Recs if you like My Death...

Horror books with a page count of 200 pages or less.

Before we started defining novellas by word count, they were defined as being any book less than 200 pages. Source: my Analysis of Short Stories & Literature professor in community college. I loved that class. But he loved James Joyce. So, ymmv, I guess.

novels where reality bends and distorts, both narrators and memories deceive, and the truth becomes slippery. these stories blur the line between what is real and what is imagined, between fact and fiction, until we are unable to distinguish truth from the author’s own fabrication. a blend of autofiction, historical fiction, and “non-fiction fiction.”

as always welcome to suggestions !

weird little books you can read in one sitting

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.”

Books where the protagonist stumbles upon a novel, a script, an exhibition, a work of art, etc and realizes that they're not experiencing deja vu...they (or their life) is the subject of the work. But how? And what does that mean? And who could have possibly created this work?

Books that make you feel things. Or want to feel things. Or unsure of what you're feeling. Things get weird, you're unsettled and on the edge of your seat, and you can feel your brain physically rewiring itself while you're left questioning "WTF did I just read, and what do I do now?" The answer, of course, is to touch grass and read the next book on the list.

weird. strange. off putting. confusing. despite this you cannot put these books down.

novels/novellas that feel akin to a fever dream, surreal, inchoate, strange, dream logic

I felt a tinge of that Fall Breeze last night so I’ve been listening to the album in anticipation of the colder seasons. This album is the epitome of “to disturb the comforted and to comfort the disturbed” and I was inspired to create a list of books that evoke that.

All of these books are under 200 pages— perfect for those days you want a full story but just can’t commit to anything longer. Some of these are beautiful, some are strange. . . some are just downright bizarre. Some were so relatable they felt cathartic, and some are— this is your warning to check out content warnings if needed—really messed up. All of them really hit, though. Enjoy!

books that make you feel like you’re stuck in a strange dream