Novels like Matters of the Underworld
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as Matters of the Underworld, best match first.
- 1 Something Wicked This Way Comes 撞邪 I'm a truck driver who hauls freight all over the country. There are lots of taboos in the business. For example, if you come across a funeral procession, flash your headlights a few times. When driving through a tunnel, especially one with a square entrance, never whistle or say anything disrespectful. And when staying overnight at an inn, always point the toes of your shoes toward the door... 15Reads5.6Score—Shelves
- 2 The Child's Haunting 童诡 Mystery | Horror | Hidden Chen Shuyang was overjoyed to move in with his girlfriend, Bai Lu. But as they spent day after day together, he gradually discovered her many strange quirks, from bizarre tastes in food to abnormal behavior. Little by little, he uncovered the terrifying secret she was hiding. 569Reads8.0Score113Shelves
- 3 Curse of Resentment 怨咒 I went out with a few friends to take care of some business and witnessed a series of strange events. That night, I dreamed of meeting a beautiful girl. When I woke up, I discovered that the drunk girl from the night before had died outside my door... 14Reads—Score—Shelves
- 4 The Female Corpse in the Ice Coffin 冰棺女尸 Everyone wants a pair of beautiful eyes, but nobody knows that the more beautiful the eyes, the more they attract the attention of ghosts. I'm an orphan. It was because I had a pair of beautiful eyes that my adoptive father took me in. Only later did I realize that the moment I stepped through his door, I had fallen into a conspiracy. My adoptive father is a doctor with a huge underground laboratory. He never lets me go inside. One day, I sneaked into the laboratory and saw countless preserved c 4Reads6.6Score—Shelves
- 5 The Strange Taoist 怪道士 My name is Niu Dabao, and I’m the only college graduate in Niu Village. I thought that after graduating, I’d get promoted, earn a higher salary, marry a beautiful, wealthy woman, and reach the pinnacle of life. Who could have guessed the company would go bankrupt and the boss would kill himself? I didn’t get a single cent of my wages, and I couldn’t even afford rent, so I slept at the train station every day! A shabbily dressed Taoist priest told me I was plagued by bad luck and haunted by a hun 1.9kReads8.4Score136Shelves
- 6 Messenger of the Underworld 冥界使者 After graduating from college, I hoped to find a good job, but ended up delivering packages. Then one day, I received a mysterious delivery slip, and my life changed completely. 34Reads8.6Score—Shelves
- 7 Tales of Strange Campus Happenings 校园诡事叙 Reader's guide: No romance. This isn't a wish-fulfillment story. It's more like a journal than a novel, with few dramatic twists. The story is told for the sake of telling it and follows the timeline. The supernatural elements are adapted from stories recounted by people the author once knew. Yuan Ruoying, a talented student in Class 16 of her second year of high school, attends a top school in the city. Her days are spent studying, following the same three-point routine. Life is busy but peacef 14Reads8.1Score—Shelves
- 8 The Eighteenth Floor Underground 地下十八楼 [Urban Mystery / Thriller / Puzzle-Solving / Supernatural / No System] Beneath an upscale residential complex lies a mysterious space known as “Underground Level Eighteen.” They say that anyone who goes in either dies or goes mad… Su Chi, a new resident, accidentally gets caught up in it. There are ancient coffin mazes, a blue underground river, savage subterranean creatures, and even mysterious wild men… Danger lurks at every turn, and the mysteries are hair-raising. It feels as if a pair of ey 40Reads—Score—Shelves
- 9 The Haunted Hearse 灵车诡事 I'm an ambulance driver for the dead. When I first started the job, Third Master told me a few rules every hearse driver must follow. Then one day, to pay off my loan, I transported a bizarre corpse... 316Reads6.6Score—Shelves
