Novels like 36,036 Terrifying Stories You’ll Regret Not Reading
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as 36,036 Terrifying Stories You’ll Regret Not Reading, best match first.
- 1 The Seven-Night Spirit Coffin Corpse 七夜灵棺尸 In my dream, I mistakenly believed that Li the Lame, seeking revenge for having his wife stolen, had made a door for my family out of the coffin wood of a girl who had been dead for seven days. Its yin energy clung to us, causing the pillars of our family to leave one after another. I couldn’t get over it. My future father-in-law, Old Yu, saw what was going on and brought over Zhang Baifa, who I would later take as my master. My master dispelled the evil yin force. Once I learned what had happen 228Reads—Score—14d adds
- 2 The Racing Girl 赛车女孩 Physics ace Lin Sa is obsessed with speed and has extraordinary racing talent. When she borrows the motorcycle of a racing club president to catch a thief, their paths become entwined. Lin Sa trends online and makes her way into racing, overcoming one challenge after another. In the end, she wins glory and finds love. 61Reads—Score10414d adds
- 3 Hook in the Mist 迷雾之钩 The mist over Qinglan Reservoir never lifts. A pendant and fishhook engraved with the date 1962.7.15 don’t catch fish; they catch the living and the dead. Three years ago, documentary photographer Shen Bozhou’s heart stopped for ten minutes when he jumped into the reservoir to save his partner, who had plunged into the water under mysterious circumstances. Ever since, he has been haunted by visions from beneath the surface. Now he has returned to finish the film he left incomplete, only to find —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 4 The Midnight Spirit Medium 午夜问米人 Before my grandfather died, he handed me a bag of moldy rice and said that our family had been asking rice questions for three generations, but the tradition had to end with me. I asked why. He only said, “Because some things, once you ask about them, you can never come back.” I didn't listen. I took the bag of rice. On my first night asking the rice, I asked about Liu, the widow who had hanged herself at the end of the alley three years ago. The rice spun three times in the bowl, then stood 72Reads—Score—14d adds
- 5 Tales of the Haunted Temple 鬼庙怪谈 A haunted temple swallowed an entire village. I thought it was all just a natural disaster and human misfortune. I never expected that it had all started because of me. 177Reads—Score—14d adds
- 6 Don't Read If You're a Coward! One Ghost Story Every Day! 胆小勿进！每天一个鬼故事！ A series of urban ghost stories Every chapter tells a different tale There’s sure to be one you’ll enjoy When the novels you’re following haven’t updated yet Read some urban ghost stories in the meantime 4Reads—Score—14d adds
- 7 Going to the Countryside to Collect Ghosts: A Feng Shui Master for Just 9.9 Yuan, Shipping Included 下乡收诡：九块九包邮的风水师 A supernatural resurgence? No, feng shui has gone wrong. A forty-year-old fat man will help you deal with ghosts for just 9.9 yuan. He contains them; while others talk about karma, he talks about money. With his compass and geomancy, he examines the water outlets of burial sites and the baleful energy in the earth’s veins: the ancient well in Tonghua Village, the old house in Huang Village, the looping ghostly shadows at the old ferry, the mountain range where a grave was relocated, the yin ener —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 8 Ghost Tattoo Seal, Forbidden Arts of the Yellow Springs 鬼纹印，黄泉禁术 From the start, he was bound in marriage to a ghost. After a series of twists and turns, he met a master. To stay alive, Yin Linchuan followed an old Taoist priest to catch ghosts and ward off evil, slaying demons and vanquishing monsters. From then on, he embarked on the path of catching ghosts and driving away evil... —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 9 Mount Yin of the Forsaken: Raising Fiends in Coffin Mountain, Commanding the Underworld Winds 绝户阴山：棺山养煞，我掌阴间风 My name is Chen Jiu, and I was born in Juehu Yin Mountain. After my grandfather died, I became the new guardian of the Coffin Mountain, raising evil spirits. With a whole repertoire of feng shui secrets and a peachwood sword, I slay the Yellow Immortal, seal yin coffins, venture into ancient tombs, and break deadly curses. Everyone in the village fears me, curses me, and wants me gone. Only my brother Gou Sheng dares to risk his life alongside me. When evil spirits come, I’ll slaughter them un —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 10 A Collection of 365 Strange Tales and Horror Stories 365个奇闻异事和恐怖故事合集 This is a series of short horror stories. The writing isn't the focus; it's all about telling the stories. [Standalone stories + horrors that grow worse the more you think about them + mystery and the supernatural + urban legends + haunted homes + folk tales + strange tales + feng shui and mysticism] Are you ready? When night falls, these terrifying stories will begin crawling into the ears of the living... 731Reads—Score—14d adds
