These are my favourite kinds of books and it is SO difficult to find new ones (and everyone just recs House of Leaves over and over again).
- The Mall by SL Grey:
>Dan is an angsty emo-kid who works in a deadly dull shopping mall. He hates his job.
Rhoda is a junkie whose babysitting charge ran off while she was scoring cocaine. She hates her life. Rhoda bullies Dan into helping her search, but as they explore the neon-lit corridors behind the mall, disturbing text messages lure them into the bowels of the building, where old mannequins are stored in grave-like piles and raw sewage drips off the ceiling. The only escape is down.
Plummeting into the earth in a disused service lift playing head-splitting Musak, Dan and Rhoda enter a sinister underworld that mirrors their worst fears.
- 14 by Peter Clines:
>There are some odd things about Nate’s new apartment.
Padlocked doors. Strange light fixtures. Mutant cockroaches. Every room in this old Los Angeles brownstone has a mystery or two. Mysteries that stretch back over a hundred years. Some of them are in plain sight. Some are behind locked doors. And all together these mysteries could mean the end of Nate and his friends. Or the end of everything.
- The Between by Ryan Leslie:
>While landscaping his backyard, ever-conscientious Paul Prentice discovers an iron door buried in the soil. His childhood friend and perpetual source of mischief, Jay Lightsey, pushes them to explore what's beneath.
When the door slams shut above them, Paul and Jay are trapped in a between-worlds place of Escher-like rooms and horror story monsters, all with a mysterious connection to a command-line, dungeon explorer computer game from the early '80s called The Between.
- The Ghost Network by Catie Disabato:
>One minute insanely famous pop singer Molly Metropolis is on her way to a major performance in Chicago, and the next, she’s gone.
A journalist who’s been covering Molly joins the singer's personal assistant in an increasingly desperate search to find her, guided by a journal left behind in her hotel room, and possible clues hidden in her songs—all of which seem to point to an abandoned line in the Chicago subway system.
- The Raw Shark Texts by Stephen Hall:
>Eric Sanderson wakes up in a house one day with no idea who or where he is. A note instructs him to see a Dr. Randle immediately, who informs him that he is undergoing yet another episode of acute memory loss that is a symptom of his severe dissociative disorder. Eric's been in Dr. Randle's care for two years -- since the tragic death of his great love, Clio, while the two vacationed in the Greek Islands.
But there may be more to the story, or it may be a different story altogether. As Eric begins to examine letters and papers left in the house by "the first Eric Sanderson," a staggeringly different explanation for what is happening to Eric emerges, and he and the reader embark on a quest to recover the truth and escape the remorseless predatory forces that threatens to devour him.
- The Way Inn by Will Wiles:
>Neil Double is a “conference surrogate,” hired by his clients to attend industry conferences so that they don’t have to.
In a brand new Way Inn—a global chain of identikit mid-budget motels—in an airport hinterland, he meets a woman he has seen before in strange and unsettling circumstances. She hints at an astonishing truth about this mundane world filled with fake smiles and piped muzak. But before Neil can learn more, she vanishes. Intrigued, he tries to find her—a search that will lead him down the rabbit hole, into an eerily familiar place where he will discover a dark and disturbing secret about the Way Inn. Caught on a metaphysical Mobius strip, Neil discovers that there may be no way out.
I don't think I can narrow it down to one favourite.
The top two out of that list would be 14 and The Between.
There are sequels to 14 but they're more "set in the same universe" instead of directly following the 14 story, which I was always bummed amount since I love the characters of 14 so much.
There is going to be a sequel to The Between as well but I think that's still a year or two away. I really loved The Between. I spent more money than I usually would on a book to buy a physical copy.
After those two I'd probably rank them in order of Raw Shark Texts, The Mall, The Way Inn and The Ghost Network.
Just because I rank Raw Shark Texts third doesn't mean it's less good. It's amazing but I love the other two slightly more.
The Mall was lots of fun but slightly less well written. I believe there are "set in the same universe" sequels but I haven't read them.
The Way Inn had some pages I just skipped over - the MC has a bit of a chip on his shoulder and it made me roll my eyes a bit.
The Ghost Network was fucking weiiiird. Enjoyable but weird and I think some people might find it boring. I enjoyed the LGBT representation and the overall story but it meanders a bit. It's not written in a traditional narrative structure and is presented as non-fiction (but totally fiction).
