Novels like I Came from the Water
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as I Came from the Water, best match first.
- 1 The Corpse Collector 收尸人 I invite you into a story that is humorous yet still terrifying… 307Reads—Score—Shelves
- 2 Curious Tales 奇闻杂记 Have you heard of beds that make you bow your head, ghosts in the mirror, faces hidden by hair, blasting hills apart, ghostly sleep paralysis, coffin shops, casting curses and planting ghosts, glamorous tales of corpse-driving, snake demons appearing, the Eight Diagrams and mystical arts, or physiognomy from the Book of Ma Yi? Traveling far and wide through mountains, rivers, foreign lands, bustling cities, and remote villages, I visit strange places, record my findings, and bring them together. 4Reads—Score—Shelves
- 3 Let Me Tell You a Little Story. It’s Not Scary at All: Season One 我讲个小故事，一点儿都不吓人·第一季 Fear should lie buried in the subconscious, fading without a trace, yet it always leaves signs in everyday life. The alley where the sunset hides, the corner turned away from the neon lights, the wealthy woman sitting outside a cafe and giving passersby a malicious sidelong glance: all these traces show that when people enter the darkness beyond the reach of sunlight, fear instantly swells like a shadow and engulfs them. Come, step into my stories and experience fears that grow more terrifying t —Reads8.6Score—Shelves
- 4 Xuanhuan: Why Do I Keep Running into Weird Things?! 玄幻：我也不想碰见怪事啊！ [Transmigration + sweet romance + modern cultivation + the uncanny + farming] Young master Rong Jinghe, who was just an ordinary classmate, suddenly transmigrates with Qiao Chuchu and is told she has to be his girlfriend? The tragedy of the Deng family is shrouded in mystery. Must this unlucky girl, Qiao Chuchu, be the one to deal with every family’s troubles? The ghosts that have haunted this place for years can’t be driven away by the exorcists you’ve hired all this time, so now a young girl l —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 5 The Bizarre Trail of the Living Dead 活死人诡迹 A blood-written letter is his only clue, and his origins are a mystery; Seven birthmarks on his back look like people, yet resemble ghosts; A loyal, mysterious yellow dog is always at his side! Blood lingzhi, black ginseng, and a white poplar tree that bleeds; Unrotting bones, a pit of ten thousand corpses, and a ten-thousand-year-old corpse that weeps; Living dead, an immortal body, and people who look exactly alike! It all begins with a blood-written letter containing just a few brief words... 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 6 The Corpse Stitcher 缝尸匠 Soul-binding nails, threads of karma, green lamps and white candles, a bone-carving knife. When the dead person’s lamp goes out, bury them intact. The living must keep away! 10Reads—Score—Shelves
- 7 The Haunted House Salesman 凶宅推销员 My name is Wang Hao, and I work at a real estate agency that only opens late at night. The boss is beautiful, but she's rarely around. My coworker is a creepy Taoist who drags me out every night at 2:30 to spy on the apartment across the street. There's also a little girl with purple hair who keeps throwing pink slippers at me. My job is to inspect haunted houses, because I can see those "things." I only wanted to save up enough to put my younger sister through school. That was until a thousa —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 8 The Haunting of the New Home 搬家诡事 [Mystery + Thriller + Supernatural + Horror + No Female Lead + Smart Protagonist] His name was Yi Jibo. After he was wrongfully imprisoned, his mother fell ill and died. To pay off his gambling debts, his father sold her ashes to the Japanese through a crematorium driver. To get his mother's ashes back, Yi Jibo went to work at a Japanese funeral home. And so he burned Japanese corpses while searching for his mother's ashes… 19Reads—Score—Shelves
- 9 A Collection of Bizarre Horror Stories 怪诞恐怖故事集 My stories have magic, blood and tears, the evil side of human nature, and the horror you’re looking for. 1. Mother’s Bottles and Jars: A single drop of blood can turn one grain of rice into a whole pot of rice. A hundred drops can conjure a bicycle... What kind of magic is hidden in the bottles and jars Mother prepared for him? 2. The Toilets in Dreams: If you fall asleep while desperate to pee, you’ve surely dreamed of all kinds of toilets. If you write down the toilets you see in your dreams, 13Reads—Score—Shelves
