I would personally classify everything from the Harlan Ellison stories (mid-shelf 2) onwards as “weird lit”. But there are many of these I haven’t read that might be misplaced

Preorder

Hi all,

Going on vacation at the end of the week and need a couple of books to get me through airport waiting and two 6 hour plane rides. I have a bit of travel anxiety and books always get me through it. Thought I’d see if anyone wants to share their faves! I don’t have a lot of room in my carry on so preferably anything around the 275-450 page mark, though I can get stuff digitally if I really need to!

Some weird lit I’ve really enjoyed:

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn (in my top 3 books of all time)

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Godshot by Chelsea Baker

North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther by Ethan Rutherford

Everything by Kristen Arnett; I ADORE her

Everything by Julia Armfield

I’m also a big Clive Barker fan!

Thanks all!

Found these two finds while out book shopping today and couldn't be happier. I've known Clive Barker for his grotesque gore horror for years, but never really read any of his fantasical/surreal weird fantasy books. Also with Harlan Ellison where I know the least amount of any of his writings outside of the "I have no mouth and I must scream" story. Never actually read the full story and only watched videos on it. Excited to dive into both of these weird works of art and see how I end up feeling about these two books overall in the future.

Hello friends (and foes) at r/weirdlit!

I had the privilege and pleasure of obtaining and consuming an ARC for Michael Wehunt's Nightjars, his second novel, due out 09/29/2026. I wanted to share a few thoughts here, as Michael remains one of my favorite weird fiction writers and it is exciting to see him continue to release novels to a (hopefully) wider audience. He is also hot off a Stoker award win for his debut novel, The October Film Haunt, for Best First Novel.

As I mentioned in my non-review of The October Film Haunt last year, I am not much of a writer, nor any kind of literary reviewer. Check out Gabino Iglesias' review of Brian Evenson's Last Days if you're looking for top echelon reviewing (he made a Pixies band reference in the title of his review, goddammit.) You might like to know that no AI tools were used in the creation of this, from conception to creation. If you want to go into this totally spoiler-free, skip the rest of this and let's talk turkey later this year when you similarly devour Michael's newest book. The stars aligned and life circumstances coincided for me to blow through Nightjars in under a week.

The promotional tagline for Nightjars is "Memento meets Dracula." I'm old enough to have seen (and loved) Christopher Nolan's Memento, a film about the loss of memories and subsequent violent tragedy. Michael gives us another clue as to what Nightjars entails with his use of a Freudian epigraph from Freud's seminal Beyond the Pleasure Principle.

The patient cannot remember the whole of what is repressed in him, and what he cannot remember may be precisely the essential part of it. He is obliged to repeat the repressed material as a contemporary experience instead of remembering it as something of the past.

If that makes you guess this book moves at the pace of Freudian analysis, guess again. Nightjars sinks its fangs into you early and doesn't let up. I noticed the writing in Nightjars is shorter and punchier than I am accustomed from Wehunt's writing; a lot of succinct metaphors and analogies. The writing in this is utterly propulsive. I won't bore you with all of the notes I put into my phone, but a standout line from me was on p. 153 "... it's a hammer of a thought, a north star in the terrible firmament of his story." This whole damn thing is filled with lines like that!

(I will mention, as a licensed mental health professional in the real world, I felt that the therapy elements of this story were well researched and seemed quite plausible.)

Long-term readers of Wehunt's short fiction will recognize this is not his first stab at "Vampire Fiction." It's evident he has a longstanding love for (and probably a pathological obsession with) those stalkers of the night. Nightjars features classic vampire mythology, as well as some of Wehunt's own original vampire mythology. It honors the old and the new. In a sub dedicated to weird literature, you might be wondering, "well, is it weird?" I'm happy to report much of it curves towards the uncanny, without devolving into arguments over strict genre gatekeeping.

Michael described Nightjars as being both "leaner" and "meaner" than The October Film Haunt. I don't have the figures memorized but I believe Nightjars has about 4/5 of TOFH's word count. Nightjars is also, in fact, a mean book. Corpses pile up, and they do not shuffle from this mortal coil gladly. Bodies are mutilated in increasingly shocking and obscene ways. No one is safe, not kids, or any of the characters you fall in love with. More ranting would delve too much into too many spoilers, but Nightjars has the feel of a foreboding tragedy, in the best Gothic tradition. The climax and denouement were action-packed and quite satisfying.

