Novels like Tales of the Strange in China
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as Tales of the Strange in China, best match first.
- 51 The Golden Bait Project 黄金鱼饵计划 [Modern mystery, dark crime, twist-filled power fantasy] Cornered with no way out, he came up with a plan: the Golden Fish Bait scheme. He deliberately posted huge amounts of fake gold online, posing as a wealthy recluse to lure greedy thieves to his door. He set up layers of mechanisms, surveillance cameras, and traps in advance, hoping to take the thieves down and get the money he needed to save his life. But once the hunters took the bait, everything spiraled out of control. The intruders wer 4Reads8.2Score—14d adds
- 52 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 705Reads7.2Score10014d adds
- 53 The Yin Deliverer 送阴人 A burial master, also known as one who sends the dead into the shadows. When Li Mazi from my village died suddenly, I was drawn into the affair. I thought it was an accident, but later I learned it had been plotted for a long time. To stay alive, I began studying the Burial Scripture my grandfather left behind. The Burial Scripture has three volumes: one on burying people, one on burying ghosts, and a third whose whereabouts are unknown. Blood corpses in the Southern Ridges, ancient monsters in 685Reads8.4Score10114d adds
- 54 The White Dragon Horse Medium 白龙出马仙 Break through seven trials, meet with sudden disaster, make a blood sacrifice of an infant, refine corpse oil. One by one, long-lost secret arts resurface, and strange, mysterious events begin unfolding throughout my journey... That lantern made of human skin holds captive the youth I can never return to. 1.1kReads9.1Score10014d adds
- 55 The Night-Sealed Door 夜封门 Seven months pregnant, the woman was brutally hounded to death, and her seven-month-old baby was thrown into a well. Her wronged soul is cut off from the road ahead, and evil spirits come to claim their due. The gates of hell swing open, and the underworld seals its doors in the dead of night. 2.1kReads8.3Score16114d adds
- 56 Diary of a Crematorium Worker 火葬场女工日记 [Unsolved Case + Death Notes + Female Perspective] Through the eyes of a woman who works at a crematorium, this story clearly and thoroughly explains the final place people go, and what they experience along the way. Read it, and you'll learn everything a person goes through after death, before their soul leaves their body. The author delves into the crematorium to lay out a cross-section for readers, making it easier to understand and see everything clearly. This is the story of a woman who wor 6.7kReads9.1Score31814d adds
- 57 Edict: After the Hour of the Dog 敕令：戌时之后 A folk-horror tale: one official dispatch has been held up for three years. The speaker is Shen Yan, a registrar in Bianzhou. The dispatch was held up three months ago, and nobody dared take it on. Of the two who did, one grew a black ring around the back of his neck, while the other lost an eyelid. Three lines were written on the dispatch: Wherever it passes, there will be no rain for three years. After the hour of the Dog, do not enter any place with a threshold. There are only three rules: fi 83Reads—Score44214d adds
- 58 Tomb of Spirits 灵墓 The tide of the world is vast and unstoppable. Those who follow it prosper; those who oppose it perish! An ancestral book of paintings gradually unveils the secrets behind Eastern mythology. This twisted, unpredictable myth begins when the production brigade organizes the villagers to repair a river. 3.1kReads8.6Score38614d adds
- 59 Huang Daxian 黄大仙儿 The Huang Daxian of Northeast China, also known as the Huangpizi, are weasels that have cultivated into spirits. This is a terrifying story about the shamanic traditions of Northeast China, told in the region’s authentic style. A supernatural tale rooted in the everyday life of Northeast China. 3.1kReads8.6Score33614d adds
- 60 The Legend of Han the Blind Man 韩瞎子传奇 He was known as Han the Blind, a master of the secrets of feng shui and yin-yang arts. For decades, he roamed the lands beyond the Great Wall, known to everyone. He could read the heavens, the earth, people, and ghosts, yet could never predict his own fate. His life was beset by misfortune: orphaned by his father at a young age, he bore the burden of his sect’s rise and fall. Cursed with the Five Abuses and Three Deficiencies, he had love in his heart, yet was destined to die alone. This book re 2.4kReads7.2Score45114d adds
