Novels like Cthulhu: A Journal of Despair
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as Cthulhu: A Journal of Despair, best match first.
- 1 The Arcane Gear: I Devour the Old Ones with the System 诡秘齿轮：我靠系统吞噬旧日 The age of the fog-shrouded city, where steam roars and machinery intertwines with the occult. Whispers of the Old Gods echo, while forbidden knowledge stirs beneath the surface. Investigator Abel Carter was born into an ordinary life, but during a mine collapse he unexpectedly acquired a strange System. Deep within the world lurk nine unknowable Great Old Ones. Humanity relies on a blend of steam technology and occult arts to create supernatural professions such as Espers and Mechanics. Bearing 34Reads—Score—14d adds
- 2 Face the Apocalypse of the Old Ones 直面旧日末日 [Cthulhu Mythos, Lovecraftian, infinite-flow, eerie, no female lead or one female lead] The madness of the Old Ones has descended once more. The sea that gave birth to countless universes is here, and the flames of civilization are about to go out. You can choose to record the final histories of these civilizations, or try to save them. At the beginning, the worlds the protagonist encounters are generally limited to planets with human civilizations. Only those who have experienced three world-en 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 3 The Awakening of the Old Ones 旧日的觉醒 The Evil God's whispers coil around my ears. The red moon casts an ominous glow across the sky. The shattered earth has become a playground for the Old Ones. A soul that took another's place writes a new mythology! I came, I saw, I conquered! 6Reads—Score—14d adds
- 4 The Lonely Moon Era 孤月纪元 (A note for readers: This isn't a typical power fantasy. Every step is difficult, though the pacing won't drag. If that bothers you, read at your own risk.) The countdown to death has begun. Hesitate and you die; waver in confusion and you're as good as dead. The Marked, the Favored, demigods, lesser gods, and supreme gods. This is a world where every kind of Cthulhu deity exists, a time and place where theology and science coexist, and Eastern and Western religions collide. Do you believe in go 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 5 Cthulhu Mythos: The Ocean 克苏鲁神话：海洋 (No System, not braindead, no heroine. The author has read all of the Cthulhu Mythos, including the universe and timeline, as well as the compilations by other authors.) Horrors from the abyss! From the Dreamlands! Search for clues at the edge of the unknown! My name is Moge. I live in Arkham. One day, by chance, I returned to the hometown that terrifies me. It seems our bloodline will never let us leave. (The main story, a long-form arc, begins around chapter 50.) 22Reads—Score—14d adds
- 6 Shocking News: An Immortal Has Died 惊闻仙死 [No romance + Chinese-style adventure + mystery and horror + Cthulhu + mild scares] My name is Shen Shuyang. I'm an ordinary high school student, but one day I died in a premeditated murder. I died, but came back to life... After crawling out of a mass grave, I met a group of strange people. I thought slaying evil spirits was the righteous thing to do, only to discover I had long since become one of them. I thought I was an evil spirit who did nothing but harm, only to learn that everything I ha —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 7 A Catastrophe from the Start, Trapped in an Infinite Nightmare! 天崩开局，陷入无限噩梦！ [Cthulhu Mythos] [Eerie] [Mild Horror] [Infinite Flow] [No Female Lead] [Cthulhu Mythos Investigator] Meng Xuan had been living an ordinary life until one day he woke in terror to find that he had transmigrated into the setting of a Cthulhu-style horror film. Bone-chilling cold and an oppressive sense of the unknown closed in on him. Just then, a cold System notification rang out in his mind, announcing that he had been selected by the Abyss Game System and dragged into a terrifying cycle where 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 8 Chronicles of Sinful Souls 罪魂纪 [Fantasy and Nonhuman Races | Firearms and Cold Weapons | Political Intrigue and Ensemble Cast | Epic Coming-of-Age Saga] [Smart Characters | No Saintly Heroics | Cautious and Decisive] War flares across the continent, and the shadow of the nonhuman races appears once more. Tensions simmer within humanity, where power and scheming set traps at every