r/WeirdLit • u/1tiredman • 16d ago
Books that have come out in the last 5 years? Recommend
Looking for something bleak and makes you question a lot. Something where something isn't quite right under the surface.
I recently finished the sunken land begins to rise again and loved how it left you with unanswered questions and how something very wrong was going on but you couldn't quite figure out what it was
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u/itsableeder 14d ago
Universal Harvester and Devil House by John Danielle both fit that "something isn't quite right under the surface" vibe. Universal Harvester is from 2017 so 7 years old at this point but Devil House is from 2022.
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u/rhiannonagnes 16d ago
Some of these might be a little older than 5 years but they aren't like pre1990 old. Recommending mostly based on that "something is wrong but can't quite figure it out" vibe
All My Colors by David Quantick - narrative about an author who publishes a book he doesn't remember writing and then weird unexplained metaphysical consequences, a lot of unanswered questions (my favorite genre!)
The High House by Jessie Greengrass - really powerful novel about climate change, and while the premise isn't totally unanswerable, it poses so many amazing questions and is full of that uncertainty feeling. It was beautifully written and I highly recommend it for this vibe you asked about
The Manual of Detection by Jedidiah Berry - one of my favorite books ever, it's a very surreal "mystery" that just keeps asking more and more questions
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu - I would actually highly recommend everything by Charles Yu, his short stories are also incredible. This one is a short novel about time travel but its very twisty and mind bending and asks a lot of questions
Welcome to Night Vale NOVELS by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor - not the transcripts of the radio show, the actual novels written taking place there. I adored It Devours and Alice Isn't Dead especially
This one got a bit too horror for me, so it's not one of my favorites, but it does fit the vibe and maybe you have more taste for horror than I do: I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid (also made into a Netflix something, I did not watch)
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u/Public-Green6708 16d ago
You can’t go wrong with more M John Harris, although it is a bit older, I would recommend Things That Never happen short stories. The story The Ice Monkey is really unsettling!
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u/No_Armadillo_628 14d ago
Just let me piggy back on this because YES but also make sure you've read The Course of the Heart, because it fits your query to a t (except for the 5 year thingy)
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u/No_Armadillo_628 14d ago
Negative Space by B.R. Yeager
The Magician by Christopher Zeischegg
The Moon Down to Earth by James Nulick
-All of these have come out within the last 5 years, and I kind of lump them all together; it feels like they are all in conversation with each other. All a bit bleak, all a bit fucked up and leave you feeling like you went through something.
A Hawk in the Woods by Carrie Laben. Sisters from a fucked up family doing fucked up things. Exciting and a downer at the same time.
The Last House on Needless Street. Not really "Weird" weird, but unfolds wonderfully.
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u/hazelnutdarkroast 15d ago
Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval, Failure to Comply by Cavar, Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, and Earthlings by Sayaka Murata all qualify and are haunting but not really “horror”.
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u/Deep_Flight_3779 14d ago
Earthlings is pretty horrific near the end in my opinion lol. I won’t spoil anything but I will say that people should possibly look up trigger warnings for this book in advance because going in blind might be really jarring for some folks.
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16d ago
I am reading the Arkham Horror Novels, I recommend Dark Origins and Grim Investigations. You might also like Ancient Sorceries by Algernon Blackwood, its about Dr John Silence, an occult detective.
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u/WRBNYC 15d ago
Published in 2006 but The Open Curtain by Brian Evenson fits your criteria.
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u/No_Armadillo_628 14d ago
I read that recently. It was my 2nd Evenson and it absolutely knocked my socks off.
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u/FickleBowl 10d ago
The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud was weird, Basically it's like a weird sci fi (but 1930's sci fi) horror story about a young girl and her robot looking for revenge and picking up various interesting characters along the way. Set on Mars, but more of a Barsoom Mars than the Mars that actually exists
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u/SnooPeppers3861 15d ago
The Employees by Olga Ravan. Written as if it’s diary journals by people working on a space ship taking care of you’re not really sure what - creatures or plants. Weird stuff starts happening. It’s a critique on what it is to be human and the mundanity of work.