I’ve come to accept that I have a type when it comes to books, and that type is weird, unsettling and unexpected. These books can be from any genre, and I do tend to read quite broadly these days, having broken out of my fantasy comfort zone. I love the feeling of being disoriented by a book, and having no clue where it is all going. Here in this post I’ve chosen a few of my favourites of all time.
Over the years I’ve accumulated an entire Goodreads shelf dedicated to weird books (you can find it here!), and while not all of them have been successful, some have become all-time favourites. If you’re looking to try something a little different, then these are some of the books I’d recommend.
Bunny by Mona Awad
If I had to choose one novel that perfectly captures my taste in weird fiction, it might be Bunny. In fact, for many years I considered this my favourite book, although it has recently been dethroned by Anna Karenina.
This book is a (for me at least), highly relatable dark satire of academia gradually descends into something much stranger. You don’t quite know what is real and what isn’t, and it makes you want to head straight to Reddit for theories (which I did!).
An unfortunate footnote to this recommendation is that I didn’t really enjoy the sequel, We Love You, Bunny, as I felt it killed a lot of the intrigue and ambiguity from Bunny.
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
This is a story of grief, and losing someone in front of your eyes, starting when a marine biologist returns home after a deep-sea mission that went catastrophically wrong. I loved the lack of certainty about what happened and found this to be a really moving read.
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
A giant talking cat. (I was sold immediately at this point!). The Devil arriving in Moscow. A novel within a novel.
The Master and Margarita is one of the strangest classics I’ve ever read and also one of the funniest. Beneath the absurdity and supernatural chaos lies a sharp satire of Stalinist Russia, with surreal representation of the surveillance and fear that shaped everyday life.
I really couldn’t believe that it was willing to go quite as far as it did and for that it was a clear 5-star read.
Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata
I love short story collections, particularly when they are as bold and fascinating as this one. Sayaka Murata explored bodies, societal expectations, and realtionships in a series of bizarre ways, such as using human remains for decoration, and cannibalism.
Rouge by Mona Awad
Apparently I can’t write a list of favourite weird books without including Mona Awad twice.
Rouge is a surreal exploration of beauty culture and a painful mother-daughter relationship. Parts of it are glamorous and others are straight-up baffling. I do think this is the book that had me utterly confused the most. And Tom Cruise features in the most bizarre cameo of all time.
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa
This is one of the most haunting books I have read. It’s about a place where things regularly disappear and are erased from the collective memory, including the word itself. This is enforced by the unnerving Memory Police and the surveillance aspect is particularly chilling. I loved this book so much I bought multiple copies to give away.
Lanark by Alasdair Gray
I almost feel obligated to include Lanark on any list of favourite weird books, because I feel it does not get enough hype in bookish spaces. Also I am Scottish so I so feel a strong connection to it, as well as it being genuinely brilliant!
It’s an unsettling dystopian fever dream novel, set in both the strange city of Unthank, a surreal version of Glasgow, and also real-life Scotland. The book is completely unconventional with its structure: it begins with Book 3 immediately after the prologue. As this was one of the first books that got me back into reading (the truth is, I picked it up on a whim without knowing much and was hooked!), I will have a soft spot for it forever.
Honourable Mentions
There are plenty of other very weird books on my shelves such as:
- The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka- a classic and a brilliant read. I wasn’t expecting to feel so impacted by this well-known story!
- Revenge by Yoko Ogawa- a collection of interconnected dark stories which are odd and unsettling.
- The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez- similarly, I adored this chilling short story collection.
- The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi- a fascinating read with the tantalising premise of being able to learn languages extremely fast. But there’s a catch (obviously).
Why I Love Weird Fiction
Although I read quite broadly, something I’ve been thinking about recently is how much I appreciate books that take risks. Some of the weird books I have read have absolutely not worked for me but I still appreciate the author being willing to go there, even if they (in my humble opinion) come up a bit short. Even some of my least favourite weird books are still very memorable (I’m looking at you, A Touch of Jen). Years later, I will probably forget the details of a perfectly reasonable fantasy book but somehow I don’t forget the woman trying to get it on with a merman.
I hope you find some new favourites from this list!
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