Novels like Carrying the Living and the Dead
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as Carrying the Living and the Dead, best match first.
- 101 Chronicles of Strange Folk Tales 民间怪谈事件录 Not for the faint of heart! Not for the faint of heart! Not for the faint of heart! The 1980s and 1990s saw one bizarre incident after another in Jubao Village: Zhao Laohei, who rose from the dead at the execution ground... The woman who hanged herself in town, her whole face turned a purplish black... The ghost child encountered during a game of hide-and-seek on the Ghost Festival... The terrifying bamboo fiend in the old bamboo grove... People and ghosts playing cards in a yin-yang card game.. 215Reads—Score—14d adds
- 102 The Ghost-Eyed Yin Child 鬼眼阴童 I was born with ghost eyes, and my entire family was slaughtered. To survive, I had no choice but to become the disciple of a Rat Immortal and absorb the aura of a thousand-year-old Ghost King! The Judge of the Underworld appointed me a Yin Official in the mortal realm! I command the underworld’s ghost soldiers and generals, rule both the worlds of yin and yang, and restore the former glory of the Yan family! You kids! Want to know more about me? Heh, meet me in your dreams tonight! [Not an over 98Reads—Score—14d adds
- 103 Ghost in the Well: The Woman in Room 704 井底亡魂-704室的女人 Ghost at the Bottom of the Well: The Woman in Room 704 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 104 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
- 105 My Years in the Funeral Business 我干白事儿那些年 The funeral services provider Gouqie runs a one-stop funeral business on a shoestring. Uncle Yang is attacked, bringing the Chenxing List to light. A perfectly ordinary funeral services provider is drawn onto the path of spirit-mediumship. Gouqie has seen every side of the human world, yet is pulled into another supernatural realm. This isn't transmigration. Funeral shops, funeral homes: Gouqie's business keeps growing, and so does the number of enemies! Meng Qin, the Chenxing List, the Qia 768Reads7.6Score10214d adds
- 106 Mysterious Curse 1 神秘诅咒1 [Supernatural Mystery + Urban Cultivation + Folk Taboos + A Passionate Coming-of-Age Story] Enter a sinister world concealed beneath the bustle of the modern city! I have no control over life or death. My name is Zhang Wen. I thought getting into college would let me escape that bleak village in the southwest. Then my grandfather died suddenly, with these words written in cinnabar on his palm: "Dig three feet down at the southeast corner of the wall." I unearthed a bloodstained notebook. Its fir 6Reads—Score—14d adds
- 107 Terrifying Folk Customs: Starting with Red Paper Suppressing Spirits 恐怖民俗：从红纸压魂开始 Every night at midnight, my wife secretly gets up and makes offerings to a sheet of red paper. Corpse-driving, Gu poison, summoning souls from the underworld, feng shui that destroys families, and dark magic that prolongs life: it all began when I discovered my wife's secret. 2.6kReads8.8Score40614d adds
- 108 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, 15Reads—Score—14d adds
- 109 The Soul-Returning Soup 还魂汤 I was born in a remote village. The day my mother gave birth to me, she died a horrible death! I was born disabled, missing an arm, and with a red birthmark shaped like a coiled snake on my foot. My master said I had been cursed by an evil spirit, and that the curse could only be lifted if I found the one who cast it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t live to see twenty... 96Reads—Score—14d adds
- 110 Half Farmer, Half Taoist 半农半道 A record of life’s fleeting moments, a modern-day Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio! In the Age of Declining Dharma, beneath the White Lotus, the greatest hermits hide in plain sight. The truly gifted master Suan Potian and his young apprentice Liu Yi, with help from Captain Liu of the J Team, travel through all kinds of strange tales. They fish drowned souls from the water, battle spirit mediums, drive out evil, escort ghosts and capture monsters; they read the veins of yin energy, set the ea 335Reads—Score—14d adds
- 111 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. 7Reads6.6Score—14d adds
- 112 In My Next Life... 下辈子…… In the next life... 4Reads—Score—14d adds
- 113 I’m Going to Lure 100 Lost Souls 我要勾满100个亡魂 Sequel to I Guide Souls at Wangxiang Terrace Lin Jiaojiao, 24, an overworked office worker, suddenly dies on the Nth night in a row of staying up all night revising proposals. When she opens her eyes again, she has already completed every step of the underworld’s procedures. But just as she reaches Wangxiang Terrace, the guide Zhou Yi stops her. “Your attachment remains unresolved. You can’t be reincarnated.” Judge Li Muzi offers her a way forward: work as a soul reaper under him, and she can be 11.2kReads—Score4k14d adds
