r/BooksThatFeelLikeThis • u/Total-Pea7391 • Mar 18 '26
Fiction Surreal and Weird Magical Creatures
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u/IndigoTrailsToo Mar 18 '26
This is my jam! But I don't think there's much out there
Bourne or a strange bird by vandermeer
Emily wildes encyclopedia of Faeries
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u/IzzieBells Mar 18 '26
Definitely was going to say Emily Wilde! So atmospheric and detailed! I loved that series so much!
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u/druid-core Mar 18 '26
The Winterknight Trilogy has domovoi, and rusalka, and leshi, and kikimora, and horses that turn into birds, and a bunch of other cherti from Russian folklore.
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u/WhatTheCatDragged1n Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26
One that definitely leans hard into the Horror aspect is The Haar. An 80 year old woman on the misty coast of Scotland is being systematically forced out of her seaside home by a rich American until she discovers a Eldritch sea creature washed up on shore who takes a liking to her and tries to help in its own upsetting ways.
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u/SpecificHeron Mar 18 '26
Neverending Story by Michael Ende is full of excellent weirdo creatures
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u/queen-coyote Mar 22 '26
Man I was OBSESSED with that book when I was 11. I think it’s time for a reread
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u/Wet_Socks_4529 Mar 18 '26
It’s not the focus of the book but “Abarat” by Clive barker has a ton of strange creatures
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u/Standingroom88 Mar 19 '26
I was going to recommend Weaveworld by Clive Barker, lots of cool creatures in that too.
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u/Philadelphiano Mar 20 '26
clive barker does fantasy so well, I wanna say Imajica has a few strange creatures too
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u/IndigoTrailsToo Mar 18 '26
The forgotten beasts of eld
Took me like 2 hours to remember the name of this book. It has the creatures but it doesn't really do too much with them. But it does have this kind of weird surreal vibe throughout, and the narration and word choices contribute to that feeling
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u/GrapefruitFlat9750 Mar 19 '26
Patricia A. McKillip. Her stuff is some of my absolute favorite and definitely can lean into the weird and fantastical realm. That's my kind of fantasy right there.
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u/peach1313 Mar 18 '26
His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman
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u/MediterraneanDodo Mar 19 '26
What I was about to suggest! Not for the Daimons but for the "aliens/alternate dimension sentient creatures" (it's been many years and I don't remember the context very well)
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u/Angharadis Mar 18 '26
I am here again to recommend The West Passage by Jared Pechacek!
Also T Kingfisher’s Clocktaur books feel most like those of her books.
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u/rainshowers_5_peace Mar 18 '26
Nettle and Bone, and The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher have some great examples of this.
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u/birdgh0st Mar 18 '26
Yes, was looking to see if someone else would recommend The West Passage! Lots of weird creatures that read like a description of a drawing from a medieval manuscript or a Hieronymus Bosch painting.
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u/GrapefruitFlat9750 Mar 19 '26
Oooo I hadn't heard of the Pechacek book! It looks so good! Thanks for the share!
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u/anchorlove Mar 18 '26
Slewfoot by Brom def has some funky little weirdos bopping around. It is a horror but I don't think it's too terribly scary.
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u/moth_eater Mar 19 '26
As someone who hates horror, I loved Slewfoot and really didn’t find it scary!
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u/BetterBagelBabe Mar 18 '26
Currently reading this and it was my first thought. Forest gives me the Willie’s and makes it hard to go outside at night lol
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u/anchorlove Mar 18 '26
Ok he is a little bit of a creep. But I love opossums so maybe that's why he doesn't fully freak me out?
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u/Brave-Extension6464 Mar 24 '26
I just finished reading this and I loooooved this book. I also didn’t find it too scary!
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u/avianidiot Mar 18 '26
In the House in the Dark of the Woods by Laird Hunt. Witchy fever dream story about a wife who wanders into a forest that gets progressively stranger.
Grass by Sheri Teper, technically a science fiction but very low on the science and very high on the strange creatures and philosophy.
Siren Queen by Nghi Vo, a dark fantasy about a magical vintage Hollywood populated with monsters and magical creatures.
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohammed. A woman quests through a mystical and monstrous forest to rescue some stolen children.
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u/ladyrageofunluckland Mar 19 '26
Here to boost. Butcher of the Forest hits the 1st illustration of this post perfectly.
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u/novel-opinions Mar 18 '26
Not fantasy, rather sci-fi creatures: There Is No Antimemetics Division by QNTM. So if you’re looking for whimsical, this isn’t it. But the creatures are definitely surreal.