- 10 The Last School Bus 末班校车 [A female-focused mystery thriller, a brain-teasing and hilarious redemption story] From here on, I'll personally take you on this last school-bus journey... You'll see a terrifying doll sitting right beside you... You'll witness a string of murders in a girls' dormitory, all within a single year... You'll shudder at the bizarre death of a school beauty who was three months pregnant... You'll rage at the evil hidden in a fog-shrouded residential complex along the way... And you'll encounter the 403Reads8.1Score—Shelves
- 11 Night of the Return of the Dead 回魂夜 On my way home from work, I saw a group of girls beating up a pretty girl. She called out to me for help, but I didn’t get involved. Who knew she’d end up dead? Seven days later, on the night she returned as a ghost, I was the first person she came looking for. 29Reads6.3Score—Shelves
- 12 The Talisman Master 画符天师 A talisman is the true seal of Heaven and Earth, though people counterfeit it with cinnabar, ink, paper, and brush. I, Ding Mian, possess but a spark of spiritual light, yet I can reach through Heaven and Earth. I can command emptiness, water and fire, tiles and stones, grass and trees, food and drink; I can make things exist or vanish, and pass through and transform them. This is the Way of Heaven! 65Reads—Score—Shelves
- 13 Strange Tales of Houqiu 厚邱怪谈 This is a novel only those who have truly seen ghosts can understand. When water reaches the brim, it spills; when the moon is full, it wanes. If you learn too many of the world’s secrets, the only person you’ll hurt in the end is yourself. Some people are born able to see strange things, or to experience what ordinary people never do. Such people are either born with a defect or destined for a difficult life. So, would you be willing to have a pair of Yin-Yang Eyes? 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 14 The Hundred Venerables Record: Tales of Another Day 百崇录：异日谈 A sealed ancient scroll has come to light once more: "The Hundred Abominations: Tales of Strange Days". Its faded, uncanny writing: written in blood? Annotated in tears? No one can say. All that remains are over a hundred strange accounts, each word sinking into the bone, all told by the “ill omens” lurking among humankind. Some nest in the dark corners of people's hearts, watching for greed; some lie in the shadows of the streets, drinking in sobs; others haunt desolate wilderness and ancient h —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 15 The Eerie Girlfriend 诡异女友 Can a loser really not find true love? One day, I suddenly discover that my girlfriend has disappeared. Did she dump me? But I’ve asked so many friends, and none of them have seen her. I can’t stop breaking out in a cold sweat... Was I dumped, or is there something “wrong” with her? 237Reads7.8Score—Shelves
- 16 The Gate of Death 死亡之门 Not every game is meant to be played. The moment the gates of desire opened, our entire class set out on a road with no return. The campus belle and my friends began dying one by one, and that was only the beginning. The moment the phone rang, the gates of death opened too. 154Reads6.0Score—Shelves
- 17 Yin-Yang Embroidery: I’m the Last Tattoo Artist 阴阳绣：我是最后一个刺青师 My name is Zhou Yiyang. You probably won't believe this, but I make my living tattooing people, though what I do is nothing like ordinary tattooing. My tattoos come in two kinds: yin embroidery and yang patterns. They can change a person's fate and fortune, and help them avoid misfortune and find good luck. I'm a yin-yang tattoo artist, and I feed myself a bag of salt. 43Reads—Score—Shelves
- 18 Ghostly Tales from Fengdu 丰都鬼事 In her previous life, young artist Lin Wan set out alone for the fabled ghost city of Fengdu to search for her missing older sister, Lin Zhixia. Naively, she trusted the seemingly kind innkeeper and local gentry, unaware that she had stepped into a carefully laid trap. Coveted for her yin constitution, she was ultimately sacrificed in an old mansion behind Fengdu's famous mountain by the so-called “good Samaritans” to a traitor in the underworld who had disguised himself as Black Impermanence. H 4Reads—Score—Shelves
