Novels like Forbidden Strange Tales: The Taboos of the Folk
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as Forbidden Strange Tales: The Taboos of the Folk, best match first.
- 1 Flickering Candlelight on the Eighteenth Floor 十八楼烛影摇曳 Flickering Candlelight on the Eighteenth Floor —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 2 The Ghost Tree 鬼树 He thinks he was born into an ordinary family, yet every corner of the household gives off an eerie feeling. As the eldest grandson of a reclusive, powerful Daoist clan, what terrifying supernatural experiences await him, born with a sinister fate? What lies behind his uniquely strange destiny? What horrifying truth will the shocking mystery in this small village reveal? 16Reads7.0Score—14d adds
- 3 My Benefactor Urged Me to Sign the Inheritance Papers, but My Father, Dead for Ten Years, Knocked Three Times at the Door 恩人催我签遗产，十年前死掉的亲爹却在门外敲了三下 My benefactor urged me to sign the inheritance papers, but then my biological father, who had died ten years ago, knocked three times on the door. —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 4 Listening to Dashua Tell Terrifying Ghost Stories 听大耍讲恐怖鬼故事 [Horror + supernatural + folk tales + stories submitted by readers + plainspoken prose + episodic stories + based on real events] Note: The stories above are adapted from material the author gathered from various sources. All character names are pseudonyms. Believe in science and reject superstition. These stories are for entertainment only. Do not take them seriously!!! 437Reads—Score11714d adds
- 5 She Knows the Other Woman Lives Downstairs 她知道小三住楼下 She Knows the Homewrecker Lives Downstairs —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 6 I Transmigrated into the Horror Novel I Wrote in Middle School 我穿进初中写的恐怖小说 I Was Transported Into the Horror Novel I Wrote in Middle School —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 7 Daily Horror Stories: The Uncanny Invades the Human World 侵入人间每日恐怖故事 [Horror + folk legends + ghost stories + paranormal terror + spine-chilling tales to enjoy with a meal + mysteries + no female lead + short folk horror stories] Read one every day and feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. 90Reads—Score—14d adds
- 8 Strange Tales: The Secret History of Spirit Hauntings 诡事异闻录：灵祟秘史 By chance, the protagonist visits relatives in a remote mountain village, only to find an eerie atmosphere hanging over the place. The villagers behave strangely, and at night there are odd sounds and flickering lights. While investigating, the protagonist discovers an ancient book describing mysterious rituals, setting off a string of supernatural events... —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 9 Five Horror Stories That Will Keep You Up at Night 五个让你不敢熬夜的恐怖故事 Five Horror Stories That Will Make You Afraid to Stay Up Late 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 10 Calling the Dead 喊尸 The worst thing about dying is being left exposed in the wilderness, with no grave to call your own. If your body cannot be recovered and buried, your whole family will never know peace... To carry on the family line, my second uncle brought back a college girl and forced me to consummate the marriage with her, driving her to her death. With no other choice, I joined the corpse-retrieval team to go and bring back her body... 68Reads5.9Score—14d adds
- 11 Jiangcheng Archives 江城档案 The day my grandfather disappeared, he left me a notebook. I’m Jiang Cheng, born during the yin hour, a discharged soldier. I’ve never opened my Third Eye and can’t draw talismans. My only skill is running a little faster than everyone else when ghosts come after me. 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 12 Midnight in the Countryside 午夜乡村 My parents' job transfers sent me to live and study at my grandmother's house. Before bed, she warned me not to go and look, no matter what sounds I heard. From then on, one strange event after another came crashing into my life. Then, one day, my grandmother suddenly told me the secret about who I really was... 550Reads6.8Score—14d adds
- 13 A Collection of Urban Legends and Folktales 民间都市传说合集 This work is a collection of urban legends and folk tales from around the world, mainly introducing how to experience these urban legends. They are all real. After each urban legend, there’s a short story, some real and some fictional. I hope you enjoy them. 178Reads—Score—14d adds
- 14 The Train I Drive Leads to the Abyss 我开的火车通往深渊 My name is Lin Muhai. I'm twenty-one and a trainee train driver at the Ancheng Locomotive Depot. Before my first run, I heard a woman's voice in the crew waiting room. "One sleeper, two sleepers, three sleepers..." She counted to six, then paused. "Lin Muhai, it's your turn to count." 29Reads—Score—14d adds
- 15 The Ghost Fan's Grave: Crossing the Yin-Yang Divide 鬼扇坟之阴阳渡 I saw a ghost for the first time when I was five. Using a ghost fan and a pair of eyes that could see through evil, my grandfather led me into the crack between the worlds of yin and yang. From then on, I became someone who mended fissures, patching up secrets that the living should never see and the dead could never tell. This is a story about eyes that see through evil and a ghost fan, two souls sharing one body and the Six Fiends, sacrifice and protection. From the first ghostly wail in Yinsh 4Reads—Score—14d adds