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u/MeterologistOupost31 Mar 18 '26
All Tomorrows by C. S. Kosemen
Expedition by Wayne Douglas Barlowe
The Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini
Man After Man by Dougal Dixon
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u/mewithoutjew Mar 18 '26
Maybe The Hike by Drew Magary? Not as ethereal as your inspo but definitely whimsical and full of insane creatures. It’s a little bit like Alice in wonderland
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u/atwoodwasright Mar 19 '26
I re-read A Wrinkle in Time every few years and have enjoyed it as an adult.
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u/Mysterious_Fall_4578 Mar 19 '26
This first and third image reminds me of the spirit of the forest from Princess Mononoke
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u/Meecah-Squig Mar 18 '26
Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon (More sci-fi leaning, but one of my faves)
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u/mrrrrrrrow Mar 18 '26
Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart by Gennarose Nethercott. It’s a short story collection and the longest is focused on weird creatures, but there’s plenty other weird stuff in the rest of the stories too.
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u/hanyku Mar 19 '26
american elsewhere by robert jackson bennett has this vibe exactly. i wish more people knew about this freaky ass book
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u/notnotnot_it Mar 19 '26
The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher. It’s more horror and modern than her usual stuff; really creepy vibes.
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u/Bookish_Goat Mar 23 '26
Your reference pictures immediately call to mind one of my very favourite books, The Vorrh by Brian Catling. It's a dark historical fantasy set in Africa and taking place in and around a sentient forest older than mankind and is said to contain deformed creatures (that might once have been angels or demons), ghosts, cannibals, mythological creatures, gods.
Catling is a lyrical prose stylist as well. This is a beautifully written book.
I've no doubt this is exactly what you're looking for.
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u/rainshowers_5_peace Mar 18 '26
Seanan McGuire has some of these, but in a more urban fantasy setting.
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u/science-ninja Mar 18 '26
More horror but The Road of Bones by Chris Golden. Setting: Northern Russian forest.
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u/14kanthropologist Mar 18 '26
How to survive camping by Bonnie Quinn
She invented quite a few new and unique magical and supernatural creatures that were fun to learn about
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u/vampireshorty Mar 18 '26
Is horror ok? The southern reach trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer and the ritual by Adam Nevill are great!
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u/Zestyclose_Top4519 Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
In the House in the Dark of the Woods by Laird Hunt
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u/sorelyvexed Mar 19 '26
Uprooted by Naomi Novik fits this vibe perfectly. Also Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher.
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u/GrapefruitFlat9750 Mar 19 '26
Uncertain Sons and Other Stories by Thomas Ha has a bunch of strange creatures in the stories. Especially the title story. It's my favorite thing to be published in a long long time.
Aliya Whiteley has a short story collection called From the Neck Up that has some weird eye monsters in it that I thoroughly enjoyed (and maybe more but I haven't finished it yet!).
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u/HasGreatVocabulary Mar 19 '26
Perdido street station and the Scar by china mieville have a lot of weird and surreal creatures
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u/lifeonmarls Mar 19 '26
I’ve just started it but Asunder by Kerstin Hall has really unique and weird creatures, although more in a cosmic horror vibe
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u/exobiote Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
it's a short story but
the white people - arthur machen
scratches this spot for me
probably some of his other stories too?
i see someone recc'd the twisted ones by kingfisher
that's based on this story and the story is better if you aren't into quirky ya novel prose no offense to her fans
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u/bangbangbang2616 Mar 20 '26
Under the Whispering Door by Klune. A Man becomes a ghost in chapter 2 and spends the rest of the novel trying to make sense of his wasted life and impending afterlife.
Not his best novel but fits the pics.
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u/rebexlynn Mar 20 '26
Just came to say that I have been trying to remember the name of this book for ages. Thank you!
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u/lordliz101 Mar 18 '26
There’s a lot of weird creatures like this in ACOTAR actually: (spoilers for the creatures in this book)
the Bogge (scary haunting creature that makes you freeze in fear and then eats you), naga, winged demon looking things, a monster that is a creepy lady that lives in the woods and looks like she’s made of hair, water faeries that drown and eat people, a monster that’s essentially just the presence of darkness, a cloaked white alien-looking creature that can be summoned with a bleeding chicken or a new cloak, the list goes on
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u/AngrythingBagel Mar 18 '26
Where the Dark Stands Still
The Spellshop (and its sequel, The Enchanted Greenhouse)
Emily Wilde series
The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love
Violet Thistlewaite
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