Horror Novels That Are Genuinely Frightening to Readers 恐怖小说(真正让读者感到惊悚恐怖的)
Translated by GPT-6 Luna
In this list
Reader notes translated by Google Translate
750
-
701
My Master Gave Me a Car for Investigating the Supernatural 师父传我一辆看事儿车
A thousand-year-old van? Built by hand from scratch [Traditional horror]➕ [Even more immersive as an audiobook]➕ [Uncovering the truth about my origins] Greetings, dear readers! [Traditional supernatural horror, primal fear] The original experience of horror is the fear a person feels when experiencing it firsthand. [First person, highly atmospheric] Give me a chance to tell this story from my own point of view. [Uncovering the truth about my origins] Along the way, I met many people. “The gates
23Reads—Score—Shelves
Reader note
-
702
Breaking Hell: The Celestial Master Returns 破狱:天师归来
After ten years in prison, the day he gets out, he discovers he’s completely out of step with the world. There are no bustling streets or lights in every window. The streets lie abandoned, the cities are dead, and the air reeks of rot and blood. Monsters that are neither human nor ghost roam everywhere: stiff bodies, fangs and claws, and a thirst for blood. The military can’t defeat them, the police can’t hold them back, and human civilization is on the brink of collapse. Even more absurdly, peo
12Reads—Score—Shelves
Reader note
-
703
The Cursed Coffin 阴棺抬煞
Deep in Bai Street stands a yin-yang coffin shop that never makes coffins and never receives customers. Chen Ye grew up accompanying his grandfather on spirit-walking rites and coffin-bearing, learning all manner of evil spirits. He thought he would spend his life in the peaceful funeral trade, taking payment to guide souls onward and living in safety. Then, in a single night, three coffins arrived at the Ding family’s home, and one bizarre incident after another erupted throughout the househol
—Reads—Score—Shelves
-
704
Crown of Frost and Ash 霜与烬之冠
At her engagement ceremony, the man she loved pushed her into an abyss. Three years later, she returned wearing a silver-frost mask. This time, she would crown his empire with her own hands, then stain that crown red with his blood.
3Reads—Score—Shelves
-
705
My Sister Went on a Trip to Nanyang and Disappeared! 我妹妹去南洋旅游,就失踪了!
My Younger Sister Went on a Trip to Nanyang and Disappeared!
14Reads—Score—Shelves
Reader note
-
706
The Essence of Heaven and Earth 地天髓
One man is eighty years old, another is four hundred. In my youth, I climbed the mountains until my shoes wore through. Why, then, do clouds rise from the peaks tonight? I see a rainbow in the sky, then return to the world after hundreds of years. In an instant, a vast red cloud sweeps across the heavens. “Supernatural Mystery + Urban Cultivation + Primordial Wilderness + Tomb Raiding + Ancient Masks + Comedy + Horror...” I was different from the moment I was born. Others have three flowers gath
47Reads—Score—Shelves
Reader note
-
707
Twisted Dreams: A Ghost Emerged from My Split Personality 扭曲梦境:我人格分裂出一只鬼
[Infinite Flow] [Light Horror] [Light Despair] [No Female Lead] Have you ever wondered why people dream? Dreams have weavers, and they have finishers. But now, the one who weaves dreams has gone mad?! Overthinking, sensitivity, and anxiety never solve anything. I know that, yet I still go over everything in my head again and again, tormenting myself. Then, on the day I was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, a voice rang out in my mind. Was it an angel come to save me? No. Something u
4Reads—Score—Shelves
Reader note
-
708
Notes on Folk Spirit Mediums 民间出马仙笔记
