Novels like Matters of the Underworld
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as Matters of the Underworld, best match first.
- 101 The Real Lunatic and the Fake Patient 真疯子假病人 In my dream, I thought it was nothing more than a dream. But when I woke up, someone beside me was lying on the ground, clutching their arm and crying out in pain. Now, I've dreamed of the crime scene once again. 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 102 Lover in a False World 虚假世界的爱人 My wife has been acting strangely lately. She keeps pestering me, saying she wants me to stay by her side forever. I can't help finding it a little funny. "Of course I'll stay by your side forever and ever, honey." But whenever she hears me say that, her body stiffens noticeably. Then she goes back to her room alone and locks the door. No matter how I try to coax her from outside, she refuses to open it. —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 103 Longevity Soup 长寿汤 When I was little, Liu Laoer’s family in the village made a living selling goat-horn powder. The powder came from the horns of female goats. Though those horns were short and slender, Liu Laoer would skin and butcher female goats alive right after they gave birth. Then he would cut off their horns and grind them into powder. He would add the powder to soup made with freshly slaughtered lamb. They said drinking it regularly could help you live a long life. 16Reads—Score—Shelves
- 104 The People Around Me and I Had the Same Dream 我和周围人做了一样的梦 I knew I was dreaming, but everything in the dream was strange. When I woke up, I discovered that my coworkers and I had all shared the same dream. It turned out to be a monster's trap. 2Reads—Score—Shelves
- 105 An Unremarkable Jumping Death Case 不起眼的跳楼案 My fiancé, who had been overseas for three years, called to tell me he was coming back the day after tomorrow. I went to meet him at the airport. On the way home, he proposed, and I said yes. But this morning, he disappeared again, because I had once more returned to the day he called me. I've already relived these three days seven times. 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 106 The Life-Extending Money 借寿钱 After a friend dies in a bizarre car accident, could a hundred-yuan bill inscribed with “Borrow your years to buy my life” really be a deadly curse? At the funeral home, he uses “life-borrowing money” to buy an urn, only to be haunted by the dead man's mother in a strange way. A talisman hides a sinister plot, and three life-borrowing bills appear out of nowhere at midnight! A locked kitchen, boiling water, knives falling for no reason... Who is controlling this deadly game? 273Reads—Score—Shelves
- 107 Lighting the Sky Lantern 点天灯 Just how terrifying is corpse-driving in western Hunan? After failing the college entrance exam, I stumbled into the corpse-driving trade. Who could have guessed that on my very first job, I would run into... 712Reads8.3Score103Shelves
- 108 You Were Supposed to Catch Demons, So Why Are You Dating a Fox Demon? 让你去捉妖,你和狐妖好上了? When I was born, the King of Hell sent a child, and the Yin Marshal guarded me. Strange things happened one after another. To keep me alive, my grandfather arranged five betrothals for me. On my eighteenth birthday, a bewitchingly beautiful fox spirit came to my door... 289Reads9.0Score—Shelves
- 109 The Death Inn 死亡民宿 On the first night after checking into the guesthouse, the owner died. But at midnight that same night, Lu Shou actually received a text from the owner. “Please be sure to follow the rules of the Deerhorn Guesthouse. Find the landlady’s dowry box before five tomorrow morning, and you can leave with the deputy manager, an orange cat.” “Otherwise, you’ll be stuck here forever.” Lu Shou broke out in a cold sweat, utterly baffled. “I clearly took his phone. How can he still text me?” —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 110 Hell Is Empty, and Evil Spirits Walk the Earth 地狱空荡荡,恶灵在人间 This is a horror novel centered on mystery, a traditional supernatural story with no System and no cultivation. The setup is lengthy, there are many mysteries, and the truth is revealed gradually. A mysterious apartment brings endless nightmares. To escape, you must complete the nine tasks assigned by the apartment. Hunted by evil spirits, mocked by ghosts, and consumed by resentment, everyone will be trapped in a terrifying cycle of death and rebirth, played out in blood. “All who are ruled by 486Reads8.6Score100Shelves