- 19 Bureau 749: A Yin Messenger on the Road to the Underworld 749局：黄泉走阴人 There is an organization that exists only in the darkness: Bureau 749. Founded in 1974, with no records and no official status, it is made up of scientists and people with supernatural abilities. It handles the dirtiest, most sinister, most forbidden affairs in the human world. Ghost soldiers march through the night, leaving nothing but empty skins in an entire village. The White God of Wealth kills anyone who worships him, taking their souls to feed evil. An ancient Buddha opens its mouth to de 3Reads—Score—Shelves
- 20 The Mystic Carpenter 玄门木匠 A new work is out! Welcome to read my stories on Tomato Novel. I hope you'll enjoy them. Your support is what inspires me to write, and I'll do my best to tell every story well! 4Reads—Score—Shelves
- 21 The Haunted Old Mansion 恐怖老宅 The living guard the yang, while ghosts hold the yin in check. Yin and yang are inseparable, and nothing is forbidden. In this world, everyone is either human or ghost, yin or yang. But there are people who walk between the two realms all year round, neither human nor ghost. They are the Yin-Yang House Guardians! 54Reads7.0Score—Shelves
- 22 The Corpse Mother 尸母 Every year on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, a lantern made of human skin appears in the mass grave on Shiping Mountain. A little girl carrying a skull follows behind it at a leisurely pace. The girl is named Qiyue. Born with a corpse-bound yin fate, she has spent her life searching for the truth about her Corpse Mother’s past. When all the evidence points to a mysterious ghost village...! 55Reads6.9Score—Shelves
- 23 Encountering a Ghost 撞鬼 I'm a truck driver, and I haul freight all over the country. Truck drivers have many taboos. For example, if you encounter a funeral procession, flash your headlights a few times. If a small animal suddenly darts out onto the road, or when driving through a tunnel, especially one with a square entrance, don't whistle or say anything disrespectful. When staying at an inn at night, always point the toes of your shoes toward the door... 1.9kReads6.8Score160Shelves
- 24 Death Notices in Food Delivery Notes 外卖备注里的死亡预告 Death Warnings in the Food Delivery Instructions 197Reads—Score—Shelves
- 25 Exorcising Evil 诛邪 When I was twenty, I went into the river to catch fish, never imagining I’d pull out… It became the nightmare of my life! This is a book about the strange things in rivers that you probably never knew about! 789Reads6.7Score109Shelves
- 26 The Impostor of Jinling 金陵伪人 WARNING: If you are home alone, lock all doors and windows. If necessary, pick up a weapon and protect yourself. ...If you notice anyone with strange features, or... unusually long arms, an oversized head, or walking upside down, hide immediately if you see any of these signs... November 30, 2024, Yanjing was sealed off. Wang Manling and I were trapped in the teachers' apartments at Yanda University. Number of survivors: 16. December 1, 2024, Someone ignored the warning and went to pick up his p 70Reads—Score—Shelves
- 27 A Ghost Lurks in My Right Eye: A Decade-Old Murder Hidden in the Old Building's Brick Wall 右眼栖鬼：老楼砖墙藏十年命案 A Ghost Dwells in Her Right Eye: A Decade-Old Murder Hidden in the Bricks of an Old Building 3Reads—Score—Shelves
- 28 Old Alley Sound Repair: At Midnight Tonight, Qin Opera Calls the Souls 旧巷声修：今夜子时，秦腔引魂 [One Heroine + Sound Cultivation + Qin Opera + Livestreaming + Supernatural Mystery + Urban + Adventure] In modern society, information explodes across the world, and human negativity is amplified through social media, forming an immense “Tide of Resentment.” If no one guides and dispels it, within three years it will gather into a “Lament of Doomsday,” and the boundary between the worlds of yin and yang will collapse completely. Humanity’s power comes from “the Power of Wishes”: energy formed w —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 29 The Ghost Banquet 鬼禁食 A glutton's feast: can it really eat anything at all? Open wide, and nothing is off-limits? When you're indulging in wild game, have you ever felt a hint of murderous intent behind you... 25Reads—Score—Shelves
