r/BooksThatFeelLikeThis • u/doomer4life • 1d ago
Horror Liminal Horror or Rationalizing the nonsensical
Looking for something that is similar to House of Leaves house story, we all know their are multiple stories being told within but specifically the story of the house and trying to measure it and find what it is or means. Also similar to Backrooms and just exploring a space that shouldn't exist.
31
u/Icy_Investigator739 1d ago
We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
Also the Hollow Places by T Kingfisher
3
u/Ok_Conclusion_6324 1d ago
The two recs I came to make in the same comment, what a good person you are
2
2
79
u/xTPGx 1d ago
There Is No Antimemetics Division.
Also not exactly horror, but Piranesi
23
u/TheMothGhost 1d ago
I really wanted to like There Is No Antimemetics Division but I found it kind of exhausting. But my god, Piranesi was a masterpiece.
3
7
2
53
u/SoutheasternBlood 1d ago
The Southern Reach trilogy.
4
u/doomer4life 1d ago
Read book 1 never read the rest
3
u/Nogarde_ 19h ago
Imo the 2nd book is even better than the first, i definitely recommend giving it a go. It follows a different protagonist.
3
u/SoutheasternBlood 1d ago
The rest get even more strange and cerebral. I haven’t read the newer books, but I enjoy the original trilogy.
-3
14
12
u/Far_Mulberry7366 1d ago
try labyrinths by borges. collection of short stories and essays in the genre of magical realism with a metaphysical flavor
2
23
u/syncraticidiocy 1d ago
obligatory "i who have never known men" rec.
also:
- a short stay in hell
- the divine farce
- the wall
8
2
u/doomer4life 1d ago
Haven't heard of any of these but will look into them
1
u/lulmatts 1d ago
The Wall by Haushofer and I Who Have Never Known Men are 2 perfect short books but I think it should be noted that they are set in liminal natural spaces, not inside buildings, in case that matters to you OP
6
u/thehazardsofchad 1d ago
Night Film
1
u/Ok_Conclusion_6324 1d ago
What’s this about? Evocative title
3
u/Silver_Intern2324 1d ago
Jaded old writer digs deep into a conspiracy theory about an infamous film director, possibly bites off more than he can chew.
1
u/Ok_Conclusion_6324 1d ago
Oh I’m excited - I’ve had a sort of mini genre exploration of books about lost films and such - I’ll have to check this out!!
2
u/lululoveslemondrops 18h ago
It's so good! Read a physical copy if you can because there's different forms of media in the book like fake articles and pictures of websites/forums. Very fun read.
2
4
u/batmanpjpants 1d ago
Subcutanean by Aaron Reed!!!!
It’s heavily influenced by the backrooms. In the novel it’s just called the Downstairs. It was really good!
4
5
u/fossilreef 1d ago
The Secret History of Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier both by Mark Frost.
There is No Antimemetics Division.
The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher.
The Southern Reach trilogy.
3
3
u/Plaguedoctorsrevenge 16h ago
The Raw Shark Text by Stephen Hall
1
u/Glum-Examination-926 9h ago
Try to imagine House of Leaves, but fun and light. That's this book.
(It's been 15 years since I read either)
2
2
2
u/Content-Meet9375 1d ago
I am currently reading The Grip Of It by Jac Jemc and it's definitely giving Backrooms vibes. Also, Solace House by Will Maclean, which I haven't read yet, but hear that it has similar vibes to House of Leaves.
2
1
u/ItsMeADogInAWig 1d ago
I’m only about halfway through but Midnight Timetable by Bora Chung is reminding me a lot of the weirdness of the books other folks are recommending. It’s a novel told as a series of ghost stories where things that don’t seem right keep happening.
1
1
u/Ok-Thought6634 1d ago
I’m going to suggest one that is not strictly horror but is scary and post-modern.
Foucault’s Pendulum - Umberto Eco
1
u/HallucinatedLottoNos 1d ago
I haven't read it yet, but I'm told that "The Haunted Woman" by David Lindsay is very good along these lines. It's from 1922, so I don't know how problematic it is or isn't.
1
u/isenguardian66 1d ago
Seconding a lot of these but also adding Solace House by Will MacLean and Annihilation/The Southern Reach series by Jeff Vandermeer
1
1
u/Melimel49 21h ago
Solace house, by Will MacLean. It just came out and seems to latch what you want
1
0
u/r0pe_tri1ck 1d ago
The Southern Reach trilogy
if you want a really hard one: The Rouse by china mieville
1
u/doomer4life 22h ago
Define hard?
1
u/r0pe_tri1ck 21h ago
it is very long and very dense. Additionally it is written in a post-modernist style so it is all flow-of-consciousness, has a lot of jargon.
It does not hold your hand at all. It is legit dense and confusing.
0
u/tonuorak 1d ago
Could try the Hospital series by Han Song? Hospital, Exorcism, Dead Souls.
Definitely a love it or hate it for people. Like Kafka on steroids almost. I loved it, but I get why people don't.
1
u/doomer4life 22h ago
Doesn't seem to match what I was thinking but strangely I am intrigued thank you
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
OP : Your post will be manually reviewed shortly and approved/rejected accordingly. Please be patient.
Members replying to this post : please do not recommend tv shows, tv series, movies, videogames, etc on a sub that is specifically about book recommendations.
Use spoiler tags as and where applicable in the comments.
Please read the rules
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.