turn. Soren Yimen, a nobody from the city of Eke, is forced into the fray. He relies on his wits, not hot-blooded courage, to grow through one deadl —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 9 Phantom Realm Image 幻域图相 Strange creatures from mythology, terrifying ghosts from folklore, and unique races from Middle-earth: Luo Xiuyun was swept into this fantastical world. To pursue what he truly desired, he had no choice but to explore this uncharted realm under the guidance of an illustrated bestiary... But is exploring the unknown always a good thing? Little by little, he grew obsessed in this abnormal world... —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 10 Shadows in the Mountains 群山中的阴影 Shadows in the Mountains —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 11 Paranormal Mad Detective: Slaying Demons and Gods in My Dreams 灵异疯探：我在梦中斩鬼神 When Doomsday came, some people tried to fight back, while others clung to wishful thinking. But no matter which they chose, every last one of them died. [The early story leans toward exploration. This isn't a conventional power fantasy; it's a dark story that gets better the further you read.] The story's core elements: [Cthulhu style] [Doomsday] [Gods] [Eerie] [Despair] [Scheming] [Fate] [Sacrifice] [Endless madness] —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 12 I'm Really Not an Old One 我真不是旧日支配者 Everything Cthulhu says is true. This world is dangerous! Lin Jiumu shrugged and said, “Believe me or not, please obey the law and remember: prosperity, democracy…” The whole bunch of weird entities huddled together, trembling, hoping this smiling demon would leave as soon as possible. (What really happened) Lin Jiumu transmigrated into the body of a low-ranking employee at the Anomaly Bureau. He only wanted to live a quiet life, but then discovered that he was actually the mastermind behind 11Reads—Score—14d adds
- 13 Am I Really an Evil God?! 我到底是不是邪神啊！！！！ A young archaeologist accidentally unearths a brass compass and somehow transmigrates into the body of a young man named Randolph. At first, he thinks it's just an ordinary transmigration. Then he discovers that he's arrived in a world where countless gods coexist and constantly clash, and that he might be... an evil god? He overcomes countless hardships and trials, and finally reaches the pinnacle. But as he looks at the intelligent-mechanical nun, evil gods, saints, noble girls, sirens, hunter 28Reads—Score—14d adds
- 14 Becoming an Observer of the Old Ones in Cthulhu's World 在克苏鲁成为旧日观测者 Magic, holy orders, observers, divine authority. In this strange and crazed world, Chris keeps seeing himself trapped in endless darkness, with huge, tangled tentacles reaching out for him... Clutching his head, Chris sits upright on a bronze throne and gazes beyond the boundaries of the world... 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 15 The Daoist Failed to Ascend and Became Cthulhu 道爷飞升失败，成了克苏鲁 My name is Li Yunsheng, the last Taoist priest on Mount Longhu. My master said I was born with a Daoist constitution and destined to ascend to immortality. I believed him. Now I'm pregnant with a god. The people of the Truth Society kneel when they see me, saying I'm the vessel for the descent of an Old One. The surviving senior brothers of the Daoist sect run when they see me, saying the aura around me is more sinister than any demon's. All I can do is hold my belly and say to the thing growing 607Reads—Score—14d adds
- 16 The Abyssal Evolver 渊蜕者 “Headquarters, we've spotted Subject 25, code-named ‘Dogtooth,’ a Deep Shedder.” A middle-aged man in black tactical armor spoke into his radio. Nearby, a doglike creature standing on two legs gnawed on a corpse whose face was unrecognizable. The radio crackled: “You are authorized to use extermination equipment No. 232. You may open fire. Muscle-burst rounds authorized. Close-quarters electrification authorized. Operation codename: Pull the Tooth.” —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 17 From the Start, I Became a Parasite, Then Turned the Evil God Into My Power Bank 开局寄生，我反手把邪神当充电宝 On the first day of the apocalypse, I was parasitized by a Cthulhu spawn. The System warned: “Mental contamination at 30%. You are about to lose your human reason.” I hit back by binding myself to a homegrown positivity System, checking in every