[Spirit Mediums + Chinese-Style Horror + Episodic Stories + Supernatural Mystery + Karma + Mind-Blowing Twists + Feng Shui and the Occult] "Unraveling one strange and unpredictable tale of karmic retribution after another" In a remote suburb of the city lies a cemetery. Few people know that a shop dealing in the supernatural stands there, run by a spirit medium who can communicate with the dead and the living. The owner specializes in paranormal cases beyond ordinary people's understanding, but
433Reads9.3Score—Shelves
Reader note
-
709
The Yin-Yang Hot Pot Restaurant 阴阳火锅店
I took over a hot pot restaurant from my second uncle. He told me never to serve customers a yuan yang hot pot after midnight! After I took over the place, everything I believed in began to crumble... One night, I wasn't paying attention and served a couple a yuan yang hot pot. The next day, I saw in the newspaper that the couple had died! They'd jumped to their deaths together! After that, every night at midnight, a strange couple would appear in my restaurant and ask me to make them a yuan yan
1.5kReads7.7Score—Shelves
-
710
I Might Have Changed the Wrong Fate 我可能改了个假命
When I was little, my mom asked a Taoist priest to tell my fortune. He said I'd face a calamity at 26, and that he'd come help me get through it the day before my 26th birthday. When the day finally came, the priest really did show up to change my fate. He even gave me a “Fate-Changing Ruler” and told me I had to change the fates of seven people with different destinies to survive the calamity. Otherwise, I'd only have five years left to live. So much for changing my fate for me! Did he only cha
79Reads8.9Score—Shelves
-
711
The Netherworld Inn 阴间客栈
My name is Qin Yu. While on a business trip, I checked into a uniquely styled inn called the Yin Room Inn. It even offered “special services” in the middle of the night. Little did I know it was an inn from the underworld. I began having nightmare after nightmare, and my friends kept getting into trouble...
2.4kReads9.0Score139Shelves
-
712
My Years as a Buddhist Nun 我当师太的那些年
I was born a girl with a Pure Yang fate into a family of feng shui masters. For generations, my family had practiced feng shui in the countryside. My grandfather had hoped his eldest grandchild would be a boy, so he could pass down his skills to the eldest son and grandson. But I turned out to be a girl. Grandfather never took a liking to me, so my parents could only take me to live in the city. No one expected that, during the Ghost Festival in the year I turned twenty-five, Grandfather would s
388Reads8.7Score—Shelves
-
713
I Run a Paper Effigy Shop 我有一间扎纸店
I Have a Paper Effigy Shop tells the story of the protagonist, Liu Dabao, who runs a shop making paper effigies. One day, a guy named Li Xunhuan asked me to burn him a villa and gave me a jade pendant, saying someone would come to collect it later. That evening, a woman came to pick up the pendant and gave me a thousand yuan. But who could have guessed that the next day, the money vanished and turned into a pile of white paper! Was it ghost money for the dead? Were Li Xunhuan and that woman both
119Reads8.6Score—Shelves
-
714
It's All the Haunted House's Fault 都是凶宅惹的祸
I'm a mystery writer. In search of inspiration, I moved into a house rumored to be haunted. Every night, a horribly disfigured face appeared in the window, and outside, the rotten corpse of a woman hung from a tree. I realized then that this really was a haunted house! Gradually, my family began acting strangely, and we even found a mummified corpse sealed inside the wall for years! As I investigated further, I came across something even more terrifying…
106Reads8.7Score—Shelves
-
715
Corpse-Walking Notes 2: The Myriad Forms Celestial Palace 《赶尸笔记2》万象天宫
