Books like

Books like House of Leaves

12 books with a reading profile close to House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Deep and open-ended; a demanding read.

1

Number9Dream

by David Mitchell

Also deep and open-ended · dense, literary

Nineteen-year-old Eiji Miyake travels from rural Yakushima to the neon-drenched cityscape of Tokyo to find the father he has never met.
2

Ghostwritten

by David Mitchell

Also deep and open-ended · dense, literary

David Mitchell’s debut novel connects nine disparate characters across the globe through a series of interlocking narratives.
3

Lapvona

by Ottessa Moshfegh

Also deep and open-ended · horror, literary

In the medieval fiefdom of Lapvona, a deformed boy named Marek survives a life of physical brutality and religious delusion.
4

Milkman

by Anna Burns

Also deep and open-ended · dense, literary

Middle sister lives in an unnamed city under the shadow of paramilitary violence and state surveillance, reminiscent of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
5

How to be Both

by Ali Smith

Also deep and open-ended · dense, literary

This novel connects two distinct eras through a dual-narrative structure that can be read in either order.
6

Fever Dream

by Samanta Schweblin

Also deep and open-ended · horror, literary

A woman named Amanda lies dying in a rural Argentine hospital, prompted by a young boy named David to recount the days leading up to her collapse.
7

Paradise Rot

by Jenny Hval

Also deep and open-ended · horror, literary

Jo, a Norwegian biology student, moves into a cavernous, converted brewery in an industrial English town.
8

Geek Love

by Katherine Dunn

Also open-ended · horror, literary

Aloysius Binewski and his wife Crystal Lil deliberately breed a family of human oddities by ingesting toxic chemicals and radioactive isotopes during pregnancy.
9

Cursed Bunny

by Bora Chung

Also deep and open-ended · horror, literary

Bora Chung's collection of Korean short fiction brings together stories that mix horror, science fiction and fairy-tale cruelty.
10

Black Hole

by Charles Burns

Also deep and open-ended · horror, literary

Set in the suburbs of Seattle during the mid-1970s, this graphic novel depicts a group of teenagers who contract a sexually transmitted plague known as the Bug.
11

Batman: Arkham Asylum - A Serious House on Serious Earth

by Grant Morrison

Also deep and open-ended · horror, literary

On April Fools' Day, the inmates of Arkham Asylum seize control of the facility and demand that Batman join them inside.
12

To Paradise

by Hanya Yanagihara

Also deep and open-ended · dense, literary

This novel follows three distinct narratives set in a reimagined New York City across different centuries.

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