Novels like The Forbidden Gate
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as The Forbidden Gate, best match first.
- 51 The Republic-Era Book of Mysteries 民国诡秘录 Sometimes, the one who takes your life isn’t a person at all, but an evil spirit or demon. And the one controlling those spirits from behind the scenes might well be human... In the chaotic Republican era, foreign powers encircled the nation, eager to invade China, while warlords fought among themselves at home, leaving the land in ruins. On the other side of the jianghu, evil spirits rose everywhere and ghosts ran rampant, while mysterious foreign religions invaded as well. After waking from a 907Reads—Score105Shelves
- 52 Major Crimes Unit Three: The Borrowed Corpse 重案三组之借尸还魂 Three bizarre murder cases, each victim wearing a strange smile. Through deep psychological profiling, forensic pathologist Song Ci discovers that each victim’s final actions imitated a tiny habitual gesture their long-deceased relative used to make. Bai Ye’s technical analysis confirms that traces of brain waves that could not belong to the living, already “formatted,” remain at the crime scenes... 2Reads—Score—Shelves
- 53 Walking Between Yin and Yang 行走阴阳 To carry on the family line, Grandma forcibly brought home a madwoman... Ten years later, someone came to our door and delivered five bright red coffins, each bearing the name of a member of our family... 2.8kReads8.7Score257Shelves
- 54 The First-Eye Feng Shui Master 第一天眼风水师 This is not your typical feng shui story. If that bothers you, please move along. Inside you’ll find the most terrifying human demons and ghosts, horrifying infant spirits, bewitching female ghosts, thousand-year-old flood dragons, and even a ghastly face that will make your heart race... There are no tired formulas here, so be patient. The further you read, the better it gets… The story begins on the day I was born. On the day of my birth, every last one of the chickens and ducks my family k 17.7kReads8.9Score1kShelves
- 55 Midnight Terror: The Strange Radio Broadcast 午夜惊魂之电波诡事 In the winter of 1998, Liu Siyang, a broadcasting college graduate, was assigned to Shengjing Radio. He took over a long-dormant late-night program, named it Midnight Frights, and set out to tell the insomniacs of this old industrial city some unusual stories over the midnight airwaves. He unearthed three bizarre cases from the radio station’s archives and old police files: the sweeping sounds that never ceased after the death of “Big Black Tooth,” the library’s caretaker; the green powder stuff 37Reads—Score—Shelves
- 56 A Feng Shui Master with a Bachelor's Degree, Class of 2000 00后本科风水师 [The rating has just come out and will rise later. Updates are steady, so you can read with confidence, friends!] [Small-town supernatural tales + true experiences + folk legends + ensemble cast + thrilling adventures] I'm Fang Kai, a feng shui practitioner with a bachelor's degree, born in the 2000s. I never dreamed that after graduating from college, I'd end up on the path of catching ghosts. Think ghost-catching is all about fighting and killing? Wrong. It's just as much about dealing with pe 5.1kReads8.6Score377Shelves
- 57 The Destined Immortal-Boned Female Face Reader 天命仙骨女相师 I was born with the bones of a phoenix. Chen the Half-Immortal, who had spent half his life telling fortunes in the village, said I was the reincarnation of the living Bodhisattva worshipped in the village shrine. That was why I had a natural gift for discerning yin from yang and driving out ghosts and spirits. But before I turned six, I was an idiot, because someone had stolen my spiritual root with a forbidden art that defied heaven. Only after a master who came to ask my adoptive mother for h 245Reads9.3Score206Shelves
- 58 The True Story of a Haunted House Sleep Tester 我,一名凶宅试睡员的真实经历 If there were a job where you didn’t have to do anything, but could charge by the minute and make a fortune just by sleeping, would you be interested in trying it? There’s just one catch: you can’t be afraid of ghosts. If you’re curious about what kind of job this is, I’m a veteran in the field, and I’ll tell you about my own experiences… 3kReads8.3Score203Shelves
- 59 The Real Heiress Was Reunited with Her Family, Only to Turn Out to Be a Mystical Arts Master? 真千金被认回后竟是玄门大佬? [The Male Lead Appears Late! Very Late!] Eighteen years ago, twin sisters were switched at the Nan family maternity ward. Nan Zhi, who should have been cherished as the family's darling, grew up in a remote Taoist temple and became the youngest and most mysterious fifth-rank Celestial Master in the mystic world. She has never failed to exorcise evil spirits or suppress sinister forces, and can wield talismans and formations with ease. The cinnabar mark on her palm is proof of her ability to trav 22.1kReads8.8Score3.7kShelves