- 10 Strange Tales of Summoning the Gods 请神异闻录 At his eighteenth-birthday coming-of-age ceremony, a host of immortals came to offer their congratulations! In his dreams, he became a disciple of Jiang Ziya, who studied under the Primeval Lord of Heaven at the Jade Void Palace on Mount Kunlun, and learned the art of summoning gods. I’m powerless against those above the gods, but invincible against those below them. You know Taoist magic? I can summon gods! You know demonic arts? I can summon gods! You can invite an immortal spirit to possess y 87Reads—Score—Shelves
- 11 When I Was Born, I Had a Phoenix Crown on My Head and a Green Dragon Around My Waist 我出生时，头顶凤冠，青龙缠腰 My mother was born with a yin fate and was known as the Ghost Mother. She also had another, deeply mysterious identity, one that struck fear into both the spirit and human worlds. Later, my mother gave birth to me. On the day I was born, I wore a phoenix crown, and a green dragon coiled around my waist. The Five Immortals willingly became my babysitters… Yet Master Chen the Third, a feng shui expert, declared that this girl was destined to bring disaster! 5Reads7.1Score—Shelves
- 12 Strange Tales from Liaozhai: Ghost Stories and Unsolved Mysteries 聊斋秘闻鬼魅传说与未解之谜 A collection of suspenseful short stories inspired by Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio and Chinese folk legends! Your follows and support motivate me to write. I’ll do my best to bring you even better stories! Fresh off the press! Leave a review, and I’ll keep improving! 1Reads8.3Score—Shelves
- 13 Tales of the Supernatural in Rural Northeast China 东北农村诡事录 A collection of eerie and terrifying folk tales. Zhang Liang was born in the 1970s and was forced onto the path of exorcism by a curse. Every tale is full of danger and excitement, with an ending no one can predict. If you have the nerve, come take a look and experience a different kind of ghost story. Mildly scary, read with caution. 87Reads—Score—Shelves
- 14 Rule Horror: NPCs, Stop Being So Charming 规则怪谈：NPC请停止散发魅力 [Two male leads + Chinese-style horror + No System + Not overpowered + Mind games + Suspense] Players' heart rates are monitored in real time. Anyone whose reading exceeds 100 is eliminated immediately. As a veteran NPC and Employee of the Year at the horror escape room, you're brimming with confidence. You argue furiously with a blood-soaked female ghost: heart rate +1. The vengeful ghost from a massacre comes to claim your life: heart rate +1. You accidentally join the funeral procession of so 31Reads—Score—Shelves
- 15 Living Human Pillar 活人桩 Bridge and road construction inevitably disrupts the local feng shui. If a malign force is encountered, an expert must be called in to counter evil with evil at the site of the incident, driving two living human stakes into the ground. 688Reads8.7Score100Shelves
- 16 The House Immortal Affairs Office 家仙办事处 Chen Ping'an, a graduate student in folklore, has never believed in ghosts or gods. That is, until he inherited his old family home and caught a fox spirit sitting on his sofa in the middle of the night, playing Honor of Kings. Then it tossed him an employment contract from the “Household Spirits Affairs Office.” From then on, his materialist worldview completely fell apart: Huang Xian works as a delivery driver, gathering intelligence. Bai Xian runs a traditional Chinese medicine clinic and sec 3Reads—Score—Shelves
- 17 There Are No Evil Dogs on Evil Dog Ridge 恶狗岭没有恶狗 There Are No Vicious Dogs on Evil Dog Ridge 2Reads—Score—Shelves
- 18 The Earth Master 地先生 Every title in the occult arts has a special meaning: tomb raiders are called grave diggers, those without a school or sect are called Mr. Bai, and those who sew heads onto corpses are called Old Madam Butian... Our trade calls us Earth Masters. Ghostly incense, the flayed-skin curse, the pecking-eye gu, the Cave of Nine... Every job I take on is full of twists and hidden dangers. Fight your way through, and the spirits and ghosts will fear you, and you’ll reign supreme in the occult world. Fail 81Reads7.0Score—Shelves
- 19 Whispers of the Ghosts 鬼魅低语 [Standalone Stories] [Eerie] [Thriller] [Strange] [Wild Imagination] Worlds full of distortion and absurdity. Whether it's seemingly ordinary snippets of everyday life or strange phenomena that gradually come to light, everything sends a chill down your spine and grows more terrifying the more you think about it. 36Reads—Score—Shelves