- 16 Nightmare of Terror: Entering the Haunted World on the Red-Eyed Bus 惊悚噩梦：从红眼巴士进入诡世界 [Infinite flow + ghost survival + mild suspense + horror instances + no romance] “Ghosts cannot be killed. Only ghosts can deal with ghosts. Learn their patterns.” Lin Xi unexpectedly boarded a bus with no driver. The passengers here disappeared at regular intervals, and as more and more vanished, the survivors gradually uncovered the secret to escaping... Possessing a Nightmare Invitation means setting foot on a one-way road. At regular intervals, you are forced into the nightmare world to comp 55Reads—Score—14d adds
- 17 Subduing Evil 镇邪 There are always mysterious things in this world, yet people dismiss them as nonsense. Miaojiang gu poison, corpse-driving in western Hunan, Nanyang curses, the Flowerfall Cave Maiden, shamanic sorcery, and yin-yang demons are all forbidden taboos. You don't have to believe in them, but you must remain in awe. Above all, never profane them! When the taboo soul bell rings out in the sky and ancient horrors quietly awaken, the world teeters on the brink of disaster. Will there still be someone who 637Reads6.2Score—14d adds
- 18 Possession 上身 Ghosts: ethereal, elusive beings! Ghosts: a certainty that exists for those who believe, and not for those who don't! Are ghosts really only around at night? What do they actually look like? The truth is, they're right beside you! 4Reads—Score—14d adds
- 19 The Super Spooky Classroom 超级惊悚教室 At a certain high school, an ordinary afternoon was supposed to mean nothing more than a routine chemistry lesson. No one could have imagined that a terrifying disaster would begin there, and that our lives would never be peaceful again. 5Reads—Score114d adds
- 20 The Person Under the Bed, the Eye on the Wall, the Peeping Tom Outside the Door 床下的人，墙上的眼，门外的窥 The person beneath the bed, the eye on the wall, the peeping outside the door 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 21 The Engineer's Strange Case Files 工程诡录 Please note: This story has no harem, no brainless characters, no overpowered cheat, and uses science instead of mysticism. If that's not your thing, please don't read. A staunch atheist with a PhD in control engineering is unexpectedly sent as a technical consultant to a new factory plagued by strange incidents. One bizarre equipment failure follows another, yet every scientific method he knows proves useless. With only three days left to finish the project, Dr. Qi decides to use scientific ins 1Reads8.0Score—14d adds
- 22 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
- 23 Heirloom Bones: Blood Sacrifice at Yinshan 嗣骨：荫山血祭 (Not recommended for the fainthearted or anyone alone late at night) Li Ming returns to his hometown for a funeral, but the moment he steps into Yinshan Village, everything feels uncanny. Strange noises echo from inside the coffin day and night, while dark red patterns appear beneath his skin and writhe like living things. The ancient well that sustains the village churns with ominous black sludge. Deep within the ancestral hall, inhuman drumbeats and indescribable ancient whispers resound day a 6Reads—Score—14d adds
- 24 Afterlife Notes: The Eyeless Locust Tree Maiden Bonus Story: Blood Silkworm Thread 还魂笔记之无眼槐娘番外：血蚕丝 Afterlife Notes: The Eyeless Locust Tree Maiden Bonus Story: Blood Cocoon Silk 5Reads—Score—14d adds
- 25 Chenyu Midnight Tea House: A Collection of Folk Tales of the Strange 宸宇午夜茶馆：民间志怪故事集 [This is a collection of standalone stories, with one strange tale per episode, divided into several volumes. The volumes are updated in parallel, not one after another. They’re updated together, updated together, updated together.] One pot of hot tea, two realms of yin and yang, and late-night conversations at the third watch. Take a seat in the Midnight Teahous 5.4kReads—Score25514d adds
- 26 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
- 27 Forbidden Tales of the Desolate Village: A Midnight Whistle, and a Shrouded Corpse Spirit at the Door 荒村禁忌：夜半吹哨，白布尸魂找上门 Taboos of the Abandoned Village: A Whistle in the Dead of Night, and a White-Cloth Corpse Spirit Comes Calling —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 28 The Black Dog of Misty Mountain 雾山黑犬 Black Dog of Mist Mountain 11Reads—Score—14d adds
- 29 Twelve Ghosts 十二鬼魂 Twelve Ghosts 17Reads—Score214d adds
- 30 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
- 31 Notes on Returning Souls: The Eyeless Huai Tree Maiden 还魂笔记之无眼槐娘 The plum rains have swollen every brick in Green Tile Alley. When Lin Yan grips her grandmother’s death notice and opens the door to the old house, the sixty-year-old locust tree in the courtyard seems to be watching her through its cracked bark. The year her great-great-grandmother planted it, three children went missing from the alley. During all the years her grandmother kept watch over it, she would bury bloodstained silver locks beneath its roots in the dead of night. The last page of her g 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 32 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
- 33 The Girl in Red from the Village 村寨红衣女孩 The Girl in Red from the Village —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 34 Reincarnation Notes: An Extra Story, The Painted-Skin Debt 还魂笔记番外篇：画皮债 The Reincarnation Notebook: Extra Story: The Painted Skin Debt —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 35 The Temple That Eats People 吃人的庙 The Man-Eating Temple 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 36 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
