We probably don’t have to tell you that books are good for us, do we? From improving our vocabulary and enhancing critical thinking to building imagination and developing empathy – it’s one of the most beneficial pastimes a person can do.
Yet, there are quite a lot of people who don’t like reading. Some of them even despise it. As with everything else in life, this hatred (or at least simple dislike) has its own reasons. For instance, some people struggle with dyslexia, which makes it harder for them to enjoy reading, while others simply have poor reading comprehension.
Then there are those who get scared away from reading in school, where they had to study books that were boring to them, so now they imagine all books are this way. At the same time, there are folks who are simply wired to not enjoy books and prefer other forms of entertainment – it’s no secret that everyone likes different things.
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The latter sentiment also applies to the book-reading community itself. While they’re united by a love for literature, they might clash due to things like contrasting book interpretations or liking different genres.
After all, genres themselves are very open to interpretation and the exact number of them isn’t agreed upon. In some places, they’re put under 50 divisions, and with the subgenres, the number is increased to more than 110, but in other places, like Amazon, there are over 16,000 of them.
So, you see, very flexible when it comes to the numbers. It also suggests there’s a genre for everyone, but it might take a while for a person to discover it.
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The City & the City by China Mieville. Fantastical detective fiction in two overlapping cities.
Today we will talk about only one of the genres, the so-called “weird fiction” genre. We got such an idea after witnessing people online asking for suggestions for “weird” books. We looked at what people offered and compiled the most interesting answers into this list. So, if you’re looking for some odd but good books to read, you’re in the right place.
And if you want to learn what “weird fiction” is, you’re also in the right place. What we have to mention first is that the books in this list do not necessarily fall under this genre; they can be put under various categories, but their structures, narratives, and anything else made people feel like they were reading an odd book.
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So, when someone asked for suggestions online, they recommended it. The weird fiction genre (in fact, it’s more of a subgenre) is a bit more specific than that.
Still, it’s not the easiest thing to define, so bear with us. Basically, it’s a subgenre of speculative fiction (an umbrella of genres that depart from realism). It avoids or at least radically reinterprets traditional antagonists of supernatural horror fiction (ghosts, vampires, and such). Instead, it tries to instill fear and awe by evoking unnerving feelings of the ever-present sense of inescapable dread.
In the books, the antagonists can be something outside the power and understanding of man, the law of nature, or something that lurks beyond the world we know. If it sounds pretty confusing, we warned you it was something hard to define.
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**Homegoing** is an amazing book with a structure I’ve never seen anywhere else before.
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-Annihilation (the whole trilogy is dreamy, trippy, and uniquely well written)
-John Dies at the End (really weird, silly, and just plain fun)
-Vita Nostra (like a trippier Russian version of Harry Potter)
-The Hike (a short, odd, and fun adventure).
To fully comprehend what this subgenre is about, you have to read it. Wikipedia offers a full list of writers whose creations can be categorized as “weird fiction” – from H. P. Lovecraft to Ray Bradbury – and even within this subgenre, you have plenty of options.
And if you don’t feel like reading books that instill a feeling of inescapable dread, hopefully, you’ll find what to read from today’s list!
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