- 11 One Chilling Story Every Night 每晚一个惊魂故事 [One story per chapter] [Chinese-style horror] [Folk tales] [Urban vengeful spirits] [Haunted houses] [No main plot] Collected and adapted fictional tales of terror from all over, one story per chapter, each one different. No grand lectures, just bone-chilling tales rooted in everyday life. All adapted from strange folk tales passed down for years. They sound true, and the more you think about them, the more unsettling they get. Great for unwinding, but don't try to “unwind” alone in the dead of 1.1kReads—Score10314d adds
- 12 The Prison of Hair 发丝之狱 Prison of Hair —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 13 Growing Back a Severed Finger 断指增殖 Severed Finger Proliferation —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 14 Midnight Terror: Tales of the Supernatural 午夜惊魂：民间鬼事录 [Folk Taboos + Rural Ghost Stories + Episodic Tales + Chilling on Second Thought] The village elders say that some things are better believed than dismissed. Liu Er, a bachelor, picked up a red wedding dress. That very night, he heard the sound of a suona, and a faceless bride knocked on his door and said, “Liu Er, I’ve come to marry you.” Before a dead person is buried, the guiding candle at the head of the coffin must never go out. Old Liu Guang died, the candle went out, and a crack appeared 4kReads—Score16814d adds
- 15 Crossing the Calamity in Seven Days 七日渡厄 My name is Lin Ye. I’m a struggling author who makes a living writing rule-based horror stories. Then I receive an anonymous email. It contains nothing but a yellowed Republican-era theater ticket and a single line: “Come to the Du’e Theater within seven days, or the ‘rules’ you write will become the way you die.” The moment I step into the theater, time across the entire city begins looping in seven-day cycles. I wrote, “Don’t look in the mirror at midnight,” and the next day someone sees th 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 16 Cold Case Pursuit: The Workplace Abyss and the Silver-Haired Trap 悬案追凶：职场深渊与银发陷阱 The fatal fall from the rooftop wasn't suicide. Workplace bullying was just a cover! I, Lin Yan, a criminal investigation team captain, uncovered the truth: a 500,000-yuan loan, deleted surveillance footage, nursing-home residents, and exploited workers were all pawns in a silver-haired scam syndicate's scheme to rake in money! The mastermind not only controls the fraud network, but also has powerful protectors who can cover the whole sky... I take on the cover-up head-on and tear down those pro —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 17 Midnight Convenience Store: Every Sale Sets Fate in Motion 午夜便利店：售出即因果 I inherited my grandmother’s convenience store, a shop that only opens at midnight. It doesn’t sell water or food. It only sells old objects tainted by karma. Old combs, old wallets, old rings… Every item conceals a life and a trail of sins… Buy an item, and you must bear the consequences of your own misdeeds. I’m cold and taciturn. I never sympathize, and I never go easy on anyone. Some beg for mercy through their tears; others kneel and repent. I simply say: All sales are final. You bear the c 12Reads—Score—14d adds
- 18 The Dragon-Locking Well: Snakebone Town 锁龙井：蛇骨镇 The Dragon-Locking Well: Snakebone Town —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 19 Grave Keeper 墓吏 There are Buddhas and Daoists, immortals and ghosts, humans and demons, good and evil, black and white. I vow not to become a Buddha until Hell is empty; I vow not to become an immortal until the Ghost Path is no more! 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 20 Strange Tales: Once Upon a Time, There Was a Peach Blossom Spring 怪谈：从前有座桃花源 [Supernatural + One True Female Lead + Sequences + Sci-Fi Style + Not a Power Fantasy + Not Mindless + Games + Some Urban Legends] Urban legends are appearing all over the world. As spiritual qi revival begins, humanity is feeling its way toward an entirely different path to immortality. Have you ever memorized “The Peach Blossom Spring”? If so, do you really understand it? Why is the town surrounded by endless peach blossoms? Peach wood wards off evil. Look at those falling petals: don’t they r 3Reads6.7Score114d adds