- 37 After Years of Playing the Charlatan, I Specialize in Treating Beautiful Female Ghosts 做神棍这些年，我专治漂亮女鬼 On the day I was born, my mother had a difficult labor. To save his eldest grandson, my grandfather tore down the family’s front door and found a bloodstained kitchen knife hidden in the doorframe! As the knife came down with a clang, I was born… P.S. This is no run-of-the-mill supernatural story. Expect all kinds of mystery and twists, with a lighthearted, funny take on catching ghosts! 37Reads—Score—14d adds
- 38 This 24-Hour Convenience Store Uses the Living as Shopping Baskets 这家24小时便利店，用活人抵购物篮 This 24-Hour Convenience Store Uses Living People as Shopping Baskets 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 39 The Supernatural Investigation Society 超自然力量诡探社 A detective agency called Supernatural Forces specializes in investigating mysterious cases that science can't explain, while never admitting its existence to outsiders. Male Lead: Li Xiaoming An ordinary human with no talent for the occult and no special bloodline. As a child, he lived in the alleys of the old district and often heard neighbors recount all kinds of strange supernatural happenings. He became determined to uncover the truth behind them. As an adult, he independently studied physi —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 40 Folk Tales 民间故事 Folktales 10Reads—Score—14d adds
- 41 I Earn KPIs in the Underworld 我在阴间赚KPI I woke up after death and found myself working a job in the underworld. Other people’s KPIs are about sales. Mine is about doing evil. Driving people to despair, creating betrayal, harvesting fear: that’s the real currency of the underworld. Rank at the bottom? Your soul gets obliterated. Then I discovered that the reward for becoming the top salesperson is taking the King of Hell’s place. Looking at the evil ghost coworkers around me, willing to do anything for their performance reviews, I smil —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 42 Tales of Folk Ghosts 民间鬼故事说 Each story stands on its own. Leave a comment about what you'd like to read, then pick whichever ones you like. There's no need to read them in order. Some parts are bound to be less well-written, but others may catch your interest, so browse around. 69Reads—Score—14d adds
- 43 Curse of the Sinful Shadow: The Sinner's End 孽影咒怨之罪者的末路 In the shadowy corners of a bustling city, evil grows unchecked like a cancer. Driven by greed, some resort to the most despicable means to line their pockets, while others lose themselves in an abyss of desire, unable to climb out. Little do they know that retribution is already drawing near. Each sin has finally awakened a curse lurking in the unseen world. This is a horror story about evil and retribution. Every sinner pays a terrible price for their misdeeds, while the resentment hidden in t —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 44 I Quit My Job to Feed Ghosts: I Guide Spirits Across with Home-Cooked Meals 辞职喂鬼：我靠一锅烟火气渡魂 Quit My Job to Camp and Feed Hungry Ghosts! A Top Chef Uses the Comfort of Home Cooking to Handle Every Kind of Evil! I quit on the spot! I turned down a million-yuan salary, laid into my greasy boss, tossed my Michelin three-star badge aside, and drove my heavily customized camper van straight into the mountains for a camping trip. Who could've guessed that beneath this perfect campsite was a projection point leading from the mortal realm straight to King Qin Guang's palace in the underworld? W 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 45 Afterlife Notes Bonus Story: Secrets of the Haunted House 还魂笔记番外篇：凶宅秘录 Afterlife Notes: Bonus Story: The Haunted House’s Secret Records —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 46 I Heard of Strange Things That Year: Never Read This Late at Night 那年听闻怪事，千万别深夜翻看 These stories are adapted and fictionalized from various experiences shared by friends. They are written in an accessible style and make for a good way to unwind. A reminder: reject superstition. This is all imaginative fiction. Any similarities to real events are purely coincidental, so don't take it seriously! 11Reads—Score—14d adds
- 47 I Wait for Someone by Day, But Who Do You Wait for at Night? 白日等一人，黑夜你等谁？ “In life, we wait for all kinds of things, big and small. Gradually, people forget what they were waiting for.” I opened a milk tea shop in S City called “Waiting for Someone.” By day, we have bittersweet love stories, and you wait for your beloved. By night, we have eerie urban legends, and you wonder: who are you waiting for? It’s raining in S City again. That mysterious woman with the broad forehead has appeared once more. Is she the one you’ve been waiting for... 6Reads—Score—14d adds
- 48 I Was a Ghost Officer, but Now I Only Want a Promotion 身为鬼差的我，后来只想升官 I wield the Register of the Underworld as a ghost officer, commanding the power to seize souls. Everyone says the King of Hell is the supreme ruler of the netherworld, but to me, he is merely a stepping stone. The underworld is vast, and the Nine Hells are deep. Is that really the limit of my ambition? I want to break the Nine Hells’ shackles, shatter the chains between yin and yang, ascend to the realm of the Great Emperor, and rule the netherworlds of all realms. Only then will my lifelong wis 33Reads6.0Score—14d adds
- 49 The Crimson Flower Cup 血色花盏 Blood-Red Flower Cup —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 50 The Night Shift Clerk's Countdown 《夜班店员的倒计时》 The Night-Shift Clerk's Countdown 2Reads—Score—14d adds