- 60 The Coffin Walks at Night 灵棺夜行 I was carrying a coffin up the mountain for a burial when they stuffed me inside and buried me alive. Then, in a single night, all three hundred or so people in the village vanished. Only at night was the place alive with voices. I crawled out of the coffin, only to discover... 5.8kReads8.2Score366Shelves
- 61 The Maltese Falcon 马耳他之鹰 One job, two murders, three groups on his trail, four factions. On a foggy night in San Francisco, private detective Sam Spade is drawn into a deadly con revolving around a priceless black falcon statuette. A beautiful woman, swindlers, hitmen, wealthy businessmen: everyone has an agenda, and danger lurks at every turn. When the truth strips away the disguises, and love collides with principle, he must make the most ruthless choice. No warmth, no redemption, just the truth, hard-boiled to the en 35Reads8.5Score—Shelves
- 62 Haunted Taoist Temple: I Only Hunt the Most Ominous Things 恐怖道观:我只抓大凶之物 “My good apprentice, you've completed your training. You may leave the mountain now.” “Rest assured, Master. Once I descend the mountain, I will vanquish demons and exorcise evil, restoring the glory of our Daoist tradition!” “To temper your character, I have a small test for you.” “I won't let you down, Master!” “Excellent. There's a young woman down the mountain. Go marry her!” “What?!” … 3.3kReads8.9Score354Shelves
- 63 The Deadly Neighbor at Midnight 午夜凶邻 The Neighbor from Hell at Midnight 121Reads—Score—Shelves
- 64 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—Shelves
- 65 Hush! It's Here 嘘!它来了 Stray cats appear on campus, awakening a curse of murder sealed away for fifty years. Long ago, cats protected the school by killing rats, but when their numbers grew too large, they were burned alive. Their resentment coalesced into a nine-lived shadow cat. It uses humans to wreak havoc, draining the vitality of the living in a blood sacrifice to avenge its burning. Strange incidents, gruesome deaths, vengeful spirits demanding lives night after night: the only way to survive is to destroy all 182Reads—Score—Shelves
- 66 The Heavenly Coffin Comes to Town: Living Must Keep Away 天棺出巡,活人回避 The year Jiangnan suffered a terrible drought, a coffin was dredged up from the river. From that day on, torrential winds and rain battered the region for a month. Floodwaters surged, swallowing countless towns and cities. I was ten that year. More than a dozen red Hongqi cars with Beijing plates, along with rows of luxury cars, arrived in our little town. I don’t know how many important people knelt outside my home, begging my grandfather to stop the floods... [Folk customs, feng shui. A coffin 8.6kReads8.8Score792Shelves
- 67 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… 51.2kReads9.2Score5.1kShelves
- 68 What If the Campus Belle Turns Into a Zombie? No Worries, I'm the Perfect Person for the Job 校花尸变咋办?不怕!我专业对口 [Supernatural + horror + urban legends + ghost stories + invincible protagonist + one heroine] What should you do if your school-beauty deskmate turns into a corpse during class? She’s probably faking it. Just give her a kiss. Huh? She’s not faking it??? Lu Jiuyang was utterly baffled. One moment, he was the last Celestial Master of Maoshan, battling a tide of countless ghosts and sealing the demons with his own body. The next, he had been reborn as an ordinary high school freshman. This 190.3kReads8.4Score26.9kShelves
- 69 The Day I Left My Master, I Banged My Head and Killed My Entire Family 出师当天,我一头磕死满院亲人 A yellow weasel weeps at a grave, a dead woman gives birth. A sinister, uncanny world of curse magic unfolds... 2.5kReads8.9Score329Shelves
- 70 The Cursed Girl with a Doomed Fate 诡命煞女 Ever since I was little, I was a child my mother hated. Born with an overwhelming concentration of the Seven Sha, I made every demon and monster flee at the sight of me. It wasn’t until I was twelve that I learned the truth: my birth had been part of a massive conspiracy... 10.2kReads9.2Score1.1kShelves
- 71 The Vengeful Spirit Notebook 凶灵笔记 I've slept in a coffin since I was little. It wasn't until the woman in red appeared that I learned the truth. I was born on Ghost Festival. I don't want to die. 1.3kReads8.7Score223Shelves