- 20 Maoshan 茅山 When I was little, my parents abandoned me in a mass grave. My master found me and raised me to adulthood. He was a Taoist priest who knew how to subdue demons and exorcise evil spirits, and he taught me everything he had learned in his life. I signed an agreement with the underworld to work as a ghost constable in the mortal world, trading my service as a ghost for extra years of life… 970Reads6.5Score—Shelves
- 21 A Horror Story Lives Next Door 你的隔壁住着恐怖故事 Have you ever noticed how horror lurks everywhere in your everyday life? Listen. Listen closely... Where does horror come from? Nothing is scarier than reality. The unknown parts of our real lives, and the anxieties and desires we feel about them, are the greatest sources of horror. 12.3kReads9.4Score2kShelves
- 22 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 4kReads—Score174Shelves
- 23 A Life Borrowed from the Yin Realm 借阴命 To keep me alive, my grandfather borrowed someone else’s life for me. Years later, that person’s descendants came seeking revenge... 190Reads7.2Score—Shelves
- 24 Feng Shui Yin-Yang Master 风水阴阳师 "Born under the Emperor Ziwei's fate, with yin-yang eyes from birth." An extraordinary life is his destiny. He inherits his ancestors' feng shui arts. In the world of the mystic arts, yin flourishes while yang declines. A thousand-year plan awaits just one person. 1.2kReads7.1Score114Shelves
- 25 Spirit Village 灵村 Thrills and the supernatural! There's an ancient village called Lingzhuang, also known as Bagua Village. I was born there. Lingzhuang is always shrouded in an atmosphere of terror: Enormous pythons, centipedes, black spiders, strange birds, and ferocious beasts roam about, attacking people... Lingzhuang is also rife with strange tales and bizarre happenings: A female ghost haunts the village; a cave in Longmian Mountain holds an arsenal from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom; a mysterious master live 75Reads—Score—Shelves
- 26 A Rural Guide to the Supernatural 乡野灵异手册 I was born in a remote village, with a faint red, triangular birthmark on my forehead. On the day I was born, every fish in the village pond died. After my birth, one strange event after another began happening in the village: cooked chunks of a corpse in an abandoned well, a neighbor's grandmother coming back from the dead, a doll that wept bloody tears. The villagers started calling me a harbinger of disaster, and everyone avoided me. 139Reads8.7Score—Shelves
- 27 The Underworld Descends 阴司降世 The day Han Luoxuan was born, the Underworld sent guardians to protect him, a hundred ghosts surrounded his home, and rogue cultivators came to claim his life. The independent Han clan, the Fox Immortals of the Northeast, and the Buddhists joined forces to save him. Born with unusual bones and naturally gifted with Yin Eyes, he carries his family's karmic burden and is guided by destiny. He becomes the focus of a struggle in this world. Hunted by a hundred ghosts and parted from his loved ones, 16Reads—Score—Shelves
- 28 The School of Terror 恐怖艺校 Also known as "The Horror Art School: I Fell in Love with a Taoist Priest" [Supernatural + Romance + Transmigration + Wild Imagination] During those three years at school, many strange and terrifying things happened. At midnight, a sinister atmosphere would descend over the school... The year Ye Xue'er attended art school, she fell in love with him at first sight and decided to follow him, staying by his side as they worked together to spread the art of Taoism far and wide... 2Reads—Score—Shelves
- 29 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
- 30 Red and White Banquets 红白席面 [Mild thrills] [A clever main cast] [One heroine] [No excessive saintliness] [All manner of evil spirits + mysterious practitioners with their own agendas] A sudden mishap at her father's funeral leads Li Sixian, a wealthy heiress, to be rescued by Gan Xin, a village banquet chef. She discovers the hidden side of the world, and, determined to spare her father the tortures of the City of Wrongful Death, she boldly chooses to become a ghost official while still alive. A rookie ghost official who k 14Reads6.5Score—Shelves