day to claim a Core Values shield. While the other survivors whispered in fear and descended into madness, I turned on the speakers at midnight and played on repeat: “Prosperity, democracy, civility, harmony...” The evil godling trembled and wept. “Pleas —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 18 In the Cthulhu Apocalypse, I Became an Evil God 克苏鲁末世我成为了邪神 Blue Star, 2025. Without warning, a cosmic rift tore through the sea of stars, unleashing the bizarre laws of Cthulhu from the endless depths of space upon the world. Scarlet mists shrouded the globe. History would remember it as the Cataclysm of World-Erosion. The Old Ones awoke, Outer Gods whispered, Elder Gods looked down, and primordial shadows returned. Human civilization collapsed overnight. Skyscrapers crumbled, order vanished, and sanity was lost. The scarlet mists carried ultimate men 8Reads—Score—14d adds
- 19 Nine Regions: The Long Song of Qifeng 九畿：岐风长歌 The flood's aftermath still lingers, and the dead still whisper their will. The art of divination has been lost to the currents of history, while ancient ruins emerge once more from the yellow sands. In this age ruled by bronze, a borderland youth bears the curse of an undying body. One man and one cat swear to end all suffering in the world. 7Reads—Score314d adds
- 20 After 100,000 Years as a Heavenly Soldier, I'm Back! 当了十万年天兵，老子回来了！ After serving as a heavenly soldier for a hundred thousand years, I'm back! 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 21 Spirit Cage Reboot: Rewriting Rebirth in the Doomsday Abyss 灵笼重启：我在末日深渊修改重生 [In a purgatory where flesh and data merge, he holds the keyboard that can rewrite life and death, yet has forgotten that the world deleted him long ago] When Lin Xuan awoke amid a nuclear blast, half a bronze compass was embedded in his left hand, and streams of ghostly blue data pulsed in his right eye. This apocalyptic city, known as “Spirit Cage,” was undergoing its 1,024th cycle reset. A countdown hovered over his retina: 71 hours and 59 minutes until the abyss devoured every human consciou —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 22 The Forbidden Manuscript of the Cthulhu Abyss 克苏鲁之深渊禁忌手稿 Cthulhu: The Forbidden Manuscripts of the Abyss —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 23 Global Mistfall: From the Start, I Awaken the Cthulhu Sequence 全民迷雾：开局觉醒克苏鲁序列 [Everyone Struggles to Survive + Cthulhu + No Goody-Two-Shoes] A global mist descends, dragging everyone into a survival game. While others chop trees to build wooden cabins, I build fortresses out of corpses. While others kill monsters for gear, I eat monsters to make progress. While others fear going insane from losing SAN, the lower my SAN gets, the stronger I become. Gu Chen opens his eyes and finds that he has awakened something far from an ordinary talent: [Abyssal Sequence: Crawling Hun —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 24 The Murmurs of Xuan Jun 玄君之呓 [Cthulhu] [Cultivation] [Transmigration] [No System] [Eerie] Yu Yi was strong, but he took his own life. Under the influence of a roll of yellowed paper, his soul seemed to cross the darkness of countless ages and descend into the body of someone who had also died by suicide. Transmigration and rebirth into an extraordinary world filled his heart with boundless hope, but what was this place? The light in his eyes dimmed once more. This land was full of filth and absurdity. Unending exhaustion, i —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 25 Ashwalker 灰烬行者 [Cthulhu Mythos] [Apocalyptic Vibes] [One Heroine] [Talents] [Potions] [Investigators] The end of the Earth Telescope Project marked the failure of a superpower. Yet only a handful of people knew the truth: it was not a lack of productivity, but that a group of humans, driven mad by their pursuit of science, had opened the gates of the apocalypse. The world restarted, technology regressed, and underground realms representing wealth, power, and authority appeared on the surface. The rulers of the —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 26 I Made the Rules, Yet Became Bruce! 我为规则制造者，却变成布鲁斯！ Bruce, we've already wiped out every heavenly demon in the world. How could they live as long as dogs? What... do you mean?…[Rule Horror] [National Fate] —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 27 The Deep Whale's Eerie Abyss 深鲸诡渊 [System] [Cthulhu] [Steampunk] [Transmigration] [Magic] [Deep-Sea Exploration] [Ships] Ling Cang, a technical genius from a cyber world, accidentally transmigrates to an oceanic world steeped in magic and steampunk, inhabiting the body of a young fisherman from a village. This world relies on Illumina Whale oil to power machinery and magic, but the Cthulhu power beneath the deep sea is gradually awakening and corrupting everything. To save his younger sister Xiao Xi, who has been cursed by the a 1Reads—Score214d adds