- 114 Whispers by the Candlelit Ruins 幽庭烛烬语 In the dead of night, countless eerie secrets lurk in the dark folds of the city. The knocking in an old apartment, known as “Knocking at Midnight,” rings out like clockwork at three in the morning. When a woman living alone peers through the peephole, all she sees is a roiling cloud of scarlet blood mist in the hallway, while a damp scratching comes from the doorknob. In the basement of a century-old apothecary, “Whispers in the Medicine Crock” never cease, day or night. Every night at midnight 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 115 I’m Hu Sheng, and I Dare to Take on the Underworld Bailiff 我虎剩，敢干阴差 If you saw money lying on the ground outside a hospital, would you pick it up? Heh. But if you actually did, then congratulations: you've been caught! Once you pick up that money, bad luck will cling to you. At best, you'll come down with a fever or a cold. At worst, it might cost you your life. Don't ask how I know. After I picked up that money, I was plagued by bad luck and nearly lost my life... My name is Shen Yidong, and I'm a bona fide Northeastern guy. As my mom would say, I'm a bit of a 8.9kReads6.7Score20814d adds
- 116 Burying Yin Bones, Borrowing Yang Life, and Marrying the King of Hell's Younger Sister 埋阴骨，借阳寿，阎王妹妹嫁入门 On the day I was born, the midwife stabbed herself in the throat with a pair of scissors. With yang eyes, I see the rise and fall of the mortal world; with yin eyes, I glimpse the ghosts and monsters of the underworld. I was born with ghost eyes. I can see the secrets of fate, but that also brought down Heaven's retribution upon me. I was destined to die. To keep me alive, my mother borrowed Jiang Hanying's life. From that day on, Jiang Hanying and I were like twin vines, bound together. As 41Reads—Score—14d adds
- 117 The Supernatural Descends! A Female Ghost Teaches Me Maoshan Arts 诡异降临！女鬼教我茅山术 The uncanny descends, and a hundred ghosts roam the night! Li Qiulin was born with his Yin-Yang Eyes fully open. He can see ghosts and gods filling the sky, yet he has pretended to be blind and kept his head down for twenty whole years! That's because he has the rarest constitution of all: pure yang in a body of pure yin. He's the ultimate Yin bait, coveted by every evil spirit. His lifelong dream is to stay home, lie flat, and eat until he dies. But then a bad friend tricks him into exploring a 5Reads—Score—14d adds
- 118 Bound to the Nation-Guarding Coffin: The Geomancer's Wife Is Fierce 契约镇国棺：地师娘子太凶猛 [Mystery and Wild Ideas] + [Single Heroine] + [Supernatural] + [Comedy] + [Contract] In a desperate situation, half-trained geomancer Lu Li throws himself onto the coffin of Bai Zhi, a wrongfully slain woman general sealed inside a thousand-year-old coffin, and kisses it, shouting, “Wife! Come home with your husband! I’ll make sure there’s a warm bed waiting!” The contract is sealed! The baleful energy stops, and the general snaps, “You lecher! Die!” Lu Li collapses. “Wife! This contract goes bo 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 119 I'm a Bar Owner, Forced to Catch Ghosts 我，酒吧老板，被迫营业捉鬼 [Horror + supernatural + semi-invincible + no System + not brainless + ruthless decisiveness] I’m Heibai, an utterly ordinary bar owner. I only wanted to live a quiet life, but one commission and one problem after another keep landing on my doorstep. Curse magic, a drug-induced dreamless sleep, a yin-yang wedding, a deadly text message... As the Underworld descends, little Jiangcheng becomes a den of danger, and one strange incident after another unfolds. Well, looks like I can’t hide my abiliti 1.2kReads8.8Score11014d adds
- 120 I Told You to Be a Taoist, So Why Did You Strike My Ex-Girlfriend with Lightning? 让你当道士，你却雷劈前女友？ [Folk Horror + Lighthearted Comedy + No Female Lead + Decisive and Ruthless + Packed with Jokes + Slow Start] After my girlfriend broke up with me, she ran off to northern Myanmar to work in sales for someone else. When she came back, she'd turned into an evil ghost who wanted to rip out my kidneys. To save myself, I accidentally became a Taoist priest. I'm not much good at the arts, but I've got a real talent for cursing people out! I learn thunder magic and raise fierce spirit soldiers. I'm a 11.7kReads8.2Score85614d adds
- 121 The Old Corpse: Strange Happenings in the Mountains 老尸：山中诡事 A thousand skeletons pillow the moonlit stele, their shadows sealed. Autumn tombs wear rosy clouds, blood soaking the steps. The boiling cauldron cooks souls, a thousand years of grievance. A grand feast for ghosts, with every skeleton withered. In the utter silence, corpse oil lights the candle. In a place shrouded from the world, a rotting hand pushes open the door. A lingering soul adorns the dressing table, a spider transformed into a hairpin. A name sinks beneath the mirror, maggots become 155Reads—Score—14d adds