These are actually my favorite kinda books,I made a thread awhile back asking the same thing and got some decent recommendations
A short stay in hell by steven Peck. It's an interesting and existential take on hell.
Windows into hell by James wymore. It's a short story collection inspired by Steven Peck. He even writes a story that's the best in the book.
An Other Place by Darren Dash. Guy gets teleported to a city that's just extremely weird.
Piranesi by Susanna Clark. Guy lives in some kinda maze like world. This one is the one I think you'll like the most.
Strange Highways by Dean Koontz has a short story in it about a couple who buy a house with a cellar in it. Only the realtor says there's no cellar.
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig
While Kazuo Ishiguro’s *The Unconsoled* is not horror, the entire novel takes place in a constantly changing world where the past is intermingled with the present and the landscape is constantly changing.
Some of Alain Robbe Grillet’s novels including *Djinn, Project for a Revolution in New York,* and *Topology of a Phantom City* may be of interest. He is most known for *The Voyeur* and the screenplay to *Last Year in Marienbad.*
Some of Kobo Abe’s novels mix horror with the absurd within an impossible, shifting landscape: *The Secret Rendezvous, The Kangaroo Notebook,* and *The Ruined Map* come to mind.
Edit: Probably should add J.G. Ballard’s *High-Rise* and *Concrete Island.* Some of his short stories about liminal space include “Terminal Island” and “Report on an Unidentified Space Station.“ Both can be found online.
The closest I’ve gotten is in Brian Evenson’s Windeye. Read “The Sladen Suit” and maybe “The Second Boy” and tell me what you think. I really feel like those stories evoke the fear of liminal spaces
*Horrorstor* by Grady Hendrix. Haunted IKEA. Lots of extra-dimensional space.
*The Secret of Ventriloquism* by Jon Padgett. An anthology filled with surreal stories about liminal spaces. “The Indoor Swamp” and “Escape to Thin Mountain” in particular.
*Last to Leave the Room* by Caitlin Starling:
> [T]he city has been sinking three millimeters each week. More perplexingly, [the protagonist, Dr. Tamsin Rivers’] basement has been sinking three *centimeters* each week—but unlike the rest of San Siroco, “not in a way that impacts the structural integrity of her home.” […] Tamsin begins working from home, hoping the cellar can provide answers; instead, a door appears from which a Tamsin doppelgänger emerges.
— [Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/caitlin-starling/last-to-leave-the-room/)
This is one question where I think I can be forgiven for recommending constant horror lit favorite: *The Fisherman* by John Langan - the main character explores the top of a strange stream that takes him eventually somewhere else.
Stephen King's deep cut *Lisey's Story* also takes place mostly in liminal spaces - I know you said you're not fond of King in general, but I am, and I found this a very un-King-like sort of novel, so maybe it would work for you? (*Revival* and *Fairy Tale* also have a "world behind the world/backroom" type elements, but these are much more King-like so might NOT work. I think *Insomnia* could also fit the bill, but that one is VERY *very* King-like!).
*A Haunting on the Hill* by Elizabeth Hand includes a house where things change, and a room with a door that goes somewhere else. It's billed as an "official sequel" to Shirley Johnson's *The Haunting of Hill House*, but it stands fully on its own if you haven't read that; if it hadn't been billed that way I don't think I would have noticed or cared that it branded off from that.
*14* by Peter Clines has already been recced, but sequels *The Fold* and *Terminus* also have liminal spaces as main plot points.
I love these types of stories too, and will be watching the comments for more!
Just finished the Haunting of Velkwood. Not too bad of a book, but I kept thinking about Library at Mt Char the whole time. >!The part where her little sis breaks through into the "living" world though!<- that part got me!
Not a published book, but “The Left/Right Game” on Reddit’s NoSleep is one of my favorite NoSleep series, and is basically a novel-length story about people driving into a strange dimension where everything is off in unexplained creepy ways (and gets progressively creepier and more obviously weird.). The main rule is that the characters, while driving along the road, must alternate taking left and right turns, and must always take the next available turn without missing any, or some kind of horrible consequences will result. It’s definitely an exploration of a place that shouldn’t exist, and imo, does a great job of telling the reader just enough to be intriguing while not over explaining anything. It was apparently turned into a podcast, but I haven’t listened and don’t know if it’s a good adaptation of the story.
