Reader Lists > Fantasy

Five Books with Weird, Dark Places

recommended by Joe Maris

Not all dark places are scary. Some are just weird. This list celebrates a little bit of both.

  • 1

    Buy

    The Other Side (Dedalus European Classics)
    by Alfred Kubin & Mike Mitchell

    George Grosz of Oz.

  • 2

    Buy

    Piranesi
    by Susanna Clarke

    Invisible Cities: The Basements.

  • 3

    Buy

    The Fisherman
    by John Langan

    HP Lovecraft goes trout fishing.

  • 4

    Buy

    The Gormenghast Novels (Titus Groan / Gormenghast / Titus Alone)
    by Mervyn Peake, Anthony Burgess & Quentin Crisp

    Game of Thrones by Pink Floyd.

  • 5

    Buy

    The Castle
    by Franz Kafka

    Kafka.

    • About

    We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

    This site has an archive of more than one thousand seven hundred interviews, or eight thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

    Five Books participates in the Amazon Associate program and earns money from qualifying purchases.

    Newsletter Contact us Privacy Policy Terms of Service Mastodon Social

    © Five Books 2025

    Get our newsletter