- 122 Red-Clad Ghostly Shadows in the Abandoned Village 无人村红衣诡影 Zheng Bao loves searching for treasure. Once, he went treasure hunting in an abandoned village, where a terrifying and uncanny scene unfolded. As he delved deeper, he gradually uncovered a hidden story from his own past... 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 123 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
- 124 Studying Neutrinos at the Funeral Home 我在殡仪馆研究中微子 ❎ Not for the faint of heart! Five-star horror rating. I’m a college student. To ease the burden on my family, I decided to find a part-time job near campus. By chance, I spotted a faded advertisement on a utility pole nearby. The job was keeping night watch at a funeral home, and the pay was great, so I took it. On my first day, the manager told me three bizarre rules for the funeral home’s night shift: I’d be the only one working overnight; never open the door for strangers; and never get invo 16.7kReads7.2Score2.4k14d adds
- 125 With My Heart, I Question Heaven’s Heart 我以己心问天心 His master’s soul lamp is about to go out, but the Underworld Division has already come to claim his soul, and the Directorate of Fate has secretly altered his lifespan. The young Daoist Chen Shaowei travels from Yunzhou to the capital, uncovering the secrets of the Temple of Heaven, the black accounts of the Ghost Market, and old entanglements in Fengdu along the way. Only then does he realize that the ones devouring people are not a single person or one department, but an old web spanning both 1Reads6.9Score12514d adds
- 126 Notes from Tomb Raids on Yin Mountain 阴山盗墓手记 A new work is here! Come read it on Tomato Novel. I hope you enjoy it. Your support is what keeps me writing, and I’ll do my best to tell every story well! 26Reads—Score—14d adds
- 127 Maoshan Ghost Arts: Kill, Never Deliver Souls 茅山鬼术，只杀不度 When I was twelve, my father was killed by someone using an evil technique, and my mother took her own life. I was adopted by relatives and suffered endless abuse. In the end, their entire family died horribly, leaving me an orphan. The villagers regarded me as an omen of misfortune. To stay alive, I stole offerings meant for the dead, only to attract an evil ghost, which bought my life with a hell banknote. At the critical moment between life and death, my master, Old Guo, saved me, took me in 246kReads8.8Score23.9k14d adds
- 128 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? 293Reads—Score—14d adds
- 129 Tales of Spirit-Binding and Ghost-Fighting 扎灵斗阴传 My name is Yun Bo, and I make paper offerings. My master said there was one taboo every paper-offering maker had to observe: never paint the eyes on a paper figure. Because once you do, it might come to life. That year, during a deadly night at a haunted house, I broke the taboo. I thought I had only brought a pair of guides to life, never dreaming they would become weapons of murder. It was only when the government’s shackles closed around my wrists that I understood: I had never been the one c 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 130 Hong Kong’s Yin Chronicles: The Domino Curse 香江陰錄：骨牌劫 Hong Kong Yin Chronicles: The Bone Tile Calamity —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 131 The Art of Coffin Mountain 棺山术 Feng Lin is a small-time shopkeeper who runs an antique store in a flea market. While renovating an old house on the premises, he discovers a secret room hidden in a wall at home. In a corner of the cramped room sits a locked red wooden chest. Inside, he finds several objects: a palm-sized gold belt plaque, a badly worn ancient book on Dunjia sorcery, another ancient Ming Dynasty book recording numerous secrets, and a fragmentary map. The chest holds many secrets. Family secrets stretching from 260Reads—Score—14d adds
- 132 The Sealed Coffin Opens, and I Stitch the Vengeful Dead Back to Life 绝户棺开，我缝万鬼来复仇 On my twentieth birthday, my fiancée Bai Chuchu smiled like a flower as she personally gouged out my innate spirit eyes, all to steal my fortune and help her family reach the pinnacle of power. She nailed me inside a coffin sealed to leave no descendants, then buried me alive in a cavern of ten thousand ghosts, where I suffered as they devoured me. She mocked my lowly yin fate, saying I was fit only to be a stepping stone on her path to immortality. But she didn't know that my bloodline is a for 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 133 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—14d adds
- 134 Ghost Stories of the Southwest 西南鬼事 This is a collection of ghost stories from southwest China, made up of a series of medium-length tales. Some may be part of your childhood, some may be stories you've told yourself, and others may be stories you've never heard. Today, let Xiao An tell you these strange and wondrous tales, one by one. 101Reads—Score—14d adds
- 135 The Living King of Hell of the Yin-Yang Realm 阴阳界活阎王 Evil spirits: “Hell is empty, and devils walk among us!” Unorthodox cultivators: “Compared to him, I’m just a rookie!” Righteous cultivators: “Who let him cultivate?!” Li Dao: “Ahem, let me clear things up. I did all those things... just kidding.” 203Reads—Score1814d adds
