Novels like The First Strange Tale of the Countryside
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as The First Strange Tale of the Countryside, best match first.
- 1 I'll Accept a Yellow Immortal's Request for a Title, but You're Just a Huge Rat 黄仙讨封我认，可你是大耗子 It all began when a rat demon asked to be granted a human form and was refused, setting off a series of bizarre events. Feng Wuxie has blundered his way through life up to now, unaware that his grandfather had long ago prepared an escape route to help him evade his calamity. His grandfather went to his death in high spirits, and the reason he was so closely tied to Feng Wuxie remains a mystery. But what is coming will come. There’s no escaping it. The vicious old corpse-chaser Yin Hou Tan insist 4Reads—Score—14d adds
- 2 The Midnight Chef 午夜厨师 I wanted to become a master chef, but by accident I ended up at a restaurant as the exclusive chef for the basement level. The eerie atmosphere, the strange rules, the extra pair of black leather shoes, the missing underground parking garage… One terrifying incident after another left me with no choice but to believe that the people dining here weren’t human! 25Reads—Score—14d adds
- 3 I've Said Eight Hundred Times That My Surname Is Ma, But I'm Not Chu 说八百遍我姓马但不是出 [Feel-good power fantasy + rebirth + ghost hunting + horror + System + Northeastern Chinese dialect + comedy + fighting + face-slapping + scheming] The male lead was born into the Ma family of Northeast China. He was an obscure nobody until an accident awakened the power within him. His grandfather took him back to their old village to learn the Ma family's abilities. From then on, wherever there are ghosts, he's sure to be there. 9Reads—Score—14d adds
- 4 Room 414 at Three in the Morning: Four Best Friends 夜半三更414房四闺蜜 Three Roommates in Room 414 at the Dead of Night 27Reads—Score—14d adds
- 5 Strange Tales of Southeast Asia 东南亚诡事 (The author has opened a coffee shop in the ancient city of Dali and is busy with renovations. Please wait a little while for updates.) My name is Ning. During college, I went alone to Thailand to intern at a hotel, where a series of bizarre and inexplicable things happened. Why was there a temple built inside the hotel? What secrets did this temple hide? 8Reads—Score—14d adds
- 6 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—14d adds
- 7 The Paranormal Crimes Investigation Bureau 邪案调查科 Have you ever longed to uncover the mysterious truths hidden in the darkness? The Department of Strange Case Investigations takes you deep into the unfathomable abyss of bizarre cases, embarking on a thrilling adventure. The book presents a series of spine-chilling mysteries and uncanny events. Some are terrifying moments the author experienced firsthand, with a very real fear that clings like a bone-deep curse and leaves you shuddering. Others are bizarre tales heard through the grapevine, wher 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 8 Nighttime Tales from the Old Mountain Village House 山村老宅夜事 After my grandfather passed away, I returned alone to a remote mountain village to take over the century-old ancestral home. Before I left, the village elders warned me again and again: under no circumstances should I break the old house's four taboos. Don't stare into the mirror in the old house late at night. Don't answer calls from outside the courtyard at midnight. Don't open the small back-garden door at three in the morning. And never go upstairs on a stormy night. I dismissed it all as ol 260Reads—Score—14d adds
- 9 One Hundred Thousand and One Folk Horror Stories 十万零一个民间恐怖故事 A collection of short horror stories in an episodic format, with a new story every chapter. No dragging things out! Haunted houses in the countryside, mountain spirits, urban legends, old customs and taboos... Every kind of Chinese-style horror is covered, with nonstop thrills and no filler. Anti-superstition disclaimer: This story is entirely fictional. Believe in science and read rationally. Please don’t apply it to real life~ 304Reads—Score10114d adds
- 10 The Haunted Dreamscape, Part One 诡梦境第一部 Are ghosts always frightening? Are people always kind? Sometimes, people can be more terrifying than ghosts. Behind every strange incident may lie a tragic story you never saw coming. 12Reads—Score—14d adds
- 11 One Stick of Incense to Worship the Gods, an Outlaw Exorcist: Zhang Wulang! 一香祀神法外狂徒，端公张五郎！ This book is a work of fiction. The rituals, incantations, and water-based magic performed by Duangongs are invented for the story. Do not imitate them. What you read here is a story, not a craft. Cherish life and trust in science. Read the final chapter, and you will see with your own eyes what lies at the end of tearing down altars and temples. I transmigrated to the late Qing dynasty and became an outlaw. In other words, a man beyond the reach of the law. My skills came from ancient times, b 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 12 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 2.1kReads7.3Score14814d adds