Corpses driven along by corpse herders are known in the martial world as "corpses traveling ten thousand miles." It is said that in the Xiangxi region, some people make a living herding corpses. The Corpse Sect is one such group. Qin Shuang runs a funeral business; Brother Jiu has ties to both the underworld and the police; Haozi has just gotten out of prison; Baldy makes his living robbing and relocating tombs; and mute A-Wu is a skilled fighter shrouded in mystery. What kind of extraordinary s
117Reads8.6Score—Shelves
-
716
Midnight Terror: Tales of the Supernatural 午夜惊魂:民间鬼事录
[Folk Taboos + Rural Ghost Stories + Episodic Tales + Chilling on Second Thought] The village elders say that some things are better believed than dismissed. Liu Er, a bachelor, picked up a red wedding dress. That very night, he heard the sound of a suona, and a faceless bride knocked on his door and said, “Liu Er, I’ve come to marry you.” Before a dead person is buried, the guiding candle at the head of the coffin must never go out. Old Liu Guang died, the candle went out, and a crack appeared
6.2kReads—Score265Shelves
Reader note
-
717
One Chilling Story Every Night 每晚一个惊魂故事
[One story per chapter] [Chinese-style horror] [Folk tales] [Urban vengeful spirits] [Haunted houses] [No main plot] Collected and adapted fictional tales of terror from all over, one story per chapter, each one different. No grand lectures, just bone-chilling tales rooted in everyday life. All adapted from strange folk tales passed down for years. They sound true, and the more you think about them, the more unsettling they get. Great for unwinding, but don't try to “unwind” alone in the dead of
1.1kReads—Score103Shelves
-
718
The Three Months I Was Trapped at My Girlfriend's Best Friend's Home 我被困在女友闺蜜家的那三个月
My girlfriend’s eerie home is the stuff of nightmares. This time, I’ve mysteriously found myself trapped in her best friend’s house, where she makes an utterly baffling demand... Two heroines + well-crafted suspense + scheming characters + sweet romance + twists + written by the author, not AI
2Reads—Score—Shelves
Reader note
-
719
A Hellish Start: Higher-Dimensional Bigwigs Watch Me Wipe Out the Competition 地狱开局高维大佬围观我反杀全场
Wealthy families, revenge on villains, transmigrate into a book, power couples From the start, Jiang Mian appears in handcuffs on a livestream after transmigrating into the body of a castoff from a wealthy family. She lowers her eyes and smiles coldly, using forensic logic to tear everything apart. A crystal chandelier murder, antique poison bait, a tea party trap: all become evidence she can use to turn the tables. Pei Yuyan, a higher-dimensional observer, shuts off billions of screens for her
—Reads7.4Score—Shelves
Reader note
-
720
The Creator's Taboo 造物主的禁忌
(This book has been years in the making and revised over a hundred times. From the first volume to the last, it will tell one complete, expansive story, with a large cast, suspense, and a touch of brain-teasing mystery. From time to time, the author will offer summaries or hints in the author's notes.) A creator's greatest taboo is making a life more perfect than their own! The gods created humanity and shackled it with birth, aging, sickness, death, memories that slip away like sand, and endles
322Reads9.0Score161Shelves
Reader note
-
721
Night Shift Rules: Don't Answer the Knocking 夜班守则:别回应敲门声
Night Shift Rules: Don't Answer the Knocking
—Reads—Score—Shelves
Reader note
-
722
The Strange Gate Subdues the Eight Wastelands 奇门镇八荒
My name is Yang Yufan. I was born with a pair of yin-yang eyes, and my grandfather taught me the arts of the Qimen. I thought that becoming an inheritor of the Qimen tradition would make me a fortune-teller... But who could have guessed that I’d end up as one of the saints guarding the Eight Wastelands? I’ll tell you the story of what happened in my own words!