- 21 The Horror Never Ends 恐怖不断到来 Ghosts are real if you believe in them, and nonexistent if you don't! Unemployed, I stumbled into a fancy supermarket by chance. The beautiful owner offered me a high salary and great benefits, with just one requirement: I had to protect her around the clock! From then on, one eerie event followed another, and terror kept closing in. It turned out everything was because of... 1.3kReads5.0Score13014d adds
- 22 The Water Ghost 水鬼 Water Ghost 8Reads—Score—14d adds
- 23 Strange Tales from the Countryside 乡村诡故事 Before you start this book, a warning: if you scare easily, don't read it. If you live alone, be careful. Every short ghost story here is based on an ordinary person's real-life experience. Not a single word is made up. From the damp old alleyways of the south to the frozen, deserted villages of the north; from late-night overtime in office buildings to lights-out in university dorms; the taboos our elders forbade us to talk about, and the moments you dare not dwell on in the middle of the night 119Reads—Score—14d adds
- 24 Chenyu Midnight Teahouse: A Collection of Strange Tales 宸宇午夜茶馆：短篇志怪故事集 Midnight. The tea boils. The lamps dim. When the city falls silent, stories from another world are just beginning. The Midnight Teahouse of Chenyu gathers dozens of Chinese-style tales of the strange and supernatural, told with the easygoing voice of a storyteller in an old teahouse. They unfold strange local happenings, the secrets of old houses, and eerie tales from the streets and alleys. Written in modern vernacular while carrying on the spirit of classical anecdotal tales, these stories wea 8.3kReads—Score43314d adds
- 25 At Midnight, Don't Stay in Room 404 午夜十二点，别住404 After transferring schools, Lin Xiaoman is assigned to the strangest dormitory of all: Room 404. On the first night, she sees a pair of soaking-wet slippers beneath her bed, but no one admits they belong to her. On the second night, the shared clock turns counterclockwise and stops at the moment Senior Chu fell from the building three years ago. On the third night, her reflection in the bathroom mirror moves three seconds behind her, and unfamiliar bloody marks appear on her wrist. Her roommates 23Reads—Score—14d adds
- 26 A Corrupted Heart 糜烂之心 Deep inside the Luocheng Police Department, a metal filing cabinet labeled “Bloodstained Files” holds dozens of long-unsolved, grisly cases. Each one once shocked the nation with its bizarre deaths, but limited forensic technology at the time meant they were ultimately filed away as “unsolved.” In 2025, advances in forensic science prompted the department to launch the “Bloodstained Files Resolution Project.” The first case to be reopened was the most controversial of them all: the “Terrifying P 42Reads—Score—14d adds
- 27 Bureau 749: A Yin Messenger on the Road to the Underworld 749局：黄泉走阴人 There is an organization that exists only in the darkness: Bureau 749. Founded in 1974, with no records and no official status, it is made up of scientists and people with supernatural abilities. It handles the dirtiest, most sinister, most forbidden affairs in the human world. Ghost soldiers march through the night, leaving nothing but empty skins in an entire village. The White God of Wealth kills anyone who worships him, taking their souls to feed evil. An ancient Buddha opens its mouth to de 5Reads—Score—14d adds
- 28 Hounded by a Thousand Evils: Keep Your Distance 万邪缠身：生人勿近 The Exorcist Pavilion sits at the corner of an old alley. Ordinary people are not welcome, and it only takes cases involving people plagued by evil spirits. A red-clad ghost in an ancient well, a legless woman in an elevator, a slit wrist in the mirror, sobbing in a karaoke room, a bloody birth chart in a wardrobe, a shadow in the break room... Miaojiang gu sorcery, corpse-driving Taoists, and Nanyang black magic all take turns appearing. Jiang Xun: As long as you can pay the price, I'll snatch —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 29 Where Love Runs Deep, Spirits Stir 情深则灵 Jiang Xiaomao has a secret: he’s discovered that his desires can get people killed. As he gradually awakens supernatural