- 13 Frightening Folk Tales of Ghosts and Monsters 民间吓人的鬼怪故事 This book collects folk tales about ghosts and monsters from China and around the world, both ancient and modern. They include deeply moving love stories, myths where good and evil are repaid in kind, and eerie tales that will leave you trembling with fear. We hope you enjoy them. This story is entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual events or people is purely coincidental. 24Reads—Score—14d adds
- 14 My Funeral Clothing Shop Only Takes Orders from Ghosts 我开的寿衣店，只接鬼订单 The day Zhang Zaizai took over the funeral clothing shop his grandfather left behind, he discovered it wasn’t an ordinary funeral business at all. The ledger was an order system for the underworld, the paperweight was a soul-pinning nail that kept vicious ghosts at bay, and even the “New Order” alerts from the delivery app came from “Mr. Li in Bed 3 of the morgue.” “Ding! Order accepted. Task: Deliver a peachwood comb to the Midnight Hair-Combing Ghost. Rule: Do not meet her eyes while combing h —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 15 The Spirit-Sealing Corpse Shroud 镇灵尸衣 On the day I was born, ghosts surrounded our home. I only survived because a master gave his life to save me. Only later did I learn the truth: I was born on a yin year, yin month, and yin day, making me a Yin Child. My master said that anyone born under all three yin signs would have a life full of misfortune and spend their days wandering from place to place. 133Reads—Score—14d adds
- 16 One Horror a Day 一天一个惊悚 One terrifying tale every day, and a different world each time. Just because you haven't seen it from in front of your phone doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Enough chatter. See you in the book, everyone. 9Reads6.6Score—14d adds
- 17 The Thirteenth Eye 第十三只眼 As a kid, I was a mischievous little brat, and I once caused a whole lot of trouble. As a result, I hit the jackpot and ended up with three shadows. One black, one red, and one blue. I bragged about them plenty, even though I was the only one who could see them. One night, the red shadow slipped away from beneath my feet and sprinted into the darkness... I panicked and chased after it! If you run off, what am I supposed to brag about? You've been with me this long. The least you could do is say 36Reads8.8Score—14d adds
- 18 A Fading Lamp Shines on the Lonely Dead 残灯照孤冥 (Mystery + supernatural + no female lead) (Ghost case files + Taoist arts) (Tomato Original) The male lead is born under the fate of a lone star of calamity, destined to walk alone. A dying lamp lights the lonely darkness, and that darkness lights me in turn. 331Reads—Score—14d adds
- 19 I Have the Body of a Ghost King, Yet Became the Strongest Exorcist 我，鬼王之体，却成了最强术士 [Traditional supernatural horror, folk horror, strange tales and bizarre encounters, taboos of yin and yang] On the third day of the third lunar month, ghosts go mad. Chen Sansan was born on just such a day. Because of him, his father was buried alive by his master in the old house in Heilong Village. For his sake, his master was trapped in a tiny room. As for Chen Sansan, he has no choice but to keep signing contracts between yin and yang with ghosts to prolong his life. Otherwise, he won't sur 38Reads6.8Score—14d adds
- 20 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 728Reads7.2Score10014d adds
- 21 Northeastern Folk Taboos 东北民间禁忌 The black soil of the Northeast holds too many stories, and hides too many rules. If you hear someone call your name in the middle of the night, never look back. On New Year’s Eve, if a dumpling wrapper breaks, it’s for the “good brothers” to eat. If you meet a woman in red while walking at night, remember to pull your hat down low... These taboos passed down by the older generation are superstition if you don’t believe in them. But if you break them, they become a ghostly gateway that leads str 1.6kReads—Score10314d adds
- 22 My Snake Immortal Husband Comes in the Dead of Night 蛇仙老公，深夜来 When I was ten, I came down with a fatal illness. To save me, Grandpa went to Changbai Mountain and brought back a snake pill. I recovered, but Grandpa and my parents all died. That dragon came for revenge… It didn’t kill me. It demanded offerings and wanted the snake pill back. From then on, Changbai Mountain had a new Pool Immortal Maiden. A pig spirit bewitches people, a little ghost steals unborn babies, and at midnight, who is it holding a bone umbrella and carrying a human-skin lantern to 324Reads9.1Score11014d adds
- 23 Terrifying Supernatural Happenings 恐怖灵异怪事 A terrifying paranormal ghost story. There is a Zhao Family Village in the Funiu Mountains, where many terrifying supernatural incidents have taken place in the ravine west of the village. Several people have been frightened to death, and many nearby residents shudder at the very mention of the ravine. Even the villages around it have experienced many inexplicable events. I used to be afraid. I wanted to write about them but didn't dare. Whenever I thought about putting them into words, terror w 670Reads8.0Score—14d adds