- 61 The Eerie Coffin Bearers 诡抬棺 Nine peaks, a sea of blood, mountains of bones... Murderous danger lurks everywhere. Every step is fraught with peril, and I never know how much longer I'll survive. It wasn't until I deciphered the nursery rhyme I'd heard when I became someone's disciple that I uncovered a shocking secret... 63Reads9.0Score—14d adds
- 62 Bureau 749: Classified Files 749局绝密档案 Bureau 749: Do you want to know its secrets? The dead returning to life? Vampiric zombies? Clones? All will be revealed here. 785Reads7.4Score10814d adds
- 63 Snatching Immortality 抢仙 [Mystery and adventure + occult battles + a nontraditional path to immortality + ruins around the world] I've practiced Daoism for twenty years and watched my master ascend with my own eyes. Becoming an immortal has become an obsession. But the Heavenly Dao has run out of opportunities for me. I'm just one step away, yet the gap is as vast as heaven and earth. The chance to become an immortal should be somewhere between the highest heavens and the deepest underworld, but I can find it nowhere. I 55Reads8.5Score—14d adds
- 64 Folk Tales of the Mountain Wilds 民间山野怪谈 A lifetime spent roaming the martial world, telling tales of ghosts and strange happenings from the countryside. Stories of spirits and monsters in the wilderness have always been a staple of people's conversations over tea, and folk tales about mountain ghosts and gods come in every variety. There is a kind of extraordinary man who can help people choose burial sites and homes, divine life and death, reveal the secrets of fate, dispel evil spirits, travel to the underworld, save lives, and ward 1.1kReads8.9Score15514d adds
- 65 My Pale Life 我苍白的一生 My name is Zhang Yuan, though my childhood nickname was Ergou. I'm male, born in 1990. Everyone encounters all kinds of strange, inexplicable things in life. By the way, do you believe in ghosts? 491Reads8.4Score10114d adds
- 66 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... 712Reads8.3Score10314d adds
- 67 The Coffin Bearer 抬棺匠 My family has dealt with the dead for generations. Following in my father’s footsteps, I became a coffin bearer. Before carrying a coffin, I always offer the deceased five incense sticks. When offering incense to the living, three long sticks and two short ones are taboo. When offering incense to the dead, three short sticks and two long ones are taboo. That day, I carried a coffin, and the dead pregnant woman inside gave birth to a pair of twins, a boy and a girl! [Shh, keep quiet! We’re settin 2.8kReads8.3Score18414d adds
- 68 The Ten Gods Fall to the Mortal Realm 十神坠凡 [The ratings just opened and are still climbing! Volume One has just concluded~] In ancient times, the Yin and Yang Gods established order in heaven and earth. They governed life and death, maintaining the balance of all things. Beneath them were the Ten Gods: Companion, Rob Wealth, Eating God, Hurting Officer, Indirect Wealth, Direct Wealth, Seven Killings, Direct Officer, Indirect Seal, and Direct Seal. Each had a role to play, governing the laws that set the world in motion. Beneath the Ten G —Reads6.9Score—14d adds
- 69 Hey, Your Existence Is an Anomaly! 喂，你的存在是异常！ Why is there a Chinese-style ruin buried beneath London? During construction in a park near Elephant and Castle, the eaves of a building pointing underground came to light. Chinese student Li Chengzhen initially thought that joining Professor Jack Cleve on an archaeological dig would mean little more than sorting through records, identifying Chinese characters, and reminding his overexcited mentor to eat on time. Until the explanations identifying the site as a modern garden were overturned one 5Reads6.2Score21014d adds
- 70 Maoshan Ghost-Catching Specialists 茅山捉鬼专门店 [Modern urban setting (no cultivation) + Taoist priests + cultivators + Buddhism + factions + witchcraft + cults + romance + satisfying read + a little brainpower + nontraditional] Huaxia is a place steeped in mystery, known as a sacred land of ancient culture. Here, many Taoist priests and cultivators each command a range of miraculous arts and techniques. Lin Xiu, an heir to the Maoshan tradition, gets caught up in a vast and complicated whirlpool because of a job! A mother-and-child corpse fi 166Reads—Score—14d adds
- 71 Snake Sacrifice 蛇祭 Two virgins + Sweet romance + Strong female lead leveling up The Snake Lord is fearsome. A promise made a thousand years ago, a meeting in dreams, a bracelet carved from nine dragons’ bones, protection for his wife, a Soul-Devouring Demon Blade, souls scattered to the winds, old grudges brought to an end... On the night of the Ghost Festival, the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, Old Song carried me back from the village’s Spirit Snake Mountain. Strange changes swept across the sky: ligh 347Reads9.1Score11614d adds