- 111 The Demon Wife at Home 家有妖妻 Grandma arranged a marriage for me. Only after the wedding did I learn that the bride I'd brought home was a fox spirit... Chapter preview: …I stole a glance into the pool. A beautiful older girl was standing by the washing platform, washing her hair. She was gorgeous, with snow-white skin, delicate willow-shaped brows, an oval face, and luscious red lips like ripe cherries. Most striking of all were her captivating, tender eyes, deep as a pool of spring water. She was alluring to the very cor 2kReads8.2Score140Shelves
- 112 The Silent Echo 沉默的回声 Five years ago, in Room 601 of Ningchuan High School, a girl was found hanged from a bathroom pipe. Her eyes bulged, her tongue was missing, and strange words had been written in blood on the mirror: “He… is back.” Five years later, the sealed cold case was suddenly reopened. Trainee criminal investigator Qin Chuan took over the investigation, never expecting that this bizarre murder would also uncover another buried case: the “South Campus Disappearance.” A deadly game of hunting, lying dormant 57Reads—Score—Shelves
- 113 The Horror Night-Duty Booth 恐怖值班亭 Back around the 2000s, I worked as a security guard at an apartment complex. The complex had a strange rule: [After midnight, do not leave the security booth.] It made no sense, but I always kept it in mind, until the day one of my coworkers died! That night, a woman in a skirt knocked on the security booth window… 30Reads—Score—Shelves
- 114 After I Lost My Memory, a Woman Just Like Me Appeared at Home 失忆后,家里出现和我一模一样的女人 I've lost my memory. Since then, people have kept showing me all kinds of evidence and implanting all sorts of memories in my mind. But I feel like an outsider looking in on my own past, unable to relate to any of it. One day, I came home and found a woman fast asleep on the sofa. What terrified me was that she looked exactly like me! 8Reads—Score—Shelves
- 115 Paper Bride 纸新娘 Rumor has it that I tried to seduce the Lin family's young master, failed, and then killed him in the village's paper-offering shop. To save my life, I agreed to marry Master Lin, who had raised me for ten years. On our wedding day, Master Lin laid his hands on me. "Darling, did you know I've wanted you for many years?" Of course I knew. I'd been looking forward to this day even longer than he had. 15Reads—Score—Shelves
- 116 Crimson Wish 绯红之愿 I bought a cursed object, hoping to summon a ghost and make a pact with her so I could go to the Ghost City and find out what happened to my missing master. The summoning went unusually smoothly, but the moment she appeared, the powerful yin energy pouring out of the magic circle sent me flying several meters and knocked me to the ground. She stood quietly in the middle of the circle, dressed in a bright red bridal gown and phoenix crown, with her red veil neatly covering her head and her hands —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 117 Summer Vacation of Terror 暑假惊魂记 I can see things other people can't. I've never let it show. I didn't want anyone to think I was a freak. Until that summer vacation... Two classmates and I made plans to go swimming. I saw something in the water. I was terrified. But they insisted on going in, and I couldn't stop them... —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 118 The Secret of Chaoxiao 朝校的秘密 In the village where my family lives, every household's first child has to be a girl. The day after their tenth birthday, these girls are sent to a place called Chaoxiao on the other side of the mountain. They say it's a paradise for girls. That is, until a black cat appeared in the village. 7Reads—Score—Shelves
- 119 The Secret of Chongcao Village 虫草村的秘密 “The cordyceps we raise are so fast, you can’t even catch them.” I was watching this funny video on a certain short-video app. Comments flew across the screen. Some people said the joke was hilarious, while others earnestly explained that cordyceps couldn’t possibly run fast. But I knew the joke wasn’t funny at all, because I had seen fast-running cordyceps myself. Perhaps “rabbit cordyceps” would be a more fitting name. 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 120 Huizhu Village 慧猪村 My college roommate claimed she came from an ancient village called Huizhu Village. She said the village got its name because, from ancient times to the present, it had produced many high-ranking officials and top scholars, as if its villagers were born with pearls of wisdom. It wasn’t until she talked the rest of us in the dorm into visiting her village around the Qingming Festival that I learned it was actually called “Wise Pig Village.” 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 121 The Doll Grows Cold 人偶失温 Everyone says I must have done something virtuous in a past life for Qin Chuan to choose me. Only I know that's not the case. He married me because he wanted me dead. 2Reads—Score—Shelves