- 31 White Russian Cemetery 白俄公墓 [Supernatural + Mystery + Horror + Forbidden Sites and Zone Exploration + Dark] While traveling, I passed through a small town called Beima and accidentally entered a strange internet cafe. The terrifying legend of a woman ghost hanging upside down, messages from an online friend dating back to 2001, an old school campus regarded as forbidden ground, a mysterious ghost village behind the school, and a cemetery that exists only in people's memories. Somehow, all of it seems connected to me. This 49Reads8.0Score—Shelves
- 32 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 6Reads—Score—Shelves
- 33 Tales of the Strange 怪谈 [A Born Ghost-Busting Saint vs. A Bewitching Beauty Bound by a Sinister Fate] [Case-by-Case Stories + Criminal Investigation + Folk Legends + Ghost Hunting + An Overarching Plot + Horror + Two Powerful Leads + Fighting Side by Side] "Corpses become curses, souls become gu; strange cases arise, and every road is hard to tread." Zhang Miao was short of water in his five elements, and before he was even born, he was given a "water ghost" as his godmother. As a result, he awakened a special constit 2.1kReads8.5Score130Shelves
- 34 The Daoist Tradition of Northeast China 东北道家 A story about real-life Taoist priests and spirit mediums in Northeast China. The content is based on true events. Any resemblance is purely coincidental. An illiterate author writing a book has it rough. 359Reads—Score—Shelves
- 35 I'm Just a Photographer, So Why Do I Keep Seeing Ghosts?! 我就是个摄影师，为什么总见鬼！ [Original Work, First Release] [Supernatural Horror] [Mystery and Puzzles] [Chinese-Style Horror] [Folk Supernatural Tales] [Light Transmigration] Photographer Lin Shen set off alone for an abandoned old house in the wilderness, hoping to capture a supernatural series that could turn his career around. But he never made it out of the ravine. When he opened his eyes again, he had transmigrated into the body of another freelance photographer, He Xun. He made a living with a camera just the same, a 3Reads—Score—Shelves
- 36 Weeping Evil 哭邪 People watch over a temple for ten years; the temple watches over them for a lifetime. 114Reads6.9Score—Shelves
- 37 Fifth Watch 五更 The stories my grandpa used to tell me were probably meant to scare me into staying put, or maybe to lull me to sleep. He always told them with such conviction and vivid detail that I often found myself dreaming of the very scenes he had lived through. I met the old flower-growing woman on Yinshan Mountain, and one villager after another from Sangen Village. Their faces were gloomy and strange, and their deeds served as a warning, reminding us that “the gods are watching from three feet above yo 728Reads7.2Score100Shelves
- 38 Wayfarer Between Yin and Yang 阴阳行者 The ultimate truths of heaven and earth are two: death and parting, and the way between yin and yang. I protect the living in the world of light, driving out evil and subduing demons until every specter is vanquished. I guide the dead across the Yellow Springs, and set foot upon the Bridge of Helplessness without hesitation. A traveler between the realms of yin and yang, I bear the balance of life and death on my shoulders. Have you ever seen an old sheep knock at your door, or a paper figure sp 279Reads5.6Score—Shelves
- 39 Supernatural: I Bring Home an Old Immortal in Inner Mongolia 灵异：我在内蒙领老仙儿 My name is Li Tianshu. I was originally called Li Chengcai. I was sickly from childhood and plagued by hardship. I was so familiar with the gates of death that even the King of Hell knew my face. My grandparents said I had been cursed just like my great-grandfather, and planned to abandon me in the mountains to be raised by wolves. It was my maternal grandfather who gave me back my humanity and renamed me Li Tianshu, hoping Heaven would forgive me and free me from the curse. From then on, my fat 336Reads8.6Score—Shelves
- 40 A Collection of 365 Strange Tales and Horror Stories 365个奇闻异事和恐怖故事合集 This is a series of short horror stories. The writing isn't the focus; it's all about telling the stories. [Standalone stories + horrors that grow worse the more you think about them + mystery and the supernatural + urban legends + haunted homes + folk tales + strange tales + feng shui and mysticism] Are you ready? When night falls, these terrifying stories will begin crawling into the ears of the living... 736Reads—Score—Shelves