- 72 Strange Happenings in the Ancient City 古城诡事 A mysterious phone call full of suspense and a childhood friend he hasn't seen in years draw him into a dangerous web of intrigue. Following the clues, he steps into one carefully laid trap after another. His friend, returned from the dead, Qin Zhijie, who clings to him relentlessly and seems neither wholly good nor wholly evil, and Shangguan Wan'er, whose identity is shrouded in mystery, all vanish without a trace at the most crucial moments. Why did Da Kui, who had braved life and death, come 50Reads8.8Score—Shelves
- 73 Borrowing Yin Lifespan 借阴寿 Have you ever slept wearing burial clothes? Don’t try it. I did once, and that night... My name is Li Yiliang. I was born with a shortened lifespan, and my birth caused my mother to die in childbirth. But one night when I was eighteen, my mother came back and said she wanted to take me with her... My grandfather told me to sleep in burial clothes, then gave his own life to help me escape that fate. From then on, my life was never free of strange and uncanny things... 4.7kReads8.9Score411Shelves
- 74 Back to 1985: Don't Call Me Comrade, Call Me Husband! 重回85叫什么同志叫老公! In Northeast China in 1985, an era known as the darkest of times: a young man, a hunting rifle, a heart full of passion, and a jianghu shrouded in gun smoke... In an age when might makes right, a man’s fierce devotion and true-to-life nature are what it takes to get ahead in the Northeast. A period novel, the rise of an ordinary man, one heroine, dual transmigration. 11.1kReads9.1Score811Shelves
- 75 I'm Just a Village Doctor, Is It Really So Strange That I Know the Thirteen Ghost Gate Needles? 我一个村医会鬼门十三针很合理吧 After his grandfather died, Chen Mo returned from the city hospital to his village and became its new barefoot doctor. Who says a barefoot doctor can’t amount to anything? Surrounded by beautiful mountains and rivers, with no nine-to-five grind or mortgage, he can turn his hometown into a paradise. Northeastern customs, everyday stories, and local life: it’s all here. Urban daily life, one heroine, no System, just little stories to enjoy over tea. This book is also known as The Years I Served as 15.7kReads9.1Score1.5kShelves
- 76 The Maoshan Celestial Master's Art 茅山天师诀 [Maoshan Taoist arts] [Urban ghost-hunting] [Folklore and strange tales] [Chinese cosmic horror] Lu Xiaoyang, an heir to the Maoshan tradition, drank blood instead of milk for his first taste of anything after birth. After enduring three calamities and nine tribulations, he was personally appointed “Judge of the Living” by King Yama. To avoid becoming the son-in-law of the Great Emperor of Mount Tai, Lu Xiaoyang heads to the city to find the woman he was betrothed to as a child, only to be dumpe 16.1kReads8.1Score1.6kShelves
- 77 The Ghost Way, Midway Through Life 半路鬼道 Smart male lead + one heroine On the night of the Ghost Festival, the living send off the dead, burn incense, make offerings, and burn joss paper. But that night, I heard a ghost calling for a soul… The gong sounds, the night grows dark, and the road to the Yellow Springs is hard to travel… With talismans to guide the way and the departed to show the path, summon the gods and command the ghosts: only then can one master the Ghost Path between Yin and Yang! 6.6kReads8.9Score486Shelves
- 78 The Ghost Physiognomist in Hemp Robes 麻衣鬼相 Some say it's difficult to understand another person, but to a face reader, understanding someone is easy. Others say you can't judge a person by appearances. I think it depends on who's doing the judging. My grandfather was a famous face reader of ghosts. He could read disaster and fortune, life and death, heaven and earth, and even uncover a person's past lives and future incarnations. When I was little, egged on by a group of friends, I kicked over the mound of an old grave. Luckily, my grand 1.4kReads8.5Score177Shelves
- 79 The Immortal’s Path of a Funeral Garment Shop Owner 寿衣店老板的修仙路 An Accidental Ghost Cultivator Begins His Path to Immortality Luo Ze is an art teacher at an art training school. After 30 years of teaching, he has become a renowned teacher with students all over the place. After a car accident, he unexpectedly transmigrates 20 years into the past, only to find himself possessing the body of a 19-year-old who runs a funeral clothing shop. While providing someone with a complete funeral service, he unexpectedly acquires an ancient bronze mirror of unknown origi 21Reads—Score—Shelves
- 80 The Ghosts Come Out at Night Series 猛鬼出更系列 The Ferocious Ghosts Come Out at Night Series 140Reads—Score—Shelves