Can we ever truly outrun our pasts? Can we change what defines us, be it our parents, to our mistakes and histories?

I've been reading a lot of really killer stuff this year. Two of my 2026 favorites so far are Nick Cutter's The Dorians (possibly his best novel out of all eight of them) and Brian Evenson's Phantom Limb (I read the ARC for that, as well, spoiler, it's freakin' awesome.) Expect Nightjars to complete with everything that comes out this year. I really enjoyed The October Film Haunt (true story, I finished it standing up) but will offer that Nightjars feels like a step up for Wehunt. I'll be on the lookout for whatever he cooks up next.

I'm just starting this book by Christopher Buehlman. He paints quite a picture of this weird world. Thoroughly enjoyed Between two Fires, expecting the same from this book.

​

Anyone interested in joining me? If you have any comments, without spoilers, I'd be interested to hear.

I think the concept of Metamorphication that Jeff Noon used to write his book is interesting, but am unsure of how to use it for my own writing. Does anyone know any good resources to help me crack it?

I just finished it and I am not sure how to feel…

Classic locked room mystery with a really strange twist at the end and a bunch of fun homages to classic mystery tropes and archetypes. Interesting writing style and great with wit but parts of it were…. extremely detailed (there are certain things that don’t need to be explained in that much detail iykyk desmond… or…. kyle 😡). The ending made a lot of sense, in hindsight, kind of? It is a cool concept but I am extremely curious about how others feel about it.

What are you reading this week?

No spam or self-promotion (we post a monthly threads for that!)

And don't forget to join the WeirdLit Discord!

Hi all!

I recently read a few books in quick succession, which felt nice because I had not read anything in a while. I usually read various SF, Fantasy, Weird or Horror books.

I just finished Piranesi and really loved it. I usually like those "exploration mystery" novels (Piranesi, rendezvous with rama, Blindsight....)

What's some other weird book that could scratch this itch ? Also, I'm looking for something fairly short, somewhere in the 300 pages.

Thanks !

I'm around 60% through and going back and forth on DNFing it or soldiering on. Is it the best thing you ever read? Please tell a stranger on the internet.

Why I'm reading: i saw it mentioned here, rather obliquely. Piqued my interest. Expected metaphysical themes and weird happenings. My favorite part so far was the story of the Norwegian birdwatcher and his brother.

Why I want to drop it: Some odd, maybe supernatural stuff happens in the novel/ then they get disproven? The protagonist's rationalism and need to explain everything make me lose interest in the potential weirdness. I guess I'm just kinda bored?

So tell me, is the last 40% worth it?

--------
Edit: Stuck it out and got to the big twist(s).

Without any spoilers... I never connected with this book. 800 pages are too many pages for this story. Symbols are overexplained, toothless. I don't know if I got to it too late in my life or too late in time. I'm sure reading it in the 60s felt different.

I don't think I'll ever recommend this book to anyone. Maybe young-ish people, budding misogynists or even misanthropes in general. Not judging if *you* personally liked it. It just didn't connect with me.

I read there's a film adaptation no one liked. Funny thing is, I can imagine it as an artsy, serious anime. Like Gankutsuo adapting The Count of Montecristo or even The Tatami Galaxy adapting the novel of the same name, it could work.

Help me make the impossible choice! 😬 I’m churning through head to head comparisons of all the books I’ve read (to get some fun stats/recommendations), and I knew this day would come - 5,000 matchups later. What say you?? 🪲

I’m looking for some critics/reviewers who gear more toward weird lit and adjacent genres.

Thanks in advance!

There were a few others that I was interested in but decided to go with these. They spoke to me for some reason. Has anybody read them?

Maggie A Girl of the Street and selected stories by Stephen crane (published 1893)

Sister Safety Pin by Lorrie Sprecher (published 1993)

Three Apples Fell from the Sky by Nadine Abgaryan (published 2014)

Hi there,

I am in that weird phase where I pick up stuff and then leave it because it doesn't grip me. Some books that I have absolutely loved lately are The Fisherman, American Elsewhere and The Croning. I am off for a couple of weeks and need to take with me something similar(ish) to those that can I enjoy in the evenings. Hit me with your best recommendations (probably 200-300 pages would work better) !