- 30 The Horror Taxi 恐怖出租车 There is a kind of vehicle meant for certain people. Its job is to take them to the world they belong in. That is the ghost bus. You may never have heard of a living person boarding one, but if you ever see a vehicle of unknown origin on the road, be careful... 2kReads6.8Score—Shelves
- 31 Ultraman's Fantastic Journey 奥特之奇幻之旅 [Ultraman + Passionate action + No System + Becoming Light + Faith] The clash between light and darkness has never ended. Xingye, who gained the Light of Noah… The legendary light of the universe, the light of the Land of Light, protector of the universe… An Ultraman transmigrates into the world of Battle Through the Heavens to work as a laborer? An Ultraman becomes a top student in the Land of Light? The everyday life of an Ultraman getting beaten up as a child? An Ultraman gets beaten until he 11Reads—Score—Shelves
- 32 Strange Encounters: A Supernatural Mystery Series 奇遇之悬疑灵异系列 The suspense and supernatural novel Strange Encounter is a series consisting of Book One, The Blue-Robed Woman; Book Two, The Madman; Book Three, Si Ming; and Book Four, The Secret Realm of the Star Pillar. How did a wealthy heiress end up adrift and wandering from place to place? Where did her mysteriously missing mother go? What is behind the strange sounds coming from the attic? Why was she suddenly wanted by the authorities? What should she do when she has to travel over mountains and r 32Reads—Score—Shelves
- 33 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
- 34 The Bizarre Case Investigator 诡案惊探 [Mystery]+ [Supernatural]+ [Deduction]+ [Crime Solving]+ [Male lead versed in both Yin and Yang] After his girlfriend vanishes under bizarre circumstances and every effort to find her comes to nothing for two years, Qin Zhong loses heart and takes a job as a police officer at a remote township station. One day, he suddenly receives a bizarre case. The entire village of Niewa has vanished. As the investigation deepens, one strange Supernatural incident after another unfolds. Along the way, his pa 1.6kReads8.4Score186Shelves
- 35 Weeping Evil 哭邪 People watch over a temple for ten years; the temple watches over them for a lifetime. 114Reads6.9Score—Shelves
- 36 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
- 37 Midnight Terror 午夜惊魂 It started one morning when I stepped outside and found a yuan at my doorstep. I didn't think much of it. The next morning, I found a ten-yuan bill at the door. I thought I was pretty lucky, finding money two days in a row. But on the third morning, when I opened the door and saw a hundred-yuan bill on the ground, I finally realized something was off. After that, strange things kept happening around me, and I began venturing into one forbidden zone after another, all in the name of staying alive 2.1kReads7.3Score148Shelves
- 38 Strange Tales from the South 南方灵异事 4Reads—Score—Shelves
- 39 The Yin Tattooist 纹阴师 Tattoos are said to be mysterious totems carried on one’s back. I’m a traditional tattoo artist. Over the years, strange things have happened while I tattooed my clients. The terrifying secrets weighing on my heart have kept me tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Now I’ll tell you, bit by bit, what I experienced firsthand. Some tattoo designs inked on the body might actually be living things that can move. 536Reads8.4Score—Shelves
- 40 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
- 41 Horror Urban Legends: An Unspeakable Fear 惊悚怪谈：不可名状的恐惧 Tomato Original, Mystery and Imagination, Supernatural Horror [Horror + Dark Style] [A collection of uncanny short stories, fear returns, Lovecraftian horror] [The gaze of an unknown presence. Good and evil lie in the human heart] Have you ever had a moment in everyday life that sent a chill down your spine? Perhaps it was hearing a cat cry while walking alone at night, the sound of marbles rolling across the floor upstairs, or a shadow glimpsed from the corner of your eye... Story One: Cat Syn 105Reads—Score—Shelves
- 42 A Century of the Supernatural 百年灵异 This is a truly unusual book, recording the supernatural events that took place in a village over the course of a century. These events are unlike traditional tales of ghosts, fox spirits, demons, and immortals. There is none of the vulgar promotion of superstition or idealism found in popular culture. Instead, the book is filled with the world's strangeness and unknowns, leaving readers baffled. After the shock and terror, you can't help but question and imagine what lies beyond, and find yours 8Reads9.1Score—Shelves