- 81 Uncovering Strange Mysteries and Finding a Way Out 诡事探秘逢生 In Lichong City, four childhood friends who grew up together were enlightened by a Taoist priest when they were young, and each possesses a supernatural ability. After Yang Zhuang got into an online argument, the four were drawn into a supernatural incident at an abandoned hospital in the neighboring city of Huidong. 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 82 I Moved into Dorm 404 and Uncovered a Deadly Campus Mystery 住进404宿舍,我看破校园凶局 Feng shui, the supernatural, campus life, society: everything you're looking for is here! A story is just a story. Even if someone has experienced something similar in real life, I hope you'll still treat this as just a story! Don't get too caught up in it! Finally, may you, dear reader, stay safe and well! 33Reads—Score104Shelves
- 83 In This World, Who Do You Think You Are? 天地间老子在你算老几? On a pitch-black night, I dreamed of countless stars rushing toward me. By chance, I became a haunted-house tester, and all sorts of supernatural phenomena began appearing out of nowhere. The strange and bizarre things in the city, the mysterious forces deep in the mountains, and the gods people worship: do they really exist? Where can I find the key to a new world? Is this a responsibility, a mission, or a chance to become the next scapegoat? What unsolved mysteries lie in the world I inhabit, 57Reads—Score—Shelves
- 84 Stealing a Corpse to Borrow a Life 偷尸借命 The year I was born, strange signs appeared in the sky. That day, many people saw hundreds of ragged prisoners in shackles carrying a huge black coffin toward the forbidden ground behind the mountain. Ten years later, a fortune-telling monk came to our village. He said I had been dead for ten years, and that I was borrowing my life from a corpse. He said I wouldn't live much longer. But before I could die, he suddenly dropped dead. The next day, however, his body, already buried, mysteriously ap 7.5kReads7.8Score915Shelves
- 85 The Spirit Medium's Strange Cases 通灵诡事 Parental love? I have none. From the moment I was born, they wanted to strangle me. Sibling affection? I have none. My own brother calls me a country bumpkin. Friendship with my peers? I have none. Everyone in the village says I'm a demon in human form who eats children. Love? What even is that? The first time I saw Qi Yue, I just thought he looked clean-cut and handsome. The next time I saw him, I found out his mother was the woman who had gone looking for Fourth Auntie years ago. Only now, she 2kReads9.2Score390Shelves
- 86 By the Power of the Law 急急如律令 It all began when I took fifty yuan from a blind fortune-teller. Then, in the middle of the night, a woman's voice suddenly sounded behind me. 1.5kReads8.6Score160Shelves
- 87 Insomniacs' Forbidden Tales: 444 Midnight Ghost Stories 失眠者禁忌:444个午夜鬼谈 A horror anthology with a bonus at the end of every story. I have 444 folk ghost stories guaranteed to keep you awake until midnight, terrify you, make you break out in a cold sweat, and pull the covers over your head! At the end of every chapter, the “Author’s Note” will include an illustration or bonus! But before you open it, brace yourself. The author accepts no responsibility for what happens next! [Supernatural Horror] [Folk Horror] [Rural Ghost Stories] [True Cases] [Urban Oddities] [L 4.2kReads—Score366Shelves
- 88 The Village Guardian, the Wife in the Coffin 守村人,棺中妻 [Fox Wife] + [Traditional Supernatural Horror] + [Mystery and Twists] + [Funny Ensemble Cast] + [Interlocking Plotlines] + [First-Ever Nine-Tailed Fox with Nine Clones] I’m the village’s famous idiot. Of course, that’s what people who don’t know any better call me. Those in the know call me… the village guardian! But my half-baked fortune-teller of a grandfather has a very different opinion from everyone else. He says I’m a kept man who lives off women! Still, I never imagined the woman I’d have 19.4kReads8.8Score1.9kShelves
- 89 The Yellow Springs Pawnshop: No Living Visitors 黄泉典当铺,生人勿近 [Ghost Hunting + Supernatural Horror + Folk Customs + Strange Tales + Taoist Arts + Maoshan] At the end of a street at midnight stands a Yellow Springs Pawnshop. You have no way of knowing whether those who come and go to trade are human or ghost! Lu Guanshan takes over the pawnshop, and on his very first night, he encounters a stunningly beautiful, cold and aloof Ghost Queen hanging from a beam. She latches onto him and stays by his side as they collect yin objects and subdue a hundred ghosts. 5.3kReads6.5Score472Shelves