- 122 The Village of Terrifying Women 恐怖女人村 The women were so beautiful they were a feast for the eyes, yet they would not even let the men touch their hands. At first, I thought it was a feudal custom. As it turned out, it was part of a terrifying conspiracy. In this dark chapter of history, human nature erupted and was snuffed out again and again, without end. 422Reads8.5Score108Shelves
- 123 The One-Yuan Villa 一元别墅 Never believe that a windfall will fall from the sky. At 28, I was “hit” by a villa, but I don't have much time left. Now I have to find my next heir. 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 124 Delusions: The Book of Ghostly Grudges 诡妄:鬼怨书 [Two heroines + Lovecraftian horror + thrills + madness + mutual devotion + smart leads] A meteorite resembling a ball of flesh crashes into Earth, bringing with it a god from another planet: the Mad God Mo Shanshan. The arrival of this uninvited guest awakens supernatural evils that have slumbered for ages, and a bizarre, terrifying feast of “god-making” is about to begin. 80Reads—Score—Shelves
- 125 The Missing Body 丢失的身体 Two empty bottles of sleeping pills lay before the grave, and two kidneys lay before his son's grave. With a smile on his face, he leaned against his son's gravestone and slowly closed his eyes. —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 126 Midnight Strangulation Marks on a Severed Hand 断手的午夜掐痕 That night on duty, my junior grabbed my sleeve, his voice trembling. “Senior, the patient who lost a hand in a drunk-driving accident half a year ago… he's dead.” A chill ran down the back of my neck as the memories came flooding back. Two accident victims had been brought to the hospital that day, and both had lost their right hands. Yet only one of them survived. Later, the survivor woke in the middle of the night with red marks where his own hand had choked him. His family sought help from e 2Reads—Score—Shelves
- 127 My Best Friend Disappeared While Picking Up Takeout, and Everyone Says She Never Existed 闺蜜取个外卖就失踪,所有人都说她并不存在 My best friend went out to pick up a delivery and never came back. She vanished from my life completely. Nobody remembered her. They all thought I was mentally ill. The truth was, we had been split across two different timelines. 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 128 The Haunted Houses I’ve Experienced 我经历的凶宅 The older generation often says that people who die violent deaths cannot enter the cycle of reincarnation. Their souls endlessly haunt the places where they died, seeking substitutes. Only then can they be reborn. That’s why we often hear in the news about car crashes that keep happening at certain locations. Sometimes the place isn’t even a proper intersection, yet terrible accidents leave cars wrecked and people dead. Some streams aren’t even as deep as a person is tall, yet every year there 2.1kReads8.9Score199Shelves
- 129 The Corpse Carrier 背尸工 My name is Chen Feng, and I work as a corpse bearer at a funeral home. After a class reunion, I spent the night with Jiang Lixin, the school beauty. I never expected to see her corpse at work the very next day, or that I'd have to carry her on her final journey... 5.4kReads7.0Score327Shelves
- 130 Terror of the Strange Invasion 诡侵惊魂 After unexpectedly losing my job, I applied for a dorm supervisor position in a factory women’s dormitory. But I soon discovered that the girls there were acting strangely enthusiastic… Crying in the middle of the night, a bizarre dormitory, strange girls, a room that doesn’t exist. In the deepest recesses of memory, a surreal world lies hidden… —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 131 The Fragrance of Corpses for Ten Miles 十里尸香 Most people receive gifts that are heartwarming or romantic. Even if they aren't a surprise, they're at least well-intentioned. But the gift I received when I turned twenty was a very real shock, and a curse. 1.9kReads8.2Score165Shelves