5Reads7.0Score—Shelves
Reader note
-
723
In Another World, I Use Taoist Arts to Empty My Enemy's Warehouse 到了异世,我用道术搬空仇人仓库
An alternate history setting. Please do not compare this story with real history! Gou Yunshu, a modern Daoist exorcist, was betrayed by her best friend during an exorcism. She was struck down by heavenly retribution, killed by a bolt of lightning. She transmigrated into the body of a young girl in the Great Xia Kingdom of the Republican era and discovered that her grandfather had been captured by the Japanese army. To rescue him, she took her younger siblings, bought a house, and left Laolongtan
815Reads—Score—Shelves
Reader note
-
724
Hauntings on the Qingshui River: A Copper Coin Flower Blossoms from an Eight-Year-Old Corpse’s Chest 青水河诡事:八岁童尸胸口开出铜钱花
The Strange Happenings of Qing Shui River: A Copper-Coin Blossom Sprouts from an Eight-Year-Old Corpse’s Chest
—Reads—Score—Shelves
Reader note
-
725
The Blue-Faced Corpse Demon: An Exorcist’s Tale from the Mountains of Central Shandong 青面尸魈:鲁中山区降妖记
The Green-Faced Corpse Demon: Exorcisms in the Mountains of Central Shandong
—Reads—Score—Shelves
-
726
Song Dingbo: A New Tale of the Black and White Impermanence 宋定伯新篇之黑白无常
A New Tale of Song Dingbo: The Black and White Impermanence
—Reads—Score—Shelves
-
727
A New Tale of Song Dingbo: The Faceless Ghost 宋定伯新篇之无面鬼
A New Tale of Song Dingbo: The Faceless Ghost
3Reads—Score—Shelves
-
728
Hook in the Mist 迷雾之钩
The mist over Qinglan Reservoir never lifts. A pendant and fishhook engraved with the date 1962.7.15 don’t catch fish; they catch the living and the dead. Three years ago, documentary photographer Shen Bozhou’s heart stopped for ten minutes when he jumped into the reservoir to save his partner, who had plunged into the water under mysterious circumstances. Ever since, he has been haunted by visions from beneath the surface. Now he has returned to finish the film he left incomplete, only to find
—Reads—Score—Shelves
Reader note
-
729
Seeking Life Amid Lingering Regrets 残念觅生
[Infinite-flow, rules-based horror, extreme escape, eerie games, no harem, no formula, no invincible protagonist, no System, no mindless plot, not a feel-good power fantasy] I’m a ballet doll, grinning as I watch them kill themselves. I throw people into “my” mindscape and lay out an inescapable path to their doom. But that lunatic Li Yu finds a loophole in every stage. I crank up the difficulty of surviving, but he uses game theory to beat me. I forbid him from speaking, but he has the whole t
161Reads—Score—Shelves
Reader note
-
730
The Harem Emperor 后宫大帝
A harem novel with multiple female leads and a System. If you like beautiful women, come take a look. A naturally lecherous nouveau riche gets sent to the cultivation world after sexually harassing a waitress and being hit by a computer, bringing along a hundredfold experience System. He levels up at breakneck speed, is lecherous by nature, gathers a harem, and gets revenge on his enemies. He's a coward who fears death and never goes anywhere dangerous. I've never liked challenging people above
888Reads6.4Score—Shelves
-
731
Tales of Demons and Ghosts at Night 妖鬼夜话
My new book, I Get Awesome with Technology, is now being serialized. My short ghost stories The Water Ghost, The Seventh Night, The Departure That Year, and The Soul-Calling Lantern are available on Tomato Short Stories.
442Reads6.6Score—Shelves
-
732
I Became Awesome Through Technology 我靠科技开始牛掰
[No System] [Villain in the Later Chapters] [Immortal-Sucking Technique] [Soul Devouring] [Fast Leveling] A scientist transmigrates to the cultivation world and gradually transforms from a good person into a demonic cultivator.
279Reads—Score—Shelves
-
733
The Seventh Night 头七
The Seventh Day
44Reads—Score—Shelves
-
734
The Struggle for Supremacy at the End of the Han: Winners Become Kings, Losers Become Outlaws 汉末争霸之成王败寇
The protagonist is Zhang Jiao. He sweeps across the realm, vying for supremacy through warfare and battles between generals. A village bully’s soul travels back to the late Eastern Han and takes over Zhang Jiao’s body. At a moment of crisis, he turns the tide and leads the Yellow Turbans in a sweeping conquest of the realm, winning through strategy.
93Reads—Score—Shelves
-
735
The Real Heiress Was Reunited with Her Family, Only to Turn Out to Be a Mystical Arts Master? 真千金被认回后竟是玄门大佬?
[The Male Lead Appears Late! Very Late!] Eighteen years ago, twin sisters were switched at the Nan family maternity ward. Nan Zhi, who should have been cherished as the family's darling, grew up in a remote Taoist temple and became the youngest and most mysterious fifth-rank Celestial Master in the mystic world. She has never failed to exorcise evil spirits or suppress sinister forces, and can wield talismans and formations with ease. The cinnabar mark on her palm is proof of her ability to trav
23.2kReads8.8Score3.6kShelves
Reader note
-
736
Every Chilling Ghost Story 每篇惊悚鬼故事
This book tells a series of standalone ghost stories and supernatural tales. The stories are not connected, and each one has its own protagonist. I hope you’ll show your support.
