Recs if you like The Fisherman...

coined by phil ford and jf martel, co-hosts of “weird studies,” zonal literature is a term that refers to narratives set in reality-bent spaces. in these liminal zones, ordinary life is suspended, altered, other. the rules here are different, even if things may look the same.

Hauntology is the philosophical concept, as quoted by Mark Fisher from his article taking a deeper look into Derrida's philosophical work, that "the present is always haunted by the ghosts of the past and the unfulfilled promises of the future." From generational trauma to dark histories to dying Old World pagan traditions, these elements persist throughout the wide genre of folk horror. These books explore deeply into the hauntings of the past and the instability of the future.

books featured in the cozy video game “tiny bookshop”

Fiction has always been where truth hides. Across horror, thriller, literary fiction, fantasy & mystery every book on this list has something to say about power, who holds it, who destroys it, and how it reproduces itself.

cosmic, violent, nightmareish, ancient, warped, bizarre, absurd, strange, surreal

this is a collection of books that contain more stories within their stories, almost like an endless corridor of doors that lead to more doors or an infinite matryoshka doll
(always open to suggestions!!)

This list is for stories about stories, including the more obvious "books-about-books", but also books about who gets to tell stories, what versions of stories become "truth", and other story-based themes. *While not intended to be strictly fantasy, this list does lean heavily into this genre due to my personal reading tastes. **Suggestions welcome!

Name-calling and insults you might hear on the playground and beyond...

Anything can be an insult if you believe it! My kid brother used to get in trouble for calling us "you...you BEAN" with all the spite his little preschool self could manage 🥹

my favorite genre. elvia wilk’s essay is the best on what this genre is, but here’s an excerpt: “Weird knowledge does not deny the capacity of the human mind and body to produce knowledge, but it does not reduce the world to human subject experience either. Unlike science fiction—in which there is a rational explanation for everything—and fantasy—where magic explains it all—weirdness hovers between poles of explainability.”

I can't be the only one who want to remember all the books without jumping around in a video, right?

Weird Fiction Starter Pack

All fiction books that appear in the Tiny Bookshop catalogue! Would sort them by genre as I read along.

themes of grief and loss but also horror

fiction books centered around characters processing grief 🦋

books that shayne topp from smosh has read in 2025 (ones that he talked about or posted on social media at the end of the year)

...or the shallow. But either way, don't go near the water.

Aquatic horror

We think of summer as the season of light, but shadows are longest when the sun is highest. It is the time of the year when the woods grow too thick to see through, the water grows too dark to see into, and the heat makes the mind play tricks. From the rotting porches of the South to the blood-stained cabins of the North... We call them the Summer Nightmares.

Summer reading I will be doing on a picnic blanket with fresh strawberries and a fun drink. Genre unspecified 💕 ((Any recommendations for summer-set or summer-vibes books are welcome!))