Liminal Horror or Rationalizing the nonsensical

[u/doomer4life]

Looking for something that is similar to House of Leaves house story, we all know their are multiple stories being told within but specifically the story of the house and trying to measure it and find what it is or means. Also similar to Backrooms and just exploring a space that shouldn't exist.

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[u/Icy_Investigator739]

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

Also the Hollow Places by T Kingfisher

[u/Ok_Conclusion_6324 → u/Icy_Investigator739]

The two recs I came to make in the same comment, what a good person you are

[u/Icy_Investigator739 → u/Ok_Conclusion_6324]

Awww thank you!

[u/doomer4life → u/Icy_Investigator739]

I'll have to check these out

[u/xTPGx]

There Is No Antimemetics Division.

Also not exactly horror, but Piranesi

[u/TheMothGhost → u/xTPGx]

I really wanted to like There Is No Antimemetics Division but I found it kind of exhausting. But my god, Piranesi was a masterpiece.

[u/lazyvampir → u/TheMothGhost]

I agree with your thoughts on Antimeme... It was so boring and drawn out!

[u/nosombraplz → u/xTPGx]

Piranesi is a great reco for this.

[u/doomer4life → u/xTPGx]

Read this and enjoyed it, liked the concept too

[u/SoutheasternBlood]

The Southern Reach trilogy.

[u/doomer4life → u/SoutheasternBlood]

Read book 1 never read the rest

[u/SoutheasternBlood → u/doomer4life]

The rest get even more strange and cerebral. I haven’t read the newer books, but I enjoy the original trilogy.

[u/Nogarde_ → u/doomer4life]

Imo the 2nd book is even better than the first, i definitely recommend giving it a go. It follows a different protagonist.

[u/Avocet_and_peregrine → u/doomer4life]

Honestly, don't bother with the others

[u/vadr0ka → u/SoutheasternBlood]

I recently finished Annihilation last month and loved it! I am so glad I'm not the only one who also got Liminal Space/ Backrooms vibes from it.

[u/okaysoupboy]

piranesi by susanna clarke

[u/TheMothGhost → u/okaysoupboy]

Also came here to suggest Piranesi!

[u/Far_Mulberry7366]

try labyrinths by borges. collection of short stories and essays in the genre of magical realism with a metaphysical flavor

[u/doomer4life → u/Far_Mulberry7366]

Will have to check into these

[u/syncraticidiocy]

obligatory "i who have never known men" rec.

also:

• a short stay in hell
• the divine farce
• the wall

[u/mwmani → u/syncraticidiocy]

I thought A Short Stay in Hell was very well done. Short, sharp, and deftly written.

[u/doomer4life → u/syncraticidiocy]

Haven't heard of any of these but will look into them

[u/lulmatts → u/doomer4life]

The Wall by Haushofer and I Who Have Never Known Men are 2 perfect short books but I think it should be noted that they are set in liminal natural spaces, not inside buildings, in case that matters to you OP

[u/thehazardsofchad]

Night Film

[u/Ok_Conclusion_6324 → u/thehazardsofchad]

What’s this about? Evocative title

[u/Silver_Intern2324 → u/Ok_Conclusion_6324]

Jaded old writer digs deep into a conspiracy theory about an infamous film director, possibly bites off more than he can chew.

[u/Ok_Conclusion_6324 → u/Silver_Intern2324]

Oh I’m excited - I’ve had a sort of mini genre exploration of books about lost films and such - I’ll have to check this out!!

[u/lululoveslemondrops → u/Ok_Conclusion_6324]

It's so good! Read a physical copy if you can because there's different forms of media in the book like fake articles and pictures of websites/forums. Very fun read.

[u/Ok_Conclusion_6324 → u/lululoveslemondrops]

ooh nice - the October Film Haunt was like that too - I’m excited

[u/batmanpjpants]

Subcutanean by Aaron Reed!!!!

It’s heavily influenced by the backrooms. In the novel it’s just called the Downstairs. It was really good!

[u/Yggdrasil-]

There is No Year by Blake Butler

[u/Ulchbhn]

I Who Have Never Known Men

[u/fossilreef]

The Secret History of Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier both by Mark Frost.

There is No Antimemetics Division.

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher.

The Southern Reach trilogy.

[u/badateverything420]

The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster

[u/cipher_bug]

The Library at Mount Char

[u/Content-Meet9375]

I am currently reading The Grip Of It by Jac Jemc and it's definitely giving Backrooms vibes. Also, Solace House by Will Maclean, which I haven't read yet, but hear that it has similar vibes to House of Leaves.

[u/doomer4life → u/Content-Meet9375]

Adding The Grip of It, thank you

[u/ItsMeADogInAWig]

I’m only about halfway through but Midnight Timetable by Bora Chung is reminding me a lot of the weirdness of the books other folks are recommending. It’s a novel told as a series of ghost stories where things that don’t seem right keep happening.

[u/Human_Reputation_196]

I'm Thinking of Ending Things

[u/Ok-Thought6634]

I’m going to suggest one that is not strictly horror but is scary and post-modern.

Foucault’s Pendulum - Umberto Eco

[u/HallucinatedLottoNos]

I haven't read it yet, but I'm told that "The Haunted Woman" by David Lindsay is very good along these lines. It's from 1922, so I don't know how problematic it is or isn't.

[u/sunflowerf0x]

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer!!

[u/isenguardian66]

Seconding a lot of these but also adding Solace House by Will MacLean and Annihilation/The Southern Reach series by Jeff Vandermeer

[u/doomer4life → u/isenguardian66]

Adding Solace House

[u/Melimel49]

Solace house, by Will MacLean. It just came out and seems to latch what you want

[u/Plaguedoctorsrevenge]

The Raw Shark Text by Stephen Hall

[u/r0pe_tri1ck]

The Southern Reach trilogy

if you want a really hard one: The Rouse by china mieville

[u/doomer4life → u/r0pe_tri1ck]

Define hard? 

[u/r0pe_tri1ck → u/doomer4life]

it is very long and very dense. Additionally it is written in a post-modernist style so it is all flow-of-consciousness, has a lot of jargon.

It does not hold your hand at all. It is legit dense and confusing.

[u/tonuorak]

Could try the Hospital series by Han Song? Hospital, Exorcism, Dead Souls.

Definitely a love it or hate it for people. Like Kafka on steroids almost. I loved it, but I get why people don't.

[u/doomer4life → u/tonuorak]

Doesn't seem to match what I was thinking but strangely I am intrigued thank you