1Reads—Score—Shelves
-
737
Misty Rain Tower 烟雨楼
[The print edition is now available nationwide at all major retailers] "Traditional xuanhuan" "No harem" In the land of Jiuzhou stands a tower called the Misty Rain Tower. Its master, Li Qingzhi, is hailed as a peerless prodigy, holding life and death in his hands beneath the cover of night. Yet what the world doesn’t know is that someone else stands behind the Misty Rain Tower, its true founder. Using the guise of a spoiled young master as cover, he manipulates the winds and clouds and plots ac
878kReads9.6Score204.8kShelves
-
738
God-Tier Choices: This Beast Tamer Is a Little Too Fierce 神级选择:这个御兽师有亿点生猛
[Beast taming + choices + comedy + nonsense + one female lead (no female lead) = ?] When Chen Shu wakes up, he finds that he has transmigrated to a parallel world where beast taming reigns supreme, and he has bound himself to a Divine-Level Choice System! Every choice he makes earns him all kinds of rewards! With the System’s help, his pets grow increasingly monstrous: a slime that can sit on a dragon and crush it to death, a husky that can blast a phoenix to tears with elemental skills, and a..
182kReads9.7Score22kShelves
-
739
Demon Slayer: How to Raise a Meal Hashira 鬼灭之刃:饭柱的养成手册
After Haruto went through hell to complete his demon swordsman training, he headed to Mount Fujikasane to take part in the selection. Suddenly, a line of comments floated before his eyes: What a handsome guy. Too bad he's going to die in the next second. Moments later, the Hand Demon hidden on Mount Fujikasane pierced his heart, and he bought the farm. When he found himself back on Mount Fujikasane, Haruto thought it had all been a dream. Then another line of comments flashed before his eyes: Th
18.9kReads9.7Score2.7kShelves
-
740
The Thief's Way 贼道
My name is Xiao Wu. I was a wild child no orphanage could keep in check. At nine years old, I charged into this dog-eat-dog world. I saw through it then: living was like clinging to a moving train. You either held on or fell and were crushed to pieces. The first steamed bun I stole wasn’t because I was hungry. I wanted to see whether these hands that picked pockets could grab fate by the throat. The juvenile detention center, the shelter, and the detention center were my schools. The thieves wer
93.3kReads9.6Score12kShelves
-
741
Arknights: Medicine Can't Save Terra 明日方舟:学医救不了泰拉
(Arknights) (Transmigration) (Younger Sister) (The early plot develops normally, then things go off the rails later) (So much angst) (Also known as: Arknights: Studying Medicine Won't Save Terra; On Terra, Weak and Pitiful Yet Invincible) This land has a long history of devouring white-haired people without leaving so much as a bone. But Qi Yan says, fine by me. I can just grow them back anyway. Faced with this land that thrives on tormenting people, Qi Yan can only turn the tables and torment i
36.3kReads9.7Score3.4kShelves
-
742
Honkai: Star Rail: Dreaming of the Starry River 星穹铁道:揽星河入梦
[Honkai Impact 3rd] [Honkai: Star Rail] [Honkai: Star Rail] It was an evening when ashes fell from the sky. A woman stood at the entrance to an orphanage, holding a black umbrella. “Since your wish in this life has been fulfilled, come with me.” “I just want to make sure: you have a taciturn older brother and a younger sister addicted to the internet. You’re divorced and widowed, and your ex-husband is buried?” “Of course!” “And you guarantee this is a normal, loving family, not some notorious i
15.1kReads9.6Score1.6kShelves
-
743
Impostor of the Langya Clan 冒姓琅琊
(Also known as “The Matter of Me Pretending to Be a Nobleman of the Southern Dynasties”) To transmigrate isn’t a dinner party. It’s a deadly game at every turn. The south is beautiful, yet lofty ambitions often fade away. Since ancient times, the Southern Dynasties have been weak, their heroes short-lived. No golden finger, no System, and no second chance at life. Everything starts from zero! Original owner’s memories: none! Identity: none! Supplies: none! When transmigration becomes reality, ho