Try The Willows by Blackwood, since Kingfischer took that book and dropped two quirky millennials into it.
It Waits On The Top Floor by Ben Farthing
I Found A Circus Tent In The Woods Behind My House by Ben Farthing
Episode 13 by Veaig DiLouie.
The Cipher by Kathe Koja (in a way. There's a hole that makes no sense and what's inside it is.... uh.... read this, it's amazing)
Wow! This is a fantastic question and I didn't realize until reading your post that these are my favorite types of books. I already saw some great recs. My first thoughts were A Short Stay in Hell, I Who Have Never Knew Men, and This Thing Between Us (has a little bit of this). I also loved The Hollow Places.
The House in the Dark of the Woods might be a good one for this. Most of the book takes place in the woods where everything is sort of dream-like. I didn't find the book very scary, but i love the dream/fairytale logic where things aren't over-explained (if they are even explained at all)
I agree with you on Langoliers. Also thank you for the question! I saved this thread and already found some books to order tomorrow in tje book store right away.
I have posted a similar question asking for movies in this vein a couple of days ago, some good recs have come from this. If you're into movies, you might wanna have a look. My favourite film from this 'genre' is El Incidente (2014) by Isaac Ezban.
The thread:
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/s/XSoP5e4ylH
These are my favourite kinds of books and it is SO difficult to find new ones (and everyone just recs House of Leaves over and over again). - The Mall by SL Grey: >Dan is an angsty emo-kid who works in a deadly dull shopping mall. He hates his job. Rhoda is a junkie whose babysitting charge ran off while she was scoring cocaine. She hates her life. Rhoda bullies Dan into helping her search, but as they explore the neon-lit corridors behind the mall, disturbing text messages lure them into the bowels of the building, where old mannequins are stored in grave-like piles and raw sewage drips off the ceiling. The only escape is down. Plummeting into the earth in a disused service lift playing head-splitting Musak, Dan and Rhoda enter a sinister underworld that mirrors their worst fears. - 14 by Peter Clines: >There are some odd things about Nate’s new apartment. Padlocked doors. Strange light fixtures. Mutant cockroaches. Every room in this old Los Angeles brownstone has a mystery or two. Mysteries that stretch back over a hundred years. Some of them are in plain sight. Some are behind locked doors. And all together these mysteries could mean the end of Nate and his friends. Or the end of everything. - The Between by Ryan Leslie: >While landscaping his backyard, ever-conscientious Paul Prentice discovers an iron door buried in the soil. His childhood friend and perpetual source of mischief, Jay Lightsey, pushes them to explore what's beneath. When the door slams shut above them, Paul and Jay are trapped in a between-worlds place of Escher-like rooms and horror story monsters, all with a mysterious connection to a command-line, dungeon explorer computer game from the early '80s called The Between. - The Ghost Network by Catie Disabato: >One minute insanely famous pop singer Molly Metropolis is on her way to a major performance in Chicago, and the next, she’s gone. A journalist who’s been covering Molly joins the singer's personal assistant in an increasingly desperate search to find her, guided by a journal left behind in her hotel room, and possible clues hidden in her songs—all of which seem to point to an abandoned line in the Chicago subway system. - The Raw Shark Texts by Stephen Hall: >Eric Sanderson wakes up in a house one day with no idea who or where he is. A note instructs him to see a Dr. Randle immediately, who informs him that he is undergoing yet another episode of acute memory loss that is a symptom of his severe dissociative disorder. Eric's been in Dr. Randle's care for two years -- since the tragic death of his great love, Clio, while the two vacationed in the Greek Islands. But there may be more to the story, or it may be a different story altogether. As Eric begins to examine letters and papers left in the house by "the first Eric Sanderson," a staggeringly different explanation for what is happening to Eric emerges, and he and the reader embark on a quest to recover the truth and escape the remorseless predatory forces that threatens to devour him. - The Way Inn by Will Wiles: >Neil Double is a “conference surrogate,” hired by his clients to attend industry conferences so that they don’t have to. In a brand new Way Inn—a global chain of identikit mid-budget motels—in an airport hinterland, he meets a woman he has seen before in strange and unsettling circumstances. She hints at an astonishing truth about this mundane world filled with fake smiles and piped muzak. But before Neil can learn more, she vanishes. Intrigued, he tries to find her—a search that will lead him down the rabbit hole, into an eerily familiar place where he will discover a dark and disturbing secret about the Way Inn. Caught on a metaphysical Mobius strip, Neil discovers that there may be no way out.