- 24 The Skinning Ghost 扒皮鬼 (Traditional supernatural horror + extreme horror + multiple twists + mystery + entirely handcrafted) Lately, I've been having nightmares every night. A fortune-teller said I might have a ghost clinging to me. He told me about a forbidden folk ritual: Put on a pair of worn underwear over your head, and it will block a ghost's sight. That night, I got home and followed his advice, half believing it. My girlfriend came back to the room after washing up and stared blankly at where I was. "Where... 64.2kReads8.3Score7k14d adds
- 25 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 891Reads6.3Score10214d adds
- 26 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... 5.4kReads7.0Score32714d adds
- 27 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—Score15614d adds
- 28 Paranormal Streamer: The Sledgehammer Notes 灵异主播：铁锤笔记 A paranormal livestreamer and a female yin-yang practitioner team up to deal with supernatural incidents. After being ambushed by an evil sorcerer, they fall victim to a curse involving poisonous magic. To break the curse, they descend into the Yuanchen Palace, face off against ghosts in a battle of song, storm a reclusive sect’s warded realm, help underworld officials subdue demons, escort an earth immortal to take up a post, and venture into the underworld to steal a prophecy from a forbidden 28Reads—Score—14d adds
- 29 The Hanging Charm 魅巾悬 No romance + fantasy and the supernatural + mild horror + modern-day imaginative premise + episodic plot + feel-good power fantasy Liu Yixian, with a high forehead and a broad, square face, was taken in as an apprentice by Daoist Wu in the twelfth year of his life, setting him on an extraordinary path. A thousand-year-old fox or a century-old ginkgo: which one will win Yixian’s heart? A blood-red sickle stabbed the ghost seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, maybe twenty times. The ghost couldn’t take 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 30 The Autobiography of a Yin Walker 一位走阴人的自传 Adapted into a full-cast audiobook on Tomato Listen. [This story is based on the true account of someone who walks between the worlds of the living and the dead. The horror is off the charts, so timid readers beware!] Have you ever heard of someone who walks between the worlds of the living and the dead? I'm the only son in three generations of the Guo family. My name is Guo Lideng. I've had the yin-yang eyes since I was a child, and can see things ordinary people cannot. As an adult, I stumbled 5.7kReads7.1Score32514d adds
- 31 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. 2.9kReads8.4Score24614d adds
- 32 Folk Horror Taboos 民间恐怖禁忌 Do you know the stories old people tell? Do you know there are many things in folk tradition that people say must not be spoken of? Do you know what the elders say about dreams? The elders say there are things you mustn't talk about at night. Did you know that? 121Reads6.3Score—14d adds
- 33 I Love Your Numbness, I Love Your Spice, I Love You Till My Stomach Gives Out 爱你的麻，爱你的辣，爱得老胃直拉胯 I love your numbing spice, I love your heat, I love you so much my stomach’s a mess 6Reads—Score—14d adds
- 34 Mama Haha Won't Fly Anymore 玛玛哈哈不飞了 Mama Haha Won't Fly Anymore 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 35 The Stone That Remembers the Light 会记住光的石头 The Stone That Remembers the Light 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 36 I Asked You to Write a Horror Play, So Why Did You Have to Add a Deity? 让你写诡剧，您非要往里加神人？ He Mo has always believed that eerie plays, with their dark, disturbing themes and wall-to-wall negativity, are bound to drive actors to a mental breakdown if they perform in them for too long. So he insists on adding a few absurd characters and comic plotlines to lighten things up. The more the theater objects, the more it proves he's doing the right thing. It shows that he's exposed the theater's intention to torment its actors through eerie plays. The more the actors object, the more it prove 1.1kReads—Score17014d adds
- 37 The Yellow Weasel Asked Me to Grant It a Title, So I Wore the Old Immortal as a Scarf 黄狼讨封，我把老仙当围脖系上了 [Traditional supernatural] + [No System] + [Drunkard] + [Comedy] “Kid, do I look like a human or a god to you?” “Uh... well... you look like a fur scarf to me! Hand it over!” “Yow!” A drunkard who read only half a web novel before daring to open a spirit altar; A weasel who cultivated powers by blindly practicing on its own and loves to brag; A wild fox that trains hard to attain enlightenment, but has to sneak down the mountain every so often to steal a chicken and whet its appetite; And a 1.6kReads8.7Score12814d adds
- 38 Stealing Faces 偷脸 One day, a stranger added me on QQ and told me my girlfriend was a man. I called him an idiot. Then my girlfriend died, and when she died, she really did become a man. Her head had been cut off and sewn onto the neck of a male corpse... 225Reads8.9Score—14d adds