- 72 The Complete Six-Volume Shanhai Demon Tomb Series 山海妖墓全六册 In the early days of Huaxia, Chi You ruled the land and enslaved humanity. Huangdi, leader of the human race, happened upon a mysterious book called The Classic of Mountains and Seas. From it, he learned the power to stand against demons, defeated Chi You, and became the new ruler of Huaxia. From then on, the demon race fell into decline, never to recover. As time passed, the demon kingdoms became ruins, and tomb raiders gradually began to discover their ancient tombs... I woke up inside the cof 4kReads9.1Score55814d adds
- 73 The Ghost King Spoils His Sickly Beloved, Shaking Both the Yin and Yang Worlds 鬼王强宠病娇夫，轰动阴阳两界 [Supernatural arts + seducing her husband + one-on-one, both leads are virgins + sweet romance + episodic ghost stories and cases + secret identities + multiple twists] [A psychotic, ruthless, Chinese-style little ghost king vs. a domineering, calculating, ruthless business tycoon] Si Jiu had roamed the underworld of Fengdu for a thousand years, unable to enter the cycle of reincarnation. She watched one generation after another of ghost kings pass away, until she finally rose to the throne h 236Reads8.9Score—14d adds
- 74 Master of Folk Occult Arts: My Livestream Terrifies the Entire Internet 民间秘法大师，直播吓疯全网 [Horror + no romance + comedy + innate spirit body + spirit communication + maximum fear factor] My younger sister drew the death lot, and the whole village demanded she be sacrificed. I turned on a livestream and made a century-old vengeful ghost into sashimi. From then on, haunted houses became my cafeteria, and ghost kings became takeout. The authorities begged me to work with them, the Taoist sects revered me as a master, and the underworld begged me to livestream. When fear returned and a h 70Reads—Score714d adds
- 75 The Yin Tattooist 阴纹师 May you be blessed with wealth and long life, and travel safely in and out. I’m the heir to a special kind of embroidery, commonly known as “tattooing.” You’d think this craft would be quite profitable in a modern city, but before my master died, he forbade me from using it to make money. I always did as he said, but recently, something happened, and I had no choice but to go against his dying words. From then on, all kinds of strange things began happening around me. 951Reads8.8Score12114d adds
- 76 Department of Paranormal Investigations II 神秘事件调查处【贰】 The X-Files Investigation Bureau, Part Two “That's a dragon!” “No, there are no dragons. That's a kite, that's a black plastic bag, that's a bird soaring through a storm. You've read Haiyan, haven't you? Exactly.” In 1968, our country established Institute 507, whose full name was the Institute of Space Medicine and Engineering. Later, as more and more supernatural events were discovered, the institute began handling certain cases. In September 1974, some departments of Institute 507 were split 6.4kReads8.8Score57714d adds
- 77 The Corpse Leaps Over the Wall 尸跳墙 I’ve been blind since childhood, so I work as a massage therapist for the blind. Then one day, I met a terrifying woman who said she could restore my sight. The price was... 140Reads7.8Score—14d adds
- 78 The Spirit Burying Master 葬灵师 Every year since the year I was born, someone in the village has died. To keep me alive, Grandma arranged a marriage for me, and my betrothed was supposed to come for me when I came of age. On my eighteenth birthday, I discovered that the one who had come for me wasn't human... 147Reads7.9Score24114d adds
- 79 Department of Paranormal Investigations 神秘事件调查处 The Secret Incident Investigation Bureau, Book One As a child, Zhuge Yun was struck by lightning and branded with a thunder rune. During an archaeological excavation, he accidentally awakened the thunder element within himself. After joining the Ninth Division, under the Huaxia government’s secret agency, Bureau 749, Zhuge Yun and his teammates handled all kinds of supernatural incidents. The mysterious Poyang Lake Delta, ghost soldiers crossing the land, resurrected terracotta warriors in the M 4.4kReads8.4Score23214d adds
- 80 Maoshan Taoist Arts: The Way of Heaven 茅山道法之天道 In The Maoshan Daoist Arts: The Heavenly Way, Li Yunfei becomes a Maoshan disciple by a stroke of luck and embarks on a journey to vanquish demons and exorcise evil. Demons, devils, and ghosts across the Three Realms all tremble at the sound of his name... 133Reads—Score—14d adds