- 132 Deadly Delivery 致命快递 I received a package from an unfamiliar sender. A note inside said I could scan a code to claim a huge cash bonus. But when I scanned it, my phone opened a livestream instead. Even stranger, my face appeared right in the middle of the screen. The comments were flying by: "This girl looks pretty good. What a shame to kill her." "Tsk, tsk, what a beauty. I recommend having some fun with her before killing her." Just then, I suddenly heard someone knocking behind me. "Hello, delivery!" 8Reads—Score—Shelves
- 133 The Corpse Stitcher 缝尸匠 My family makes its living dealing with the dead, and my father is a renowned corpse seamster in the surrounding area. His skills are superb. No matter how mangled a corpse is, he can restore it to look as good as new. Whenever someone died in an accident and their body was disfigured, wealthy families from hundreds of miles around would ask my father to stitch it back together. But as far as I knew, my father used to be a butcher. He was skilled at dressing pigs, but I had never heard that he w 11Reads—Score—Shelves
- 134 A Terrifying New Year’s Eve 惊悚除夕夜 A Chilling New Year's Eve 7Reads—Score—Shelves
- 135 The Incense of the Underworld 走阴香 [Spirit Medium + Supernatural] The year I turned ten, my grandmother passed away. Not long after, I came down with a strange illness. Days of injections and medicine did no good, and every night I became unusually alert, often babbling incoherently. After five days of continuous fever, my parents had no choice but to take me to the countryside to see a woman they called Auntie, who they said could treat me. Here, “Auntie” didn’t mean a relative on my father’s side. It was the respectful title we 989Reads9.1Score169Shelves
- 136 Killing My Second Personality 杀死第二人格 I killed my second personality. But before he died, he left me a “grand gift”... A list of people to harass at the asylum, with 16 names on it, even though the asylum has only 15 patients in total. “Did you think you were the only one with a second personality?” What is the truth? Who is the real madman? 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 137 Blood Ties 血缘关系 I rushed a thousand miles to mourn my mother, only to discover that she had died under suspicious circumstances. I wanted to uncover the truth and avenge her, but my whole family opposed me! It turned out everything was because there was a “vampire” in the family! 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 138 My Fiancée Disappeared, and I Became the Killer 未婚妻失踪,我成了凶手 My name is Cheng Yuan. My fiancée has disappeared. The last message I saw before I passed out was from her. “Cheng Yuan, run!” When I woke up, I found myself trapped in a perfect replica of my home, with something sinister lurking everywhere. And it seemed someone was watching me! A madman claimed to be deeply in love with my fiancée. But later, I discovered that the real madman was someone else. 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 139 My Senior Disappeared from a Nursing Home, So I Went Undercover as a Nurse and Uncovered a Shocking Secret 学长在养老院失踪,我去当护士卧底发现惊天秘密 My senior disappeared three months ago. He was working at Paradise Nursing Home at the time. To find him, I applied for a job at the nursing home. I never expected to see an elderly resident jump to his death on my very first day. Then more residents started disappearing, one after another. Until one day, inside the refrigerator, I found the finger of a missing resident... —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 140 Workplace Rule Horror: A Desperate Fight to Survive the Grind 职场规则怪谈:玩命打工求生 A job interview turns into a deadly game The printer devours people, the elevator plummets, the boss eats human flesh… Every workplace rule is a lethal trap! Double-sided printing can save your life; pressing the wrong elevator button can cost it. Remember the rules of the workplace, or you'll be the next zombie! Is this workplace bullying, or a death game? Welcome to workplace hell Please do your best to survive. 2Reads—Score—Shelves
- 141 A Woman Fell from the Building at My Feet, Then Begged Me in the Middle of the Night to Avenge Her 坠楼女子落我脚边,半夜她哭着求我替她报仇 The Evil Spirit in the Talisman On a rainy night, I watched a girl jump from a tall building and die on the spot. Her soul latched onto me and demanded that I avenge her. 2Reads—Score—Shelves