- 136 The Ghosts Come Out at Night Series 猛鬼出更系列 The Ferocious Ghosts Come Out at Night Series 140Reads—Score—14d adds
- 137 The Deadly Neighbor at Midnight 午夜凶邻 The Neighbor from Hell at Midnight 121Reads—Score—14d adds
- 138 Office Ghosts: Don't Work Overtime office有鬼之不要加班 There Are Ghosts in the Office: Don’t Work Overtime 91Reads—Score—14d adds
- 139 The Mystical Art of Spirit Communication 玄之通灵 This is a novel made up of short stories about supernatural events. Some are true, some are false, and some are exaggerated, with humor, comedy, horror, and all manner of paranormal happenings... 6Reads—Score—14d adds
- 140 The Spooky, Hilarious Legend 恐怖幽默搞笑传 Synopsis of The Spooky, Humorous, Hilarious Tale Other streamers are scared out of their wits when they encounter ghosts on camera. When he runs into evil spirits, his go-to move is “cuddle up”! In a gloomy old mansion, instead of heartrending sobs, the streamer blasts his absurdly catchy “Good Luck Is Coming” theme music. A ghost in white lifts her long hair to scare him, only for him to whip out a pair of Tony's scissors and ask, “Want a makeover?” Even the supernatural crowd rushes to post co 12Reads—Score214d adds
- 141 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
- 142 Strange Tales from the Road 行路诡闻 [Folk customs and suspense | Episodic stories | Immersive accounts] There's an old saying: Walk the night road three times, and ghosts and gods will follow you. Writer Lin Sui travels around gathering material, recording the rural ghost stories he hears along the way in the old notebook he carries with him. He has no spirit-seeing eyes and can't draw talismans or chant incantations. Faced with those indescribable horrors, his only weapons are the pen in his hand and his instinct for survival. 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 143 The Folk Ghost Hunter 民间捉鬼人 This novel tells the true story of an old man from our village. His name was Li Zhengyu, and he was an extraordinary practitioner of the occult. Born in a small village in the mountains of Lingnan, he became tainted by yin energy after being haunted by the ghosts of a mother and daughter, and repeatedly encountered supernatural beings. By chance, he met a master of Daoist arts and began his journey of cultivation, changing the course of his life. Evil Maoshan curses, poison and witchcraft, treas 1.3kReads9.0Score—14d adds
- 144 Chinese-Style Horror Stories 中式恐怖小说 30Reads—Score—14d adds
- 145 What Came Back from the Mountains When the Fog Rolled In 浓雾起时，从山里跟回来的东西 The Thing That Followed Me Back from the Mountains When the Fog Rose 1Reads—Score114d adds
- 146 Night Tales: One Eerie Story Every Night 夜话：每晚一个诡故事 Unravel the chilling logical paradoxes hidden in everyday details. Each story is an artistic reimagining of a real social event from recent years. Every late night conceals secrets unknown to others. Each chapter is a standalone story, with a brisk pace, tight storytelling, and no dull moments. 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 147 The Eight Immortals Bear a Coffin, While the Weasel Bows 八仙抬棺，黄皮子磕头 A filial son's head rolls through the streets. The living die, and their descendants bury them. Sons kneel; daughters become nuns. My dad is the only one in the village who can see and interpret omens. This is the story of the strange and wondrous things I witnessed after taking up his mantle! 243Reads6.4Score10814d adds
- 148 Thirty Years of Strange Tales from the Northeast 东北异事三十年 Forty years ago, the old man ventured into Ghost Mountain at night and negotiated with the ghosts, winning Dongshan Village forty years of peace. Forty years later, a lone grave has thrown the whole village into chaos. A tragedy from forty years ago has claimed nearly a hundred innocent lives! What started it all? Why has a corpse's white hair turned black, and what is the red-clad female ghost trying to point to when she appears at midnight? 169Reads7.3Score—14d adds
- 149 I Am Not a Paper Spirit 我不是纸仙 A paper effigy is made by folding paper into the shape of a person, so it can take on another's sins, endure their punishment, and bear the consequences of their karma. I was an orphan from a young age, adopted by my master. He was a paper effigy maker, and when I was nineteen, I learned his craft. That set me on a road of no return and turned me into a jinx. Before long, I brought about my master's death. Through one mistake, I turned a “Lovers' Fold” into a “Life-Damaging Fold,” creating a pap 50Reads7.6Score—14d adds
- 150 Night Talks at the Threshing Ground 打谷场夜话 Long ago, in the countryside, there were no phones, televisions, air conditioners, or fans. When darkness fell in summer, people would head to the threshing ground to cool off, sit in a circle, chat, and start telling strange and terrifying ghost stories… 1.9kReads—Score12214d adds