- 41 On a Moonless Night, the Ghosts Make You Walk in Circles 月黑头鬼打墙 Li Mo was once an ordinary man, until a car accident took his wife and turned him into a “neutrino key.” The strange Ω-7 mark on his chest grants him access to the underlying code of reality. Imprisoned by the mysterious “Foundation,” he navigates between cold-eyed watchers, uncanny “Shadow Dancers,” and ancient “Gravekeepers.” He glimpses what lies beyond the veil: the “Weavers” making a tragic sacrifice, the terrifying whispers of the “Deep-Sea Shadow,” and the revelation that the world is a f 3.4kReads7.6Score—Shelves
- 42 The Coffin of Life and Death 生死棺材 In our line of work, there’s a type known as the miscellaneous school. They follow unorthodox paths, dabbling in everything but mastering nothing. They have no sect above them and no helpers below them, and nobody takes them seriously. I’m an heir to the miscellaneous school, yet I turned their world upside down and left them in chaos. Only when I decided to retire did I discover a shocking mystery hidden within me... 486Reads8.7Score100Shelves
- 43 Girls' Dormitory 女生宿舍 Every school has its share of ghost stories, especially places steeped in yin energy, like the girls' dormitory... I'm a veteran who used to be an atheist. But it wasn't until I became a security guard at Taiping School that I learned the truth...! 209Reads8.3Score—Shelves
- 44 The Terrifying School 极度恐怖校园 As the best university in the city, this school admits only outstanding students. But it also has many rules that are hard to understand: no studying after eight o’clock, and no leaving your dorm room after midnight. No matter who calls to you from the corridor, do not answer... The protagonists in this story are all independent, but their countless connections eventually bring them together. What secrets does this school hold? 247Reads—Score—Shelves
- 45 The Eerie Realm: It Starts with an Elevator 诡界：从电梯开始 [No System]+ [No Heroine]+ [Dungeon Progression]+ [No Saintly Protagonist]+ [Eerie]+ [Original Dungeons] Have you ever wondered? Beneath the neon lights and atmosphere of this city, things lurk that defy all reason. They were chosen by the Eerie [Elevator] and marked by a terrifying curse. Again and again, they must take part in death games, until death claims them. 57Reads—Score—Shelves
- 46 Dragon-Subduing Art 镇龙术 When I was born, my grandfather foresaw that I would face four great calamities in my life. To change my fate, he traded his life for mine. That day, a thousand white cranes circled overhead, escorting my grandfather to his final rest... 24Reads7.6Score—Shelves
- 47 The Terrifying Rich Lady 恐怖富婆 Everyone knows how great it feels to live off someone else, but sometimes you shouldn’t accept a free ride, especially from a rich woman with unusual tastes. You might regret it for the rest of your life... 101Reads7.5Score—Shelves
- 48 Chronicles of the Supernatural 异灵实录 At three in the morning, check the list of the dead; let the ferryman guide your soul. Chinese horror stories, spirit-summoning, death notes. Some things can be explained, while other feelings defy description. A terror that makes you shudder as you think it over rises from the depths of your heart. After reading these 99 stories, you'll find yourself questioning your own life. There's a rumor that you should never stay in the last room on the ground floor of a hotel. The author once traveled ou 24Reads9.2Score—Shelves
- 49 Ghost-Hunting Yin-Yang Master 捉鬼阴阳师 On the day I was born, the clear sky suddenly filled with lightning and thunder. A bolt struck a tree in our yard, and everyone in the village decided my birth was an ill omen. They all kept their distance. One villager accidentally offended me, and that night he mysteriously hanged himself. The body could only be taken down if someone knelt before me. On the day of his funeral, his brother died a violent death and the coffin fell to the ground. That was how the whole story began… 214Reads8.8Score100Shelves
- 50 Strange Tales, Volume 1 奇闻诡事录1 This is a collection of folk tales about the uncanny, strange accounts from across the land. Each chapter is a complete story, each tale a separate supernatural mystery, revealing the mysteries of yin and yang, folk taboos, and the obsessions of the dead. You never know when a casual remark might draw the attention of spirits lurking in the wilderness; when an old object you pick up might hold the memory of a tragic death; or when an everyday habit might already have crossed a forbidden boundary 21Reads—Score—Shelves