- 142 The Child Who Never Existed 不存在的孩子 My son suddenly disappeared. Everyone told me that I had never had a child. The daycare teacher didn't know me. My husband said we'd never wanted a child, and even my best friend urged me to calm down, saying it was all just an hallucination. But I clearly remembered the child I'd risked my life to give birth to. His name was Liu Chaoyang, he was one year and eight months old, and he was a chubby little dumpling! Then I found baby supplies under the bed, along with photographs and traces that ha —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 143 After the Wicked Mother-in-Law Drove Her Son’s Family to Their Deaths, They All Became Ghosts 恶婆婆逼死儿媳妇一家后,全变鬼了 Back in our village, it was perfectly normal for a mother-in-law to bully her daughter-in-law. Even when the entire husband's family bullied the daughter-in-law, nobody thought there was anything wrong with it. But driving the daughter-in-law's entire family to their deaths? I doubt many people could do something like that. —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 144 The Number One Yin Messenger 第一阴差 Wandering souls, where will you linger? Three souls, come back at once; seven spirits, return! Lost soul, the gates of heaven open, the gates of earth open. A thousand-mile journey, let the child bring the soul home! The day I was born, strange signs appeared in the heavens. Misfortune plagued me from childhood, and it’s a miracle I survived this long. After I came of age, something happened that shattered everything I thought I knew. My dad told me he was the underworld’s bailiff in Spring City 132Reads—Score—Shelves
- 145 I Decided to Kill My Lover, Then Got on a Haunted Bus with Her 我决定谋杀情人,和她上了一辆闹鬼的巴士 I think I got on a haunted bus. My girlfriend was sitting beside me, her pretty little face deathly pale with fear. "Th-those two people just carried a corpse onto the bus." 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 146 Terror at the Villa: Everyone Who Heard the Weeping Died 别墅惊魂:听见哭声的人都死了 I'm a feng shui master. One day, I was hired by the tycoon Jia Qing, who said something strange was happening at his villa on Lingzhou Island. Every night, the sounds of a woman and a baby crying could be heard inside the villa. The reward he offered was so generous that I couldn't refuse. Who knew that a string of terrifying events would unfold on the very night I moved in? 4Reads—Score—Shelves
- 147 There’s a Ghost in the Dorm 宿舍有鬼 My roommate is a cosplayer. A month into our sophomore year, she ordered a complete Chinese ghost-bride outfit online to wear to a horror party. She even hung the entire outfit beside her bed the night before. But that night, I woke with a start in the middle of the night and saw with my own eyes a female ghost in a bright red wedding dress pacing back and forth at the foot of her bed. 7Reads—Score—Shelves
- 148 Daughter Village 女儿村 I was born in Daughter Village. For twenty years in a row, every child born in our village was a girl. Every nightfall, the cries of baby girls echoed through the valley. Once, a Taoist priest came to our village and said the entire village was cursed. During the summer of my first year of graduate school, my advisor ignored my protests and brought me and several other students to the village to conduct research. 10Reads—Score—Shelves
- 149 Strange Happenings in the Ancient City 古城诡事 A mysterious phone call full of suspense and a childhood friend he hasn't seen in years draw him into a dangerous web of intrigue. Following the clues, he steps into one carefully laid trap after another. His friend, returned from the dead, Qin Zhijie, who clings to him relentlessly and seems neither wholly good nor wholly evil, and Shangguan Wan'er, whose identity is shrouded in mystery, all vanish without a trace at the most crucial moments. Why did Da Kui, who had braved life and death, come 50Reads8.8Score—Shelves
- 150 The Strange and Supernatural Things I’ve Heard and Seen 那些我所闻所见的灵异事 I’ll tell stories about the strange things that have happened to me over the years, along with the folk secrets and I Ching mysticism I’ve learned. At the start of each story, I’ll say whether I experienced it myself or heard it from someone else. I may not tell them in chronological order. I need to remember and organize everything, so I’ll just talk about whatever comes to mind. Things I experienced myself may be exaggerated, but they’re absolutely true. As for some of the stories I’ve heard, 2.4kReads—Score156Shelves

















