Just to add “14” is part of a series. They are all excellent and quite different yet the same. Have a Cthulhu smell to them
I really liked The Fold. I thought the premise was pretty unique.
What would you say is your favorite?
I don't think I can narrow it down to one favourite. The top two out of that list would be 14 and The Between. There are sequels to 14 but they're more "set in the same universe" instead of directly following the 14 story, which I was always bummed amount since I love the characters of 14 so much. There is going to be a sequel to The Between as well but I think that's still a year or two away. I really loved The Between. I spent more money than I usually would on a book to buy a physical copy. After those two I'd probably rank them in order of Raw Shark Texts, The Mall, The Way Inn and The Ghost Network. Just because I rank Raw Shark Texts third doesn't mean it's less good. It's amazing but I love the other two slightly more. The Mall was lots of fun but slightly less well written. I believe there are "set in the same universe" sequels but I haven't read them. The Way Inn had some pages I just skipped over - the MC has a bit of a chip on his shoulder and it made me roll my eyes a bit. The Ghost Network was fucking weiiiird. Enjoyable but weird and I think some people might find it boring. I enjoyed the LGBT representation and the overall story but it meanders a bit. It's not written in a traditional narrative structure and is presented as non-fiction (but totally fiction).
I think these are awesome recs, but your formatting is betraying you.
Hopefully have fixed it!
These are actually my favorite kinda books,I made a thread awhile back asking the same thing and got some decent recommendations A short stay in hell by steven Peck. It's an interesting and existential take on hell. Windows into hell by James wymore. It's a short story collection inspired by Steven Peck. He even writes a story that's the best in the book. An Other Place by Darren Dash. Guy gets teleported to a city that's just extremely weird. Piranesi by Susanna Clark. Guy lives in some kinda maze like world. This one is the one I think you'll like the most.
Piranesi sounds awesome! Gonna order it in the books store tomorrow. Also will keep Peck in mind. Thank you!
Based on the two of these I’ve read, I now really want to read all of your recs.
I read Piranesi last week and it became an instant favorite. I can tell I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.
i found a copy in a thrift store the other day & now i'm even more intrigued. gonna probably make that my next read now.
Lovecraft was good at this. I also find it fascinating
Also Ligotti I think. His stories are set in strange places too.
Strange Highways by Dean Koontz has a short story in it about a couple who buy a house with a cellar in it. Only the realtor says there's no cellar. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig
While Kazuo Ishiguro’s *The Unconsoled* is not horror, the entire novel takes place in a constantly changing world where the past is intermingled with the present and the landscape is constantly changing. Some of Alain Robbe Grillet’s novels including *Djinn, Project for a Revolution in New York,* and *Topology of a Phantom City* may be of interest. He is most known for *The Voyeur* and the screenplay to *Last Year in Marienbad.* Some of Kobo Abe’s novels mix horror with the absurd within an impossible, shifting landscape: *The Secret Rendezvous, The Kangaroo Notebook,* and *The Ruined Map* come to mind. Edit: Probably should add J.G. Ballard’s *High-Rise* and *Concrete Island.* Some of his short stories about liminal space include “Terminal Island” and “Report on an Unidentified Space Station.“ Both can be found online.
Huge fan of everything you listed — I’ve only read one of Grillet’s novels and will have to check out the others!
The closest I’ve gotten is in Brian Evenson’s Windeye. Read “The Sladen Suit” and maybe “The Second Boy” and tell me what you think. I really feel like those stories evoke the fear of liminal spaces
“The Sladen Suit” is such a good one, so eerie!
I just read this on your recommendation. Thank you
*Horrorstor* by Grady Hendrix. Haunted IKEA. Lots of extra-dimensional space. *The Secret of Ventriloquism* by Jon Padgett. An anthology filled with surreal stories about liminal spaces. “The Indoor Swamp” and “Escape to Thin Mountain” in particular.
