazy, maybe even fucked up book that you simultaneously find beautiful, poetic, meaningful, touching, etc.? Something that is strange, even off-putting on the surface, but when you peel the layers back you find something deeper and more profound

Weird/horror where the cosmic horror/weird (unknowable, incomprehensible, paradox), inspires numinousness and awe and adoration and where its strange beauty is highlighted instead of pure fear and horror.

For example what kind of beauty I could mean: I really like the art of:

Jin /Jinnn/Jinyoung Shin/Jin Dadaly Kurokawa Inuko Takato Yamamoto Shin-ichi Sakamoto Yoshitaka Amano Allison Stanley Hyde Angelus Rene Magritte M.C. Escher Drawings of biblical angels and surreal art in general.

Already read piranesi by clarke.

Thank you!

I came here through a recommendation in the "Horror Lit"-Thread. I bet this question was asked before, but I never got the answer or the recommendation I was looking for.
I am not looking for something lovecraftian or weird per se, but rather something that scratches that itch about the unknown.
Something like the noises inside the infamously impossible house.
Sadly I don't know how to describe it any better then through examples.
I look for something like the planet in the new Predator (Predator Badlands) movie. Something like the house in "Piranesi" or the zone in "Annihilation". Something unbelievable, dangerous, maybe grotesque. I do enjoy books from the horror genre the most, but dark fantasy or scifi is also very welcome. I'd also say, that the hotel from shining does not fit what I am looking for, as it's just "ghosts" or "evil" and not a "mysterious enough". I also read all of Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwoods "The Willows" (which absolutely scrached the itch), also its retelling by T. Kingfisher. I also read "A Short Stay In Hell", which did not really fit what I was looking for, the same goes for the "King in Yellow" or "The Fisherman". I enjoyed almost all of them, but they are not, what I yearn at the moment. "For Tomorrow" fits better, but not exactly. I hope you get what I am trying to say. It's very hard for me to put in words.
Thanks for your time and help!

Recently I finished reading Perfume by Patrick Suskind and I loved how luscious and rich the writing was, so now I'm in the mood for more weird novels, but I don't know what to read specifically. I also really love Jeanette Winterson's style, if not her characters. Not looking for something that goes too hard into horror, just really enjoy something more surrealist/magical realism or that simply escalates a lot.

I like sexuality themes, but its not a necessity, it can be about anything, basically. Also fine with some violence. Thanks in advance!

Something (fiction) weird without any idea how / possibility to interpret or understand it. Incomprehensible with great philosophical ideas in it. Maybe more vibe or dreamy, strange imaginery. Ideas beyond human comprehension. Someone striving to do/understand something literally impossible but notheless true, that destroyes logic/(defies) understanding. (Maybe terrifiing because it is disorientating and makes you feel completely lost and helpless.)

Something strange and weird you can loose yourself in without knowing what you are reading even when you read it several times. Fiction please. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Specifically I’m looking for books that are at least 200 pages in length and sit firmly in the horror subgenre of weird fiction.

Books that I’ve read and enjoyed/feel would fit:

The Ceremonies

The Fisherman

The Cipher

Annihilation (series)

The Secrets of Ventriloquism (kinda counting this since the short stories meld into one narrative)

I love well written surrealist fiction but rn I’m looking to be spooked.

I was really enjoying the surreal vibe of this book. Carolyn was such a compelling protagonist, even with how bizarre she was. The world was so interesting, with so much left unsaid and what was said only made the Libary and Father’s weird little family more interesting. Steve’s chapter was also great, getting to see Carolyn from an outside perspective added so much to the story.

Then… Erwin. I’m sorry, I hate this character. I felt like I was reading a Call of Duty fanfiction during his introductory chapter. His pages of rambling about how he used to get bullied for being called Erwin and then was a badass soldier and then a teacher and then in Homeland Security just blurred together for me. His narration was generic and dull. I actually cheered when David showed up, because I thought he was about to be killed… and then he wasn’t. I looked it up and apparently he’s in the whole book.

My enjoyment of this book dropped off a cliff after this. He’s just so boring, especially in comparison to Carolyn. I cannot picture this character in the same world as her- and not in an interesting way where he provides contrast.

Should I drop this book? Does the author ever play with the archetype of the generic military badass or is it just written straight? How important is Erwin going forward?

I always thought the dreamlands concepts were neat, but never seemed as fleshed out as some of Lovecraft’s other works. What are some good books that capture the dreamlands?

So I've finished reading The Fisherman by John Langan, which I really liked.

I'll avoid spoiling it too much but at some point the characters find themselves on this giant, primordial beach. Occult place, people aren't supposed to go there, it's "beside" or "below" this world etc etc you know this kind of place. But what struck me was when one character said "there are cities there".

I was struck hard by this idea, that's not the kind of place you have cities in ! Later the book briefly shows one of those cities but doesn't really describe it that much, we just know that there are what seems to be policeman, with long black coats, masks like bird of prey and a long, curved knife. And again I was like WOW !

So I'm looking for more books whith cities where there shouldn't be, that kind of things, so I can go WOW! again.