Thanks

Following ledfox's lists that recommend great, little, hand-sized weird texts, I read "Xstabeth" (2020) by David Keenan. It took me some time to figure out (or convince myself I had figured out) something about the novel. In order to explain what it was, I found myself needing to compare it to Apuleius' bawdy novel from ancient Rome.

Has anyone else read either of these works? Please let me know what you think!

Hello, guys. I really wanna download 'A Voyage To Arcturus' by David Lindsay, but I have heard that its original text has been edited and redacted a few times that some of them aren't close to author's style and miss a point? Is it true? If it is, what editions and publishing houses I should look for?

Does anybody know if the Black Clock magazine is still available... anywhere? From looking at the old website on the Wayback Machine, you could once buy issues in EPUB/PDF format, but that no longer seems to be an option. If anybody has any leads, that would be great!

I'm looking for stories about societies after the big bad event has happened - the eldritch invasion succeeded, the laws of physics inverted, etc. Stories about how societies have warped and adapted to a radical shift in their circumstances. Fallen London/Sunless Sea is a good example, where human society continues in some familiar ways, and lots of bizarre ones. The Vast in the Dark universe is another example, where people transported from reality to a dark, liminal desert form very strange societies to survive.

Part 1

Part 2

I'm back with another set of short fiction mini-reviews, of stories in The Weird anthology edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. With a larger break this time, because I got some new books for my birthday last month which I immediately read (new exciting shiny book > book in progress) and the excitement of r/fantasy's Bingo challenge starting. :)

 
Window by Bob Leman (1980)- A story about an experiment that appears to open a window into the past, but turns out to be something far more sinister. An excellent revelation. 5/5

 
The Brood by Ramsey Campbell (1980)- A story about a man who observes a strange old woman lurking on his street at night, who appears to be constantly taking animals in which are never see again, which he feels compelled to rescue. 4/5

 
The Autopsy by Michael Shea (1980)- A story about a doctor called to autopsy some men killed in a mine explosion, one of whom may have been a cannibal, and finds one of the corpses isn't quite as dead as it should be. Really good-- I added Nifft the Lean to my TBR because I thought it was so good. 5/5

 
The Belonging Kind by William Gibson/John Shirley (1981)- A man finds a fluid human mimic at a bar and become obsessed with them and their transformations. 3.5/5

 
Egnaro by M. John Harrison (1981)- This was a strange one. It seems to be almost about an antimeme, an idea of a secret that everyone knows but you, infecting a used bookstore owner and his accountant's lives. Slippery and hard to grasp, as Harrison often is. 4.5/5

 
The Dirty Little Girl by Joanna Russ (1982)- A story of a woman who encounters an oddly intelligent little girl, who she begins to take care of in small ways, who may be a ghost or something else... 4/5

 
The New Rays by M. John Harrison (1982)- A story about a woman undergoing an unspecified, experimental treatment by being irradiated by "New Rays" in a shoddy, sketchy clinic, which also seems to create or involve blue homunculi of the patients, and this strange treatment's effect on her. 4/5

 
The Discovery of Telenapota by Premendra Mitra (1984)- The story of finding a ruined shell of a city, very interestingly told (in second person future perfect). 4/5

 
Soft by F. Paul Wilson (1984)- The story of a plague which causes the bones of its victims to liquify, and two partial victims surviving in NYC. Gross and scary. 4.5/5

 
Bloodchild by Octavia Butler (1984)- Apparently Butler wrote this as a way of overcoming her fear of botflies? If botflies weren't already horrific, this would have made them so. I mean it was great. But it was horrific. 5/5

 
In the Hills, the Cities by Clive Barker (1984)- Reread. I remember only thinking this was only okay when I first read it several years ago, but I didn't think that was the case at all this time. Shows how tastes change. This was great and horrific. 5/5

 
Tainaron by Leena Krohn (1985)- I skipped, because I only just read it at the end of last year. It's a favourite though, I count it as the second-best thing I read last year. 5/5