- 28 The Cthulhu World Is No Friend to Plagiarists 克苏鲁世界对文抄公很不友好 Tang Ling married into a wealthy family and wed Jiangcheng’s most beautiful woman. He only wanted to keep a low profile and live off his wife, but everyone else refused to let him. They insisted he show off his kingly bearing! See how Tang Ling, the mercenary king, takes the live-in son-in-law world by storm! —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 29 Day of the Godless: Knocking on the Door of Despair 神无之日：叩响绝望之门 At the end of humanity, the overwhelming despair became a grand feast for the Cthulhu King Gods. They raise "apostles" among humans, cultivate followers, and constantly feed on extreme psychic energy as they evolve, awaiting the day they descend upon the world. While pursuing an "apostle," Chen Mo saw that the apostle looked exactly like him. His sealed memories began to stir, and the monster imprisoned within him was about to awaken. Cthulhu King Gods, your end is coming! 4Reads—Score—14d adds
- 30 Fragments of Abyssal Dreams 渊梦残章 [A lightly modified version of the original Cthulhu Mythos setting] [Give it a few more chapters] [Solid logic] [A slow start] In the unknown abyss of the boundless universe, on the chaotic edge where illusion and reality intertwine. The universe is but a tiny phantom, time no more than a disorderly flow! Your gaze tears open a rift in reality, connecting us to the palace of The Great Ruler. The melody of chaos, the end of order. We dance to this melody, and go mad to its tune. We offer you our 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 31 The Man Who Could Not Carry the Coffin 不能拖棺的人 [Western fantasy + Lovecraftian horror + another world + one heroine + search for memories + villain protagonist + ensemble cast + slow burn] When history becomes a curse, memory itself is the original sin I woke in the ruins with nothing but empty memories and a lonely soul. Searching for the person I used to be, I followed my past through city after city. Along the way, I saw the forgotten “Hero” and “Demon King,” the great and evil ancient sorcerer Ibon, three hundred years of horrors, grudge —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 32 Anomaly: I Devoured an Old One from the Start! 异常，我开局吞噬了旧日支配者！ [Cthulhu] [Containment objects] [Invincible] [No female lead] [Eerie] Mad whispers echo in my mind, and twisted monsters prowl outside my door. They say this is the corruption of the Old Ones, a madness no mortal can resist. The raging downpour heralds Its arrival, while the bizarre, twisted monsters are Its servants, come to wash Its feet. When It arrives, the entire world will plunge into despair and madness. When an ancient offspring of the Black Goat Mother, from the depths of the stars, tri 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 33 The Cthulhu Universe: The Many-Faced Evil Hunter 克苏鲁宇宙：千面猎邪人 Have you ever felt the deepest despair humanity can experience? The indescribable horrors, their forms boundless, laugh loudly at our fate from behind the curtain of the starry sky. They are observers, puppeteers pulling the strings. They disdain entering the fray themselves, but the primal desires of living beings and the malice of their followers carry out their will, bringing disaster upon us. My mission is to send the evils roaming the world away. After countless incidents, I understand that 10Reads—Score—14d adds
- 34 My Body Is Slowly Becoming That of an Ancient God 我的身体在慢慢古神化 I was tainted by the Abyss, and my body is irreversibly transforming into that of an Old God. My bones twist, strange patterns spread, and everything in my field of vision is an indescribable horror. Anyone who looks at me loses their sanity and goes mad. Every time I use my powers, I lose another piece of my humanity forever. In the eyes of the world, I am a monster, an outcast to be feared and shunned. Then the evil gods descended, the rules collapsed, and all things fell into ruin. Humanit 12Reads—Score—14d adds