- 90 Midnight Entry: Clear the Dungeon or Die (Season Two) 午夜入场,副本通关才能活下去(第二季) Midnight Entry: You Can Only Survive by Clearing the Dungeon (Season 2) 2Reads—Score—Shelves
- 91 The Dead Man's Makeup 死人妆 The old folks often say, “Men shouldn’t be born on the first day of the lunar month, and women shouldn’t be born on the fifteenth.” I was born on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, with the fate of an iron broom and a destructive bone marrow. The living despise me, and I bring death to my whole family, yet demons and ghosts have their eyes on me! Because of him, I also broke a taboo and became a woman of yin fate... To save me, my mother-in-law taught me the art of applying makeup to th 2.5kReads9.1Score333Shelves
- 92 Folktales of the Mountains and Wilds 民间山野怪谈 The hidden truths behind ten major unsolved mysteries, revealing a host of terrifying taboos that will send chills down your spine! 14.5kReads9.1Score960Shelves
- 93 Ferryman of the Underworld 黄泉摆渡客 My sister was abused to death by her husband. Even after she died, her resentment kept her from resting in peace. To help her find peace, I became a ferryman traveling between the worlds of the living and the dead. From then on, I strode between yin and yang as if walking atop a hanging coffin. The strong live, the weak die. I will be the one to decide who lives and who dies! 908Reads8.6Score118Shelves
- 94 The Jiang Family's Haunted House and Corpse Marriage Pact 僵家尸宅冥尸婚契 Jiang Si, who was there to watch the show, nearly gets crushed to death. On the brink of life and death, he is sucked into the core of the Nine Dragons Feng Shui Formation and accidentally gains a pair of all-seeing eyes... Before he can even celebrate, a drought demon sets its sights on him... Luckily, at the crucial moment, he is summoned to a bizarre world by an ancient zombie patriarch who has lived for a thousand years... After being welcomed back into the family, he hears, "What! You want 7.5kReads8.3Score908Shelves
- 95 A Man-Eating Monster Asked Me to Marry It. Should I Say Yes? 一个吃人的妖怪,它竟然向我求婚了,要不要答应它 A man-eating monster proposed to me. Should I say yes? 79Reads—Score—Shelves
- 96 I Transmigrated into the World of the Taoist Priest of Zombie 穿越僵尸道长世界 I, Li Zhizhou, transmigrated and became a junior disciple under Uncle Jiu. After awakening the Daoist Cultivation System, I carried all of Maoshan to greatness. Grand Martial Uncle Shi Jian, Martial Uncle Qianhe, and Martial Uncle Simu look at me as if they're about to steal me away as their disciple! Complete all kinds of missions, and you can learn supreme Daoist arts. There are also divine-grade pills, top-tier magic artifacts, and the finest talismans. And so, I became the most gifted discip 1.3kReads—Score110Shelves
- 97 Taboo of the Living 2 活人禁忌2 Heaven Official's Blessing, no taboos under heaven. The second installment of Living People’s Taboos! 8.1kReads9.1Score1.3kShelves
- 98 Infinite Haunting Realms: I Can See Through Lies 无限诡域:我能堪破谎言 [Infinite Flow]+ [No Romance]+ [Original Instances]+ [Mild Horror]+ [Ghosts Kill People]+ [Ghosts in Every Real-World Instance] “Ghosts cannot be killed.” “Humans cannot fight ghosts.” “Ghosts each have their own rules for killing.” A mysterious letter. A door that leads to the unknown. When Li Yu opened the door, one eerie instance after another awaited him. This is the [Ghostly Domain], a world of vengeful ghosts! Will you die in confusion, or be reborn from a nightmare? 155.1kReads8.3Score24.8kShelves
- 99 Suppressing the Dragon 镇龙 For one person, he dug up an ancient grave, broke into a dragon's tomb, and wielded the Yang Sword to slay yin spirits! An heir to a family of secret arts, he joins a group of men and women bound together by fate. Together, they travel far and wide, fighting monsters in the mountains, slaying evil in the cities, breaking into the underworld, and robbing ghost messengers... To change our fate, we defy the heavens! 2.5kReads8.8Score532Shelves
- 100 Grandpa, I Was Reborn, I Swear I'm Not Possessed 爷爷,我是重生,真不是鬼上身 [Traditional Mystery and Supernatural Fiction] [One Female Lead] [Period Novel] [A Funeral Master’s True Accounts] [Northeastern Chinese Funeral Customs] [Rural Life] Adapted into the short drama Eighties Funeral Master (Disclaimer: The folk techniques in this book, including Zhuyou healing rituals, are entirely fictional. Please do not imitate them. The author bears no responsibility for any problems that may arise.) Good grief, I’ve been reborn in 1986, and from the start Grandpa thinks I’m a 59.4kReads9.3Score5kShelves

















































