Strangely Unsettling: Weird Horror You Can’t Look Away From

Weird horror has grown in popularity over the last half decade or so, thanks in no large part to the larger growth in horror, period. There are so many ways a horror story can be told, thanks to its position as a mood, rather than a genre. While horror has plenty of tropes for readers who love a specific Thing–think haunted houses, ghosts, vampires, and so forth–the fact that horror only needs to create a feeling of fear or disgust in a reader leaves the world open to writers. This is where and how things can get real weird.

So what makes horror “weird?” Much like horror itself, that weird qualifier can mean so many different things, depending on who is doing the reading. It is, like horror, a mood, rather than a genre.

Weird can mean that there’s no creepy creature at the center of the story and instead, the vibe of the book is just odd or slightly off-putting because of something going on in the main character’s mind. Weird can mean darkly funny, too, which is what you’ll see in several of the examples below. These are stories where there is something bloody or gross or horrifying happening but your sense of dread and fear as a reader is accompanied by some laughs (comfortable or not!). Weird horror is about something being askew. Something being off. Something raising your pulse or giving you goosebumps, even if you can’t quite put your finger on it.

Good weird horror is something that you cannot look away from, no matter how hard you try to.

Something to note about horror and about weird horror in particular is that much of it comes from cross-cultural storytellers. That isn’t to say international storytelling is weird. Rather, the storytelling traditions from non-European cultures tend to have more fluidity and can defy Euro-centric writing conventions. There is less emphasis on a tidy or solid conclusion and more opportunity to wonder what did or did not happen–you see this frequently in media from the global East. You’ll also see a lot of women and queer voices represented here, for many of the same reasons. Weird horror breaks the mold.

All of that is to say that this array of weird fiction is diverse and pulls from a wide range of storytelling techniques. That makes reading these books, as creepy as some may be, an especially enjoyable experience.

One of this year’s Read Harder 2025 tasks is to pick up a work of weird horror. Because both “weird” and “horror” are up to the interpretation of the reader, those who are new to either horror or weird fiction can feel lost as to what might qualify. Find below several examples of great recent weird horror. Some of these stories will scratch the itch you may have for dark academia, some explore the hollow promises of the wellness world, and still others will have you wondering whether or not what the main character tells you is happening to them really is.

Let’s get a little weird.

Bunny by Mona Awad Samantha is in an all-female creative writing MFA workshop at a prestigious school. She loathes the women who she calls Bunnies. These women writers are rich and perfect and always write about The Body and Deep Literary Themes, complimenting and complementing each other in as many ways as possible.  Samantha finds refuge in Ava, an art school dropout. But when Samantha receives an invitation to join the Bunnys for their “Smut Salon” via an origami swan, she attends. That’s when she falls down the most bizarre Lewis Carroll style rabbit hole..  This is a horror novel that is infused with incredible dark humor and it’s an evisceration of stuffy literary MFA programs and culture. Whether or not you’re a reader/writer, the elite culture will translate into whatever your area of expertise is, and Samantha’s perspectives of those on the top will resonate.  Don’t go in expecting for everything…or maybe anything…to make sense. Go in for a good, bizarre time. Because that’s exactly what you’re going to get. While this is a standalone read, if you love Bunny, there’s a sequel coming out this fall called We Love You Bunny.

Chlorine by Jade Song Ren loves to swim. Maybe “loves” isn’t the right word. She’s obsessed with swimming, and she’s worked so hard through high school to become an elite swimmer in her school. She’s at the pool all the time, and she’s endured relentless meets and drills and verbal–sometimes physical–assaults from her coach Jim, who expects the best of her, even if he doesn’t necessarily expect such of others on the team. Ren knows if she does well, she’ll get a scholarship to college and that would make everyone in her life, from Jim to her mom, and her father who is currently not even in the country, as happy as can be.  It’s a lot of pressure for a high schooler.  But Ren isn’t a high schooler. She’s a mermaid. She’s obsessed with them, and she knows that being a mermaid is her true calling. She belongs in the water. And despite the fact no one believes her, she believes in herself, and as such, slowly and painfully begins the transition from human to mermaid, culminating in a transformation that no one sees coming. This book is a wild ride, and it’s a fascinating look at the pressures put on girls, especially girls of color, as they grow up. Two content notes: there is body horror in this story, as well as some questionable sexual situations–all addressed as such in the narrative.