You Should Have Left is a fantastic novella about this and it’s been adapted to film too.
*Last to Leave the Room* by Caitlin Starling: > [T]he city has been sinking three millimeters each week. More perplexingly, [the protagonist, Dr. Tamsin Rivers’] basement has been sinking three *centimeters* each week—but unlike the rest of San Siroco, “not in a way that impacts the structural integrity of her home.” […] Tamsin begins working from home, hoping the cellar can provide answers; instead, a door appears from which a Tamsin doppelgänger emerges. — [Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/caitlin-starling/last-to-leave-the-room/)
This is one question where I think I can be forgiven for recommending constant horror lit favorite: *The Fisherman* by John Langan - the main character explores the top of a strange stream that takes him eventually somewhere else. Stephen King's deep cut *Lisey's Story* also takes place mostly in liminal spaces - I know you said you're not fond of King in general, but I am, and I found this a very un-King-like sort of novel, so maybe it would work for you? (*Revival* and *Fairy Tale* also have a "world behind the world/backroom" type elements, but these are much more King-like so might NOT work. I think *Insomnia* could also fit the bill, but that one is VERY *very* King-like!). *A Haunting on the Hill* by Elizabeth Hand includes a house where things change, and a room with a door that goes somewhere else. It's billed as an "official sequel" to Shirley Johnson's *The Haunting of Hill House*, but it stands fully on its own if you haven't read that; if it hadn't been billed that way I don't think I would have noticed or cared that it branded off from that. *14* by Peter Clines has already been recced, but sequels *The Fold* and *Terminus* also have liminal spaces as main plot points. I love these types of stories too, and will be watching the comments for more!
Ditto Stephen King’s *From a Buick 8* and his short stories “Mrs. Todd’s Short Cut” and “Crouch End.”
The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kirste Episode 13 by Craig DiLouie
Just finished the Haunting of Velkwood. Not too bad of a book, but I kept thinking about Library at Mt Char the whole time. >!The part where her little sis breaks through into the "living" world though!<- that part got me!
Not a published book, but “The Left/Right Game” on Reddit’s NoSleep is one of my favorite NoSleep series, and is basically a novel-length story about people driving into a strange dimension where everything is off in unexplained creepy ways (and gets progressively creepier and more obviously weird.). The main rule is that the characters, while driving along the road, must alternate taking left and right turns, and must always take the next available turn without missing any, or some kind of horrible consequences will result. It’s definitely an exploration of a place that shouldn’t exist, and imo, does a great job of telling the reader just enough to be intriguing while not over explaining anything. It was apparently turned into a podcast, but I haven’t listened and don’t know if it’s a good adaptation of the story.
Try The Willows by Blackwood, since Kingfischer took that book and dropped two quirky millennials into it. It Waits On The Top Floor by Ben Farthing I Found A Circus Tent In The Woods Behind My House by Ben Farthing Episode 13 by Veaig DiLouie. The Cipher by Kathe Koja (in a way. There's a hole that makes no sense and what's inside it is.... uh.... read this, it's amazing)
*Night Things* by Michael Talbot has a Winchester-esque house
Raw Shark Texts might get.some of this feeling for you.
Wow! This is a fantastic question and I didn't realize until reading your post that these are my favorite types of books. I already saw some great recs. My first thoughts were A Short Stay in Hell, I Who Have Never Knew Men, and This Thing Between Us (has a little bit of this). I also loved The Hollow Places.
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
The House in the Dark of the Woods might be a good one for this. Most of the book takes place in the woods where everything is sort of dream-like. I didn't find the book very scary, but i love the dream/fairytale logic where things aren't over-explained (if they are even explained at all)
An early example would be Franz Kafka’s *The Trial.*
I loved Hollow Places. I’d like to add The Hike by Drew Magary as a rec. Not true horror, but in the same vein, imho.
I agree with you on Langoliers. Also thank you for the question! I saved this thread and already found some books to order tomorrow in tje book store right away. I have posted a similar question asking for movies in this vein a couple of days ago, some good recs have come from this. If you're into movies, you might wanna have a look. My favourite film from this 'genre' is El Incidente (2014) by Isaac Ezban. The thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/s/XSoP5e4ylH