499.4kReads9.7Score59.5kShelves
-
744
First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?! 大一实习,你跑去749收容怪物
[Decisive killing] [How could any monster be good?] [All monsters deserve to die] [Ruthless] During his sophomore summer vacation, Lu Ding had planned to use the time to take an internship and earn some living expenses. Who could have expected that the construction site where he interned would excavate a bleeding stone? The workers fled one after another, but Lu Ding charged in with a rotary hammer. After transmigrating to this world nearly twenty years ago, Lu Ding’s golden finger, the Monster
604.6kReads9.5Score54.8kShelves
-
745
Don't Worry, Senior—I'll Protect You 学姐别怕,我来保护你
[Heart-Pounding Engine 2: Pure White Love Letter has been published] [Lighthearted daily life] + [Single female lead] + [No System] + [Not reborn] + [Sweet romance] In high school, Luo Ye had a secret crush on a girl for three years. He even got into the same university as her, and they agreed to start dating if they both got in. But the girl unexpectedly went back on her word. Heartbroken, Luo Ye became a romance novelist. Unexpectedly, before university even began, the novel he wrote shot to t
341.5kReads9.8Score35kShelves
-
746
Learning to Slay Gods in the Psychiatric Hospital 我在精神病院学斩神
A must-read hit on Tomato Novel | Original novel of the hit anime Slay the Gods | IP influence on the China Online Literature Influence List | 2023 China Good Novel Have you ever wondered whether monsters from ancient myths lurk beneath the neon-lit city? Have you ever wondered whether gods stand watch over humanity atop the moon hanging high above us? Have you ever wondered whether extraordinary people walk among us in our bustling modern cities, acting in the gods’ stead? In the society ruled
1.1MReads9.9Score285.7kShelves
-
747
Baby Lantern 婴儿灯
When I was five, I fell into the water and my soul left my body. With my own eyes, I saw the legendary baby lantern said to lure away souls. I initially thought it had come to harm me, but that wasn’t the case. As I continued to investigate, a sinister layout targeting me slowly came to light...
216Reads—Score—Shelves
Reader note
-
748
The Iron Fan, Famous Detective of Bianjing: Strange Tales of the Song Dynasty 汴京名捕铁扇子:大宋诡事录
At night, an empty coffin floats on the Bian River, and water ghosts come to claim lives. Apparitions haunt a mansion, and ghosts knock at the door on rainy nights. Qi Guan Shanyu, the youngest renowned constable of the Six Gates, known as the “Iron Fan,” joins forces with an adversary more terrifying than ghosts: the human heart. A coffin rises from the water by itself, and the dead man’s face wears an eerie smile… Bianjing is in an uproar! Each case is more bizarre and mind-bending than the la
5Reads—Score—Shelves
Reader note
-
749
I’m Not a Character in a Play 我不是戏中人
On his way back to his hometown, 33-year-old writer Xi Chuan is involved in a strange car accident. After falling unconscious, he plunges into a dreamlike version of western Hunan where truth and illusion are impossible to tell apart. His gravely ill grandfather struggles to his feet and takes him to an ancient opera stage plagued by strange events, where he performs a Nuo exorcism opera. Xiao Hei, a loyal dog, transforms into an earth spirit beast to fight the unseen things lurking in the darkn
3Reads—Score—Shelves
-
750
The Great Song’s Hour of Peril 大宋危局时辰
The Song Faces a Crisis: During peace talks between the Song and Liao, a Western Xia assassination group massacres the diplomatic mission. The gold intended for the negotiations mysteriously disappears, and the two states wage war for four years, leaving a hundred thousand dead. A Vice Minister of Rites, a young general, and a mysterious swordsman join forces to investigate, only to discover that a traitor is hiding at the emperor’s side. The gold never left the Great Song! One person’s selfish
5Reads—Score—Shelves
Other lists with My Master Gave Me a Car for Investigating the Supernatural