abilities during paranormal events, he also realizes that he’s been corrupted. What should he do? —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 30 The Nightmare Apartment [Dark Comedy] 恶梦公寓【黑色幽默】 [Horror, paranormal, infinite flow, pure horror with no humor] [Realistic instances with richly developed backstories] My name is Chen Lin. The story begins one night when I get a distress call from my younger sister. It isn't until I enter an ancient castle with four people of unknown origins that I realize what a terrifying, desperate world lies hidden beneath our own... “There's no such thing as undeserved good fortune. The source of the light is the true essence of evil.” “When you read this —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 31 Death Sacrifice 死祭 True Experiences ✖️ Traditional Supernatural Tales ✖️ Horror Late one night, I got a call from an unknown number. A hoarse voice whispered, “There's someone under your bed.” I looked in terror, but there was nothing there. After that, the phone rang at the same time every night, repeating the same words. Then, on the third night, I found a trail of footprints under the bed that weren't mine. And from the other end of the phone, I heard my own voice... 224Reads—Score—14d adds
- 32 The Strange Case Files 诡局录 [No System + No Cultivation + No Foolish Protagonist + Traditional Supernatural Horror + Mystery and Suspense] My name is Shang Tian, and I’m a man cursed by an evil spirit. It was a lottery ticket that should never have existed. Its dark, yellow-black background looked soaked in old blood and night; the glaring red lettering wasn’t a set of lucky numbers, but an invitation to hell. When I scratched it off, overjoyed and thinking I’d found a lifeline to a hundred-thousand-yuan jackpot, my finge 8Reads—Score—14d adds
- 33 Urban Corpse Whisperer: Starting with Nanyang Black Magic 都市尸语者：从南洋降头开始 At midnight, a corpse suddenly sat up in the morgue. I pulled out my family's heirloom copper-coin sword. “It's not a corpse turning into a zombie,” I said, staring at the golden thread beneath the corpse's fingernails. “It's a Golden Silkworm Gu.” The jade bangle the family had brought shattered without warning, and a swarm of wriggling Gu worms poured out. “Don't touch it! The jade has broken, and the Gu is loose. It's looking for a new Host!” The orderly ignored my warning and reached out. Wo 6Reads—Score—14d adds
- 34 Ghostly Tales from Fengdu 丰都鬼事 In her previous life, young artist Lin Wan set out alone for the fabled ghost city of Fengdu to search for her missing older sister, Lin Zhixia. Naively, she trusted the seemingly kind innkeeper and local gentry, unaware that she had stepped into a carefully laid trap. Coveted for her yin constitution, she was ultimately sacrificed in an old mansion behind Fengdu's famous mountain by the so-called “good Samaritans” to a traitor in the underworld who had disguised himself as Black Impermanence. H 4Reads—Score—14d adds
- 35 Ghosts Knock at Midnight! 半夜鬼敲门！ Zhou Ming moved into an old, cheap apartment, unaware that it concealed a terrifying secret from twenty years ago. Every night at midnight, three knocks sounded on his door, right on time. But when he looked through the peephole, no one was there. Then, one rainy night, he looked through the peephole and saw a twisted, misshapen face staring fixedly at him… As he investigated further, Zhou Ming discovered that the apartment had once been home to Lin Xiaowan, a girl who had gone missing. Her d 17Reads—Score—14d adds
- 36 After a Rich Girl Set Me Up, I Revealed My True Identity 被富家女算计后，我亮出真身份 After a rich heiress set me up, I revealed my true identity 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 37 Specimens from a Dark Alley 暗巷标本集 A collection of mysterious, bizarre tales where dreams and reality intertwine. What lies hidden behind each story? Each chapter in this book is a story of its own, drawing us into boundless imagination. 4Reads—Score—14d adds
- 38 Forbidden Rules of the Haunted School 恐怖校园禁忌 These words themselves are supernatural. Many of these stories happened to me or to people around me, and the schools are real, too. You may not believe in ghosts, but that doesn’t mean you’ve never encountered one. An old Taoist priest in a tattered robe stroked her head. “A demon child has been born into the world. All living things will suffer. Disciple, go down the mountain now.” 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 39 Grudge-Locked Patterns 怨气锁纹 Dai Xiaochao, the protagonist, is a college graduate in architecture from the 1990s. Under heavy financial pressure, he moves into a tenement building where a locked-room murder took place two years earlier. Surveillance was scarce in those days, so the police had to investigate door to door, and the case made little progress. Then the ancient Taotie jade pendant inherited by Dai Xiaochao’s family, along with its Taotie patterns, begins to react... And that is where the story begins. 5Reads—Score—14d adds