- 35 Chronicles of the Cthulhu Tide’s Manifestation 克苏鲁溺时显影录 I came to an unfamiliar place. Who am I? That question has always haunted me. Maybe the answer is in my memories... but I can't find them. My memories don't belong to me. Am I 035? Am I Lin Shen? Am I Lin Qian? Is this world real? Still, at least I have a camera of my own. That's all I need. P.S. The pacing is slow at first. —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 36 The Old Ones of the Warp: Rebirth! A Glorious Era! 亚空间旧日：新生！伟大纪元！ Hello to everyone who loves monster encyclopedias and adventures! This is a special book with a Cthulhu-inspired style! The subspace was supposed to be an ancient place where body and spirit twisted and ascended. But recent works seem to follow clues to unearth the tombs of those old monsters. Are there really no new monsters? So I want to keep raising the stakes as the world of this book develops. New monsters! New stories! You'll encounter them in the subspace! 81Reads—Score—14d adds
- 37 The Cthulhu Era: Starting from Sequence Zero 克苏鲁时代，从第零序列开始 Cthulhu + Sequences + Outer Gods + Calls from the Unknown, Whispers in Your Ear. The age of Cthulhu has arrived. Li Fan accidentally transmigrates into the body of a count’s son. Demons hatch their schemes, the Church fights back, and Cthulhu’s call beckons. Step into the history of sequence evolution and help build a new nation. —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 38 The Apocalypse Is Almost Over 即将结束的末日 [Supernatural powers | Cthulhu | No System | No formulaic tropes | Slow-paced | No saintly protagonist] In this world, everything changed after the gods descended. Immortal monsters, strange incantations bestowed as blessings, and terrifying sacrificial rituals emerged. After a new order was established, Shi Yi awoke amid the ruins. A bizarre set of scales floated before him, but he had forgotten who he was. In the mist-shrouded royal court, amid a twisted and chaotic symphony, the long staircas 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 39 Qi Devours the Void: The Old Records of Xuandu 炁噬归墟：玄都旧日簿 The ancient gods are about to awaken from their seals. On a night when blood seeps from the bronze cauldron, Chenxing Jin locks away the disturbance in the spiritual leyline. The Great Wall of Black Mist collapses, and before the clan elder mutates, he slips him half a Qi-Gathering Pill. The Dragon-Severing Stone cracks, a bone blade grows from within his body, and a fading phantom voice cuts to the bone: "What you guarded was never the seal." 15Reads—Score—14d adds
- 40 Beneath the Divine Gaze 神视之下 [Cthulhu Mythos + Legends and Myths + Urban] My name is Han Shi. What I’m about to tell you may be hard to accept, but you’d better listen. Every legend in the world really happened, and some are still active today. The myths may be beautiful, but behind them lies a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. The conflict between the rules affects more than ordinary living beings. Even the gods are nothing but slightly bigger playthings. Yes, we’ve discovered the gods. But you’d better not pray to t 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 41 Cthulhu, Now a God, and Feeling Great 克苏鲁，已成神，感觉良好 [Cthulhu] [Legendary Investigator] [Bestiary Collection] What? You want to know how a detective can become a legendary investigator? If the cases you investigate bear the hand of Nyarlathotep, your golden key is a Classic of Mountains and Seas capable of collecting every Old One, and you know just how to win their “favor”... Then when the stars come right, your own throne will await you. This is the arduous journey of a returnee, and a story interesting enough to be worth telling. —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 42 Unfathomable Idiom Tales 不可名状的成语故事 You’ve surely heard the stories behind idioms like “Lord Ye loves dragons,” “pretending to play the yu,” and “a rooster’s crow and a dog’s theft.” But would you be willing to hear my versions of these familiar idiom tales, told in a different way? —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 43 The God’s Call: Punishment 神的呼唤：惩罚 [Cthulhu] [Factions] [Rise from the Bottom] [Mind