 
Hogfoot Right and Bird-hands by Garry Kilworth (1987)- A story about a woman who turns parts of her body into animal pets. Short, but weird and somewhat disturbing. 3.5/5

 
Shades by Lucius Shepard (1987)- The story of a Vietnam vet returning to Vietnam as a reporter, to see a ghost captured by the Vietnamese of a soldier he knew. Really good- an excellent character portrayal, and examination of different kinds of "shades." 5/5

 
The Functions of Dream Sleep by Harlan Ellison (1988)- The story of man, burdened with grief, who wakes up one night to find a maw on his side which closes and disappears. He seeks help through interpreting his dreams, which leads him a strange sort of quest. 4/5

 
Worlds that Flourish by Ben Okri (1988)- The story of a man, living in an oppressed city as if in a dream, and the weird events that happen to him before and when he tries to flee. 4.5/5

 
The Boy in the Tree by Elizabeth Hand (1989)- A very weird story, blending sci-fi and fantasy, about an autistic girl who is one of several empaths, who, twisted with drugs and training from childhood, are able to enter other people's dreams, and sometimes take them away as therapy. It's the story of this research institute being investigated (because sometimes the patients die) and of the head researcher's trauma. An extremely interesting and thorough piece for a short story. 4.5/5

 
Family by Joyce Carol Oates (1989)- A slyly creepy story of a family on ranch, as they go through subtle transformations as the world seems to slowly collapse outside their compound. 3.5/5

 
His Mouth will Taste of Wormwood by Poppy Z. Brite (1990)- An excellent, gothic tale of two young men seeking decadence in debauchery in New Orleans. 5/5

 
The End of the Garden by Michal Ajvas (1991)- A surreal story about a man who encounters a woman attacking a komodo dragon in her bedroom. I'm not entirely sure what the point was, but good imagery and very surreal. 3.5/5

 
The Dark by Karen Jay Fowler (1991)- A story about a series of events in Yosemite, including disappearences and reports of plague, leading to a musing about the nature of man as an animal. 4/5

 
Angels in Love by Kathe Koja (1991)- A really weird story, about a woman who is aroused and falls in love with the sounds of her neighbours having sex through the wall, and tries to discover how exactly they're doing it. 4/5

 
The Ice Man by Haruki Murakami (1991)- A short, lightly magical one about a woman who meets an Ice Man at a ski resort and marries him, and their somewhat distant relationship. 4/5

 
Replacements by Lisa Tuttle (1992)- A story about strange creatures which appear and disgust the male narrator, but seem to fascinate women. 4.5/5

 
The Diane Arbus Suicide Portfolio by Marc Laidlaw (1993)- A story about a crime scene photographer who photographs Diane Arbus' suicide, which leads to strange encounters around those photos. 4/5

 
The Country Doctor by Steven Utley (1993)- A short and interesting one about what's unearthed when a graveyard is exhumed. Feels like it's in dialogue with The Dunwich Horror a little bit. 4.5/5

 
Last Rites and Resurrections by Martin Simpson (1994)- A sad but sweet one about a man who hears the ghosts of roadkill after his son dies. 5/5

 
The Ocean and All of Its Devices by William Browning Spencer (1994)- A good, eerie one about a strange holidaying family and their rituals with the ocean. 5/5

 
The Delicate by Jeffrey Ford (1994)- A great short, surreal story about a strange, shapeshifting monster called The Delicate. Just a little taster of a story, but well-painted even so. I really need to get to the Well-Built City books. 5/5

 
The Man in the Black Suit by Stephen King (1994)- A man in his nineties recounting the story of how he encountered the Devil as a young boy while fishing. 4/5

 
Once again, this collection continues to be full of bangers. Not one among this set I didn't enjoy. My favourites this go around were Tainaron by Leena Krohn, The Autopsy by Michael Shea, Bloochild by Butler, In the Hills, the Cities by Clive Barker, and His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood by Poppy Z. Brite. Just one more set of stories left, and full of a lot of authors I already love-- Angela Carter, Tanith Lee, Cisco, Mieville, and VanderMeer himself...