- 43 After My Face Was Stolen, I Drew the Six Realms of Living Beings 我的脸被夺走后我画出六道众生相 My face was stolen. It wasn’t disfigured. It wasn’t disguised. My face was literally gone. To stay alive, I had no choice but to paint one new face after another onto my own. Human, ghost, demon, beast, god, immortal. Every face I painted gave me a new ability. As I tried to reclaim my original face, I gradually discovered that this world was far more complicated than it seemed. 96Reads—Score126Shelves
- 44 The Corpse Keeper 守尸人 The morgue is where life and death meet. At this boundary, there are many taboos to heed. I grew up beside a hospital morgue, and I'll tell you about the hospital's taboos from a different perspective. Taboo 1: If you see a patient being resuscitated, don't gather around to watch. Taboo 2: If a patient's family throws away something the deceased used while alive, don't toss your own trash on top of it. Taboo 3: If you hear a cat meowing at night, don't go outside to look, whether you're a patien 917Reads6.3Score100Shelves
- 45 Horror Mountain Village: I Get a Golden Finger by Completing Quests 恐怖山村：我靠做任务得金手指 [System] [Horror] [A touch of romance] [White-lotus heroine] [Two male leads] Gu Xi enters a real-life scenario called “Horror Mountain Village,” but she doesn't even survive the first volume before the ghost bride kills her. She has barely been buried when someone comes to dig up her grave. After finally making it back to the village alive, she must face an enormous natural disaster. The fog from the mountain behind the village is spreading. What will become of the entire Dizang Village? With t 607Reads8.6Score—Shelves
- 46 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
- 47 Republic-Era Notes on Summoning Evil 民国招邪笔记 Chinese-Style Horror + Episodic Mysteries + Ancestral Taboos + Republican-Era Suspense + Cursed Objects That Claim Lives Each supernatural case wraps up in three to five chapters. The pace is breakneck, with no dragging things out! Folk-horror elements: red wedding gowns, ancestral halls, midnight opera troupes... If you’re a scaredy-cat, read during the day. If you’re brave, listen to the audiobook at night for the full dose of terror. 78Reads—Score—Shelves
- 48 Ghosts in the High-Rise, Yet You Still Want Me to Go Undercover as a Security Guard 大厦闹鬼，你还让我去做卧底保安 My name is Ma Rui, and I’m a police cadet. Recently, a series of bizarre cases have taken place inside an office building: a little finger in a food delivery order; hair in a steamed bun filling; bloodstained banknotes; a strange tile cat; and a headless woman’s corpse in a woven sack… To solve the cases as quickly as possible, the police need to send an undercover agent into the building to work as a “night security guard.” So I took on this important assignment! 873Reads7.0Score—Shelves
- 49 A Thousand Years of Ghost Stories 千年鬼话 A Thousand Years of Ghost Stories: One Thousand and One Nights of Chinese Folk Ghost Tales is a spine-chilling collection steeped in folk tradition. This book brings together ancient folk legends and ghost stories from across China, featuring mysteries and uncanny events from different historical periods and regions. From eerie mountain forests and desolate old villages to bizarre corners of modern cities, every story holds little-known horrors and shocking revelations. The plots are mysterious 3Reads—Score—Shelves
- 50 Notes on Strange Folk Tales 民间诡事札记 The countryside hides the strangest legends and lays bare the truest depths of the human heart. A single red embroidered shoe beneath an old pagoda tree holds a grievance and a hatred left unspoken. A strange peddler knocking at the door in the dead of night carries no ordinary goods in his pack, only old stories frosted over with time. A bronze mirror rising from an ancient well can reflect ghosts, but not the depths of the human heart... These curious tales scattered across bustling streets an 66Reads—Score—Shelves