Games] [Horror] [Mystery] [Detective] Two brothers from the slums get caught up in a murder case and save a noblewoman. Their parents die in the same murder. The elder brother becomes a police officer, rising from petty hoodlum to wield the power of law enforcement. Amid the darkness and chaos of human nature, he moves between the law and the underworld, stopping at nothing to achieve his goals. He may become a senior inspector who upholds justic —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 44 Eerie Descent: I Become a Cthulhu Deity 诡异降临：我化身克苏鲁神明 [Overpowered protagonist + supreme gravitas + Cthulhu + cultivation + the uncanny] A strange passage connects Earth to thousands of worlds… Vengeful ghosts claim lives, monsters prey on people, uncanny entities run rampant, and gods descend. A cultivation game interface has brought Meng Xing on a Cthulhu-esque cultivation journey. From the start, he obtains three supreme treasures, cultivation methods, and spells left behind by the game’s three peerless Celestial Venerables. It’s just that their 746Reads—Score10214d adds
- 45 The Physician of Strange Diseases 异疾之医 Traditional Chinese medicine and folk culture, Chinese-style cosmic horror, true to the original Cthulhu style Chen Yang was a doctor working at a small clinic. But when one of his patients developed a bizarre illness, he was swept into a terrifying chain of events. As he follows the trail left by the disease and investigates, the dreadful truth hidden in the dark reaches of the universe gradually comes into view... 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 46 Doomsday: The Ancient Ones Loom Above 末日：高悬的旧日 [Cthulhu, ruthless and decisive] Two suns hang in the sky, doomsday has arrived, and the old gods sleeping in this world are about to awaken from their madness. I transmigrated to this world with no System and no superpowers. All I had were my memories, which helped me make some money here. I thought my life would simply go on like that. But then the ruins were discovered, and another sun appeared in the sky. That was when I realized just how terrifying my past life had been. “A man from the fut —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 47 The Huyang City Horror 环阳市恐怖事件 [Cthulhu] [Eerie] [Plot-driven] [Feel-good read] The rainy season in Huanyang never ends. It has simply turned blue. From a detective's missing-person case to a young man's “Buy one, get one free”; from a reporter's investigation of a construction site to an elementary school student's essay; from a graduate's rented room beneath a bridge to a charlatan's inexplicable incense ritual... Everyone is seeing the same color and hearing the same sound: A buzzing rises from underground, whispers coil a 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 48 Lord of the Feast 欢宴之主 This is an age without redemption, an era in which human civilization has fallen back into an abyss of savagery and madness. In the fifteenth millennium of the slumber of the Old Ones, viruses, brutality, heresy, and war once again engulf the world. Order disintegrates, and the apocalypse quietly descends. A young man from the northern frontier accidentally picks up the supreme Yellow Sign left behind on the continent by the King in Yellow, Hastur, and embarks on a feast that will devour the god 1.2kReads8.1Score27014d adds
- 49 An Evil God? I'm a True God of the Blood Clan! 邪神？我是血族正神！ [Cthulhu + Sequences + Bloodline + Evil Gods + Potions + Deities] The blood clan's mad progenitor whispers deliriously as he is corrupted. Rune drifts through this deranged world, where distortion and madness are rungs on the sequence ladder. The black smoke of blood and steam is the world's gearwork. A true god? No! It is Him! —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 50 Pollution? Tell That to My Dunwich Luck 污染？和我的敦威治大运说去吧 I worked overtime, and the company was gone. As I stared at the office reduced to rubble, the bald team leader, who had only one eye, patted me on the shoulder. “Xiao Li, the company's been struggling lately. You'd better find another shift to work.” “Wait, bro, what about my N+1 compensation?” The team leader clenched his fist, the veins bulging, and struggled to keep his voice calm. “Be reasonable. Our little company can't keep you on, but I've already found you another place. Besides, you wor 6Reads—Score—14d adds