- 39 The Demon in the Coffin 至棺重妖 The new novel, The Fragrance of the Living Dead: Handling Ghostly Affairs Among the Living, is now being serialized. The excitement never stops, with new chapters every day. If you enjoy it, please support the author, Ye Wei. Thank you all! [Mystery + Horror + Supernatural + Folk Tales of the Strange + Female Ghosts + Monsters + Mountain Spirits + Corpses] This is a strange little village hidden deep in the mountains... Ever since he was nine and encountered the dead rabbit crouched on his windo 1.6kReads9.2Score11214d adds
- 40 The Sealed Cave Behind the Mountain: I Became the Village's Soul Guardian 后山囚洞：我成了全村守魂人 After accidentally entering a century-old forbidden site in the back mountains, Jiang Ningyue unexpectedly inherits a fated duty and becomes the village’s only soul guardian. A deep, secluded prison cave suppresses countless wrongfully dead spirits. Ancient village rules conceal secrets unknown to outsiders, while turmoil erupts along the boundary between Yin and Yang, and one eerie calamity follows another. Generations of cave guardians have borne endless suffering, and a century of tangled gru 7Reads—Score—14d adds
- 41 The Mountain Wanderer 走山人 Three years after I died, I climbed out of my grave. I set out on the path of a spirit medium and made my name roaming the mountains. Grandpa said I was half-dead, with no taboos to hold me back! 2.2kReads8.7Score19514d adds
- 42 Rule Horror: Don't Look Back During 72 Hours in the Dorm 规则怪谈：宿舍72小时不要回头 A word of warning: this is terrifying, so timid readers beware. (No female lead, no cheats, no romance, game instances, infinite flow, horror, mystery) Eight university students who returned to campus early found a mysterious sheet of rules in their empty dormitory building: Rule One: No matter what strange “person” you see, don’t cry out or scream. Rule Two: No matter who calls you from behind, don’t turn around or answer. Rule Three: One of you is an impostor who will eat people in the middle 4.5kReads6.0Score37414d adds
- 43 My Years in the Funeral Business 我干殡葬的那些年 People light candles, ghosts blow out the lamps. The dead return at midnight, corpses rise in funeral halls, and ancient relics lie buried for thousands of years. In my years working in the funeral business, I’ve encountered plenty of strange and uncanny things. The living walk the roads of the living world, and the dead walk the roads of the underworld. But sometimes, not everyone on the underworld’s roads is a ghost, and not everyone on the living world’s roads is human… 50.4kReads9.2Score5k14d adds
- 44 12:17 A.M., Please Confirm Your Name 零点十七分，请确认你的姓名 In Qiheng City, people don’t simply disappear. First, the city erases their names, then convinces everyone they never existed. At 12:17 a.m., a fire alarm suddenly went off in a residential building in Qiheng City that had only sixteen floors: “Someone is trapped on the seventeenth floor.” Zhou Jiming, an engineer who inspected fire safety systems, checked the building plans, stairwell height, elevator programming, and exterior facade. Every piece of evidence proved that the seventeenth floor di 17Reads—Score17014d adds
- 45 I Blundered into a Horror World, Only to Find That All the Bosses Were Lamps 误入恐怖世界，没想到BOSS全是灯 I stumbled into a world of horror, only to find that every BOSS was a lamp. 10Reads—Score—14d adds
- 46 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 2.1kReads8.9Score19914d adds
- 47 Ghosts in Pieces 散装见鬼 Do you believe there are ghosts in this world? I think that question is as impossible to answer as whether there are dragons in this world. The answer you hear most often is: Believe in them, and they exist. Don’t believe in them, and they don’t. But if you ask me, my answer is simple: Yes! Not because I believe, but because I can see them. Of course, I wasn’t able to see them from birth. It all goes back to the strange experience I had when I was six... 32Reads—Score—14d adds
- 48 The Yin-Yang Courier 阴阳快递员 Parcel delivery has expanded beyond the countryside and reached the underworld. And I am a courier who delivers to both the living and the dead! I've delivered countless packages and encountered countless strange, unknown events. Let me tell you a deathly tale about parcel delivery, based on my own experiences... 10.9kReads8.7Score36814d adds
- 49 The Vengeful Ghost Great-Grandma Wants to Kill My Daughter, but My Pure Yang Infant Shatters a Century-Old Blood Pact 厉鬼太奶想杀我女，我纯阳婴镇碎百年血契 A Vengeful Ghost of a Great-Grandmother Wants to Kill My Daughter, but My Pure-Yang Baby Shatters a Century-Old Blood Pact 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 50 The Falling Leaves Have Their Own Intentions 落苏有意 My background is a mystery, and I was born with Yin-Yang Eyes. After coming of age, I was chosen to enter the underworld and became a low-ranking official. All around me, a multitude of baffling, mysterious cases unfold... 7.5kReads9.1Score78114d adds
