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40 books
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4 voters
Surreal Books
Showing 1-50 of 7,497
Kafka on the Shore (Paperback)
by (shelved 184 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.12 — 541,252 ratings — published 2002
The Metamorphosis (Mass Market Paperback)
by (shelved 128 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.90 — 1,390,460 ratings — published 1915
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Paperback)
by (shelved 121 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.14 — 311,962 ratings — published 1994
1Q84 (1Q84, #1-3)
by (shelved 87 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.95 — 337,313 ratings — published 2009
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (Paperback)
by (shelved 81 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.11 — 151,007 ratings — published 1985
House of Leaves (Paperback)
by (shelved 79 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.09 — 197,145 ratings — published 2000
The Trial (Paperback)
by (shelved 73 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.94 — 388,109 ratings — published 1925
After Dark (Hardcover)
by (shelved 72 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.74 — 186,614 ratings — published 2004
Annihilation (Southern Reach, #1)
by (shelved 68 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.80 — 294,877 ratings — published 2014
Piranesi (Hardcover)
by (shelved 67 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.22 — 444,213 ratings — published 2020
The Hearing Trumpet (Paperback)
by (shelved 59 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.00 — 11,707 ratings — published 1974
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass (Paperback)
by (shelved 54 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.06 — 604,796 ratings — published 1871
Bunny (Bunny, #1)
by (shelved 51 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.47 — 313,808 ratings — published 2019
The Master and Margarita (Paperback)
by (shelved 50 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.28 — 413,242 ratings — published 1967
Slaughterhouse-Five (Paperback)
by (shelved 49 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.10 — 1,470,583 ratings — published 1969
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Mass Market Paperback)
by (shelved 49 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.12 — 1,091,189 ratings — published 1967
The Third Policeman (Paperback)
by (shelved 47 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.96 — 22,684 ratings — published 1967
A Wild Sheep Chase (The Rat, #3)
by (shelved 47 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.94 — 139,993 ratings — published 1982
Earthlings (Hardcover)
by (shelved 41 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.60 — 97,129 ratings — published 2018
The Night Circus (Hardcover)
by (shelved 41 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.00 — 1,087,260 ratings — published 2011
Naked Lunch: The Restored Text (Paperback)
by (shelved 39 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.46 — 98,056 ratings — published 1959
Nadja (Paperback)
by (shelved 38 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.53 — 13,064 ratings — published 1928
The Strange Library (Paperback)
by (shelved 38 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.55 — 68,956 ratings — published 2005
Dance Dance Dance (Paperback)
by (shelved 38 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.04 — 98,907 ratings — published 1988
Norwegian Wood (Paperback)
by (shelved 36 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.99 — 717,563 ratings — published 1987
The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Paperback)
by (shelved 35 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.01 — 654,835 ratings — published 2013
The Vegetarian (Hardcover)
by (shelved 34 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.65 — 360,127 ratings — published 2007
The City & the City (Hardcover)
by (shelved 34 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.90 — 77,783 ratings — published 2009
If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler (Paperback)
by (shelved 33 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.02 — 110,408 ratings — published 1979
Sputnik Sweetheart (Paperback)
by (shelved 30 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.83 — 179,120 ratings — published 1999
The Complete Stories of Leonora Carrington (Paperback)
by (shelved 29 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.00 — 3,485 ratings — published 2017
Fever Dream (Hardcover)
by (shelved 29 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.72 — 50,718 ratings — published 2014
The Woman in the Dunes (Paperback)
by (shelved 29 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.88 — 38,759 ratings — published 1962
Story of the Eye (Paperback)
by (shelved 29 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.64 — 25,014 ratings — published 1928
The Blind Owl (Paperback)
by (shelved 28 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.96 — 34,060 ratings — published 1937
The Little Prince (Hardcover)
by (shelved 27 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.33 — 2,433,408 ratings — published 1943
The Memory Police (Hardcover)
by (shelved 26 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.70 — 133,701 ratings — published 1994
The Castle (Paperback)
by (shelved 26 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.92 — 74,306 ratings — published 1926
Ubik (Paperback)
by (shelved 26 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.11 — 121,305 ratings — published 1969
American Gods: Tenth Anniversary (American Gods, #1)
by (shelved 26 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.10 — 986,202 ratings — published 2001
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (Paperback)
by (shelved 25 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.06 — 375,591 ratings — published 1971
Coraline (Paperback)
by (shelved 24 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.13 — 774,792 ratings — published 2002
The Elephant Vanishes (Paperback)
by (shelved 24 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.82 — 57,775 ratings — published 1993
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 23 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.51 — 197,255 ratings — published 2016
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Hardcover)
by (shelved 23 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.99 — 431,360 ratings — published 1865
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)
by (shelved 23 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.22 — 1,997,426 ratings — published 1979
Ficciones (Paperback)
by (shelved 22 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.40 — 77,908 ratings — published 1944
Pedro Páramo (Paperback)
by (shelved 21 times as surreal)
avg rating 4.05 — 96,875 ratings — published 1955
Life of Pi (Paperback)
by (shelved 21 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.94 — 1,742,655 ratings — published 2001
Welcome to Night Vale (Welcome to Night Vale, #1)
by (shelved 21 times as surreal)
avg rating 3.82 — 43,477 ratings — published 2015
“The Bad Halloween: A Crazies Night Chronicle by Stewart Stafford
I'm Rich—ambulance medic on Crazies Night,
Demented chariot driver in the mediverse,
Skeleton crew for swarms of ailing impostors,
Our dashboard crucifix, buffeting every curse.
Jittery, side-burned Jeff riding shotgun,
I tease his grumbling about missing fun:
"A toast with your Pumpkin Spice Latte!
Breakfast on me when our shift is done."
Behind us, a female living portrait groaned—
Drunk or high, headfirst, she kissed the road.
Mona Lisa frame unmounted for treatment,
delirious spoilers dropped for The Da Vinci Code!
Death's Reaper stood daring us in our path;
graveