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These Fantasy and Horror Books Will Get You Out of Your Reading Slump

Horror and Fantasy Books Logo 2

Photo / Goodreads

Horror and fantasy are a good gateway to get back into the habit of reading (or start the hobby). These genres bring readers into a new world and allow them to experience new emotions, from wonder to fear.

Start with these titles if you want recommendations on fantasy and horror books:

We Came to Welcome You by Vincent Tirado (published by HarperCollins)

We Came to Welcome You

Photo / Goodreads

Sol Reyes has had a rough year. After a series of workplace incidents at her university lab culminates in a plagiarism accusation, Sol is put on probation. Dutiful visits to her homophobic father arenโ€™t helping her mental health, and she finds her nightly glass of wine becoming more of an all-dayโ€”and all-bottleโ€”event.ย Her wife, Alice Song, is far more optimistic. After all, the two finally managed to buy a house in the beautiful, gated community of Maneless Grove.

However, the neighbors are a little too friendly in Solโ€™s opinion. She has no interest in the pushy Homeowners Association, their bizarrely detailed contract, or their never-ending microaggressions. Suddenly, a number of strange occurrencesโ€”doors and stairs disappearing, roots growing inside the houseโ€”cause Sol to wonder if her social paranoia isnโ€™t built on something more sinister. Yet Solโ€™s fears are dismissed as Alice embraces their new home and becomes increasingly worried instead about Solโ€™s drinking and manic behavior. When Sol finds a journal in the property from a resident that went missing a few years ago, she realizes why they were able to buy the house so easily…

We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida (translated by E. Madison Shimoda, published by Penguin Random House)

Well Prescribe You a Cat

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Tucked away on the fifth floor of an old building at the end of a narrow alley in Kyoto, the Nakagyล Kokoro Clinic for the Soul can be found only by people who are struggling in their lives and who genuinely need help. The mysterious clinic offers a unique treatment to those who find their way there: it prescribes cats as medication. Patients are often puzzled by this unconventional prescription, but when they โ€œtakeโ€ their cat for the recommended duration, they witness profound transformations in their lives, guided by the playful, empathetic, and occasionally challenging yet endearing cats.

The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk (translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, published by Penguin Random House)

The Empusium

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In September 1913, Mieczysล‚aw, a student suffering from tuberculosis, arrives at Wilhelm Opitz’s Guesthouse for Gentlemen, a health resort in Gรถrbersdorf, what is now western Poland. Every day, its residents gather in the dining room to imbibe the hallucinogenic local liqueur, to obsess over money and status, and to discuss the great issues of the day: Will there be war? Monarchy or democracy? Do devils exist? Are women inherently inferior?

Meanwhile, disturbing things are beginning to happen in the guesthouse and its surroundings. As stories of shocking events in the surrounding highlands reach the men, a sense of dread builds. Someoneโ€”or somethingโ€”seems to be watching them and attempting to infiltrate their world. Little does Mieczysล‚aw realize, as he attempts to unravel both the truths within himself and the mystery of the sinister forces beyond, that they have already chosen their next target.

These books are available at Fully Booked stores and on their online platforms


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