- 81 I Buy Antiques at the Ghost Market 我在鬼市收古董 I opened an antique shop. One day, a customer told me about a temple that was said to have a way of getting hold of fine goods. The temple had strange rules: it only opened at midnight, and everyone had to leave before three. I found a treasured bronze mirror there, and from then on, one bizarre event followed another. I nearly got crushed to death by my own shop sign; the golden retriever at home suddenly went berserk and chased me, snapping at my heels; and my health kept getting worse by the 227Reads8.3Score1514d adds
- 82 The Western School's The Grave Robbers' Chronicles 西派盗墓笔记 [Tomb Raiding + Mystery + Supernatural] A child born under an ill omen is one Heaven dares not claim and Earth dares not nurture. When I was born from a corpse’s belly, a yellow immortal fox worshipped the moon and the wild beasts wailed. It was decided then that I would spend my life dealing with the dead, never seeing the light of day. To escape this fate, I joined forces with my taciturn master and a jovial fat man, forming the West Faction’s iron-triangle tomb-raiding team. Over the years, I 1.4kReads8.8Score12614d adds
- 83 Death on Delivery 死亡外卖 Never try to save money when ordering takeout! After ordering a meal that wasn't clean, strange events keep happening, and his coworkers begin dying one by one. Some takeout costs you money. Some takeout costs you your life. My other completed novel, The Hell Company, is over a million words long. Come check it out, dear readers~~ 2.4kReads8.7Score22614d adds
- 84 He Was Eating Noodles at a Roadside Restaurant, When He Found a Human Eyeball in His Bowl! 他在路边餐馆吃面，竟然吃出了人眼珠子！ He was eating noodles at a roadside restaurant when he found a human eyeball in his bowl! 38Reads—Score114d adds
- 85 My Career in Funeral Services and the Supernatural 我的殡葬灵异生涯 After graduating, I joined the funeral industry and learned about its many secrets. I also encountered all kinds of terrifying, bizarre supernatural incidents. Let me tell you about some truly unusual tales of terror and the taboos of the funeral trade... The latest work by a free-spirited programmer. As always, the promise stands: suspense and horror taken to the extreme. 2.9kReads8.4Score24314d adds
- 86 I Came from the Yellow Springs 我来自黄泉 At the border between yin and yang, at the mouth of the Yellow Springs, the living guard the Thirteen Ghost Gates. The prison governor, the jailers, and the Brocade-Robed Marquis; at the post station for the dead, a mountain dog keeps watch. The door gods, the water nymph, the Confucius Temple; red lanterns and white funeral banners circle the streets. This ghost ballad, missing one line, conceals a world-shaking secret. I was a child my grandfather stole from the Yellow Springs, so before I was 16.4kReads9.0Score1.8k14d adds
- 87 The Double Fiend 子母双煞 The Mother-and-Child Fiends —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 88 The Witch Seeks the Veins and Calms the Soul 巫师寻脉镇魂 A man in a red robe isn't necessarily a groom. He might be a shaman, known as a Duangong. The protagonist, Liu Chunqiu, is the youngest shaman in southwestern Hubei. Other people wear red to marry. He wears red to drive out ghosts. Other people pray to Buddha and beseech the gods. He invites the gods to possess him. His master asks him to find and recover the lost lineage of shamanic arts. From then on, the protagonist performs Duangong rites day and night to heal the sick and ward off evil, and 122Reads—Score1114d adds
- 89 The Ghost King Is Sealed Inside Me, Yet I’m a Good-for-Nothing 体内封印鬼王，我却是个废柴 A rainy night in a cemetery, a man-eating black cat, a man searching for his late daughter, a school guard hanged on the stairs, a wedding coffin sealed with red paper, a grotesque face hiding in a mirror... What secrets lie behind it all? What other mysterious events will Wang Shier, the gravekeeper, have to face? As terror and dread slowly close in, those secrets seem to be steering his fate. (The stories in this book are all adapted from real events. If anything sounds familiar, it is pure co 7Reads6.4Score—14d adds
- 90 Nine Dragons Hauling a Coffin 九龙拉棺 The day my grandfather died, all living things on Mount Kunlun paid their respects. Dark clouds churned as nine dragons pulled an emerald divine coffin down from the heavens... People said: When an immortal passes into meditation, heavenly thunder welcomes them back to their place in the celestial court; When nine dragons pull a coffin, a divine coffin buries an immortal's body. 4.7kReads7.9Score42314d adds
- 91 Forbidden in the Mortal World 人间禁忌 When rules are twisted and order corrupted, when the Three Realms become a chessboard and all living beings its pieces, there will always be pioneers who raise their sickles and question the immortals, gods, and Buddhas enthroned above. Then they overturned the board, pulled down the beings who stood high above, and built a new board from scratch. And so, I appeared. 1.1kReads8.7Score10914d adds
