VPL - Books Just For You - Dystopian, Haunting, and the Surreal in Horror, Science Fiction, and FantasyLike this list

16 items

• We Have Always Lived in the Castle

  Jackson, Shirley, 1916-1965

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  A horror classic, recommended for fans of David Lynch. Suspenseful and unsettling, this work of psychological fiction intensifies when cousin Charles arrives at the family estate. As the old manor slowly becomes a grave, the past reveals its true…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Duplex

  a Novel

  Davis, Kathryn, 1946-

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  "Twin Peaks is the story of a seemingly normal town that actually contains demonic killers, mystical lodges, and a backward-talking dwarf. Davis's Duplex has a similar conceit: a suburban America that transforms into a dreamscape of witches, robots,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Annihilation

  VanderMeer, Jeff

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  A mind-bending, surreal, and haunting piece of speculative fiction which follows the point of view of a biologist and her team of fellow specialists (an anthropologist, psychologist, and surveyor) who explore what is known as Area X in an attempt to…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

  a Novel

  Murakami, Haruki, 1949-

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  "Like Lynch, Haruki Murakami has a knack for injecting the truly strange into the seemingly everyday. [...] Murakami's novel creates a mystery novel out of two parallel stories: One is a weird science-fiction story about data encryption, and the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• House of Leaves

  Danielewski, Mark Z.

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  A postmodern version of a classic horror story. This cult novel is about a normal family who moves into a frightening new home whose interior measures more than its exterior.

• Hangman

  Binyam, Maya, 1993-

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  "Binyam’s beguiling and dreamlike debut chronicles an immigrant man’s return to his home country after 26 years. [...] This is one of those novels that demands a second reading, and is well worth the time." -- Publishers Weekly

• The Terror

  a Novel

  Simmons, Dan, 1948-

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  A brilliant and terrifying novel, based on true historical events. A doomed polar expedition has left 126 men fighting to survive, trapped in the ice with poisonous food, dwindling supplies, and an unseen predator stalking them. While not…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Fifth Season

  Jemisin, N. K.

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  Hugo Award winner. In a place called the Stillness, apocalypses occur as regularly as the seasons, and science and magic have an uneasy relationship. On her quest to rescue her daughter, Essun faces difficult choices and unexpected secrets. This is…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Lies of Locke Lamora

  Lynch, Scott, 1978-

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  "Life imitates art and art scams life in Lynch's debut, a picaresque fantasy that chronicles the career of Locke Lamora orphan, thief and leader of the Gentlemen Bastards from the time the Thiefmaker sells Locke to the faking Eyeless Priest up to…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Fever Dream

  a Novel

  Schweblin, Samanta, 1978-

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  Scherblin's surreal, unsettling novel is about a young woman dying in a hospital. Dream memory gradually reveals a story involving toxins and contamination. Schweblin was named one of Granta's best writers in Spanish under 35.

• A Monster Calls

  Ness, Patrick, 1971-

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  The monster that 13-year-old Conner must face isn't the type you'd expect, but one from his subconscious that forces him to recognize uncomfortable truths.

• The Changeling

  a Novel

  LaValle, Victor, 1972-

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  Apollo Kagwa has had strange dreams that have haunted him since childhood. An antiquarian book dealer with a business called Improbabilia, he is just beginning to settle into his new life as a committed and involved father, unlike his own father who…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Year of the Witching

  Henderson, Alexis

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  What if the evil the Puritans feared was real, and dark spirits indeed lurk in the woods? In this fantasy novel they do, and an oppressive social order keeps the community safe. For Immanuelle, who is marginalized because of her race and her birth,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Light

  Harrison, M. John (Michael John), 1945-

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  "Harrison's talent for brilliant, reality-bending SF is on display yet again with this three-tiered tale [...] This is space opera for the intelligentsia, as Harrison (Things That Never Happen ) tweaks aspects of astrophysics, fantasy and humanism…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• High-Rise

  Ballard, J. G., 1930-2009

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  In this imaginative narrative depicting the disillusionment of urban life, society descends into a tumultuous reversal. The isolated residents of the high-rise, propelled by primal instincts, establish a dystopian realm governed by the rules of the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Perdido Street Station

  Miéville, China

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  In the city of New Crobuzon, corrupt politicians and drug lords have co-opted national research with tragic consequences. Outside the fold, rogue scientist Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin dabbles in a combination of advanced computer theory and alchemy…Read moreRead more of this annotation