- 40 A Multitude of Horror Worlds 多重恐怖世界 [A Little Spooky, Infinite-Flow!] [Multiple Characters, Ensemble Cast] [A Fresh Story!] [Not mindless, but the protagonist does occasionally massacre enemies with style!] [Logical, no System] An evil spirit in the closet, a dismembered girl, a vengeful ghost that comes for you every night. Thrown into one terrifying world after another, each time escaping death by a hair's breadth. You overcome your fear, but fear never goes away. It clings to your mind like a worm in your bones... [There is con 1.8kReads—Score16214d adds
- 41 Northeastern China’s Coffin Bearer 东北抬棺匠 In the old days, evil spirits ran rampant across the Northeast, and immortal beings roamed everywhere. It was common for the dead to lie in their coffins, impossible to carry out. I was the most renowned coffin master for miles around, the last Coffin-Carrying Heavenly King. With half a copy of the Coffin Spirit Register in hand, I had seen every evil coffin under heaven. The coffin of a doomed life, the coffin of a violent death, the coffin of resentment, the coffin of hatred, the coffin of mis 577Reads—Score—14d adds
- 42 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
- 43 Notes on Strange Folk Tales 民间诡事札记 The countryside hides the strangest legends and lays bare the truest depths of the human heart. A single red embroidered shoe beneath an old pagoda tree holds a grievance and a hatred left unspoken. A strange peddler knocking at the door in the dead of night carries no ordinary goods in his pack, only old stories frosted over with time. A bronze mirror rising from an ancient well can reflect ghosts, but not the depths of the human heart... These curious tales scattered across bustling streets an 67Reads—Score—14d adds
- 44 Shattered Yin-Yang Jade 阴阳玉碎 [Supernatural + horror + suspense + first person + no idiots in the story + clever protagonist + a touch of angst] "I'm turning eighteen soon. I should die, too." Yu Yue and I are twin sisters, born eighteen years ago on Ghost Festival. A fortune-teller gave us each a jade pendant and said that on our eighteenth birthday, whoever's pendant broke would die. We're seventeen now, and suddenly both pendants have shattered. How can we possibly survive? 39Reads—Score—14d adds
- 45 Super Scary: Spine-Chilling Horror Stories 超级恐怖：耸人听闻的恐怖故事 [Traditional Supernatural Tales] [Chinese-Style Horror] [Reader Submissions] [Chilling on Second Thought] [Strange Stories] [Plainspoken Storytelling] [No Fancy Prose] [A New Protagonist Every Chapter to Keep You Immersed] I pieced these stories together bit by bit from old folks around the country, private messages from netizens, and country gossip. They're all little ghost stories I heard before bed. I've rewritten them in plain, easy-to-follow language without beating around the bush. I just 6Reads—Score—14d adds
- 46 Afterlife Notes Bonus Story: Rouge Well 还魂笔记番外篇：胭脂井 Afterlife Notes: Bonus Story: The Rouge Well —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 47 Chinese-Style Horror Stories 中式恐怖小说 30Reads—Score—14d adds
- 48 A Ghost Lurks in My Right Eye: A Decade-Old Murder Hidden in the Old Building's Brick Wall 右眼栖鬼：老楼砖墙藏十年命案 A Ghost Dwells in Her Right Eye: A Decade-Old Murder Hidden in the Bricks of an Old Building 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 49 The Northern School Yin-Yang Master 北派阴阳师 I'm a corpse carrier and a second-rate Taoist. My father refined my mother into a Yin child to bring him wealth, and now he wants to make me disappear for good. The only person I've ever truly been at odds with is my father, the old fraud known as Chen Banxian... 160Reads—Score—14d adds
- 50 The Haunting Broadcast 诡异广播 This is my first novel, and my writing still needs work. I’ve put a lot of thought into the plot, and I definitely won’t use AI. Read it if you like, and thank you! Updates will be irregular. I’m Little Black Umbrella. 1Reads—Score—14d adds
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