- 92 The Maoshan Occultist 茅山诡术师 My name is Fang Gang. I was stolen the moment I was born. From then on, my life unfolded into an epic tale, as turbulent as it was mysterious. 379Reads8.6Score5814d adds
- 93 Strange Demons at the Teahouse: Tales of a Hundred Flavors 茶肆异妖，百味诡谈 [Mysticism + Satisfying Read + Supernatural + Strange Tales] The Many-Flavored Teahouse in Liuyi Lane is mysterious and uncanny. It only serves tea at night. What’s brewed is fragrant tea; what’s savored is the human heart. The proprietress, Liu Xu’er, and her young sidekick, Qing Cen, hunt ghosts, subdue demons, and catch evildoers. Their only focus is building their business. But one moment of bad judgment leads them to take on a job for an unlucky man. He’s been set up, and one misfortune aft 11Reads—Score—14d adds
- 94 A New Life for an Obsession 执念新生 By day, he is a math teacher who keeps everyone at arm’s length; by night, he becomes an exorcist who punishes vengeful spirits. Gifted yet constantly in danger, he carries on until he meets her. She is clever and sweet, thoughtful and understanding, and willing to accompany him on the path to redemption. Along the way, she also fulfills the wish she has always held dear. Their love is a mutual choice, and neither of them ever backs down. With so many dear friends by their side, the senior and j 365Reads8.8Score—14d adds
- 95 The Kunlun Scripture: The Dragon Bones of Lianshan 昆仑经前传之龙骨连山 His father was among the first generation of archaeological researchers in the People's Republic of China. He mysteriously disappeared during an excavation of a Uyghur king's tomb. Qin Feng traveled to Altay to search for his father. After a series of strange and bizarre expeditions, and unraveling one baffling case after another, he gradually discovered the truth behind his father's disappearance and the ancient secret concealed in half a dragon bone… 225Reads—Score—14d adds
- 96 A True Spirit Medium 一个真实的出马仙 Spirit mediums are believed to bridge the human and spirit worlds. By drawing on the power of their “immortals,” they can help people avert disasters, resolve troubles, and predict good or bad fortune. Chosen from a young age to become a spirit medium, she is a young disciple burdened with a fate unlike anyone else’s. Her spirit altar is home to more than a hundred spirit beings, including fox, weasel, snake, and python spirits, spirits of the outer five types, and Qingfeng and Yanhun. Each ha 512Reads7.5Score—14d adds
- 97 The Wolf King’s Revenge 狼王的报复 They say wolves are spiritual creatures and must never be killed recklessly. That winter, heavy snow sealed off the mountains. The village was bitterly cold and hungry, and nearly every household had run out of food. When a she-wolf died at the village entrance, the villagers took notice. Desperate to survive the famine, they skinned her, enraging the pack in the mountains. That was when misfortune began. Every farm animal in the village was bitten to death. Hair began growing on the villagers' 19Reads—Score114d adds
- 98 Graveyard Hauntings 坟地诡事 Strange things have been happening in the village lately. Every night, a chilling woman's voice can be heard asking, "Who has seen the father of my child?" "Come back, child's father. Look how adorable our baby is." The villagers say it's the ghost of a young woman who hanged herself from a tree, returned to claim lives. But more than one girl hanged herself from that tree. Which of them is the ghost? 7Reads—Score—14d adds
- 99 The Red Ghost in the Village 村里的红厉鬼 The village lies far from anywhere, with winding mountain roads. The harvest is good every year, but the crops simply can't be transported out. The only family in the village with a vehicle is Niu Dakui's, who owns a secondhand three-wheeler. The whole village relies on the two Niu brothers to haul its crops to the city and sell them for cash. The brothers use this advantage to bully people in our village all the time. And now Niu Dakui has set his sights on Xiaorou, the new wife of Chen Sheng. 9Reads—Score—14d adds
- 100 Back from the Dead 死而复生 When I was little, there was a saying in the village. If someone in a family died, then came back to life after lying in state for three days, they might turn into an evil ghost. But that was just something the old folks said. Nobody had ever seen it with their own eyes. Then one day, something like that happened to Old Zhao's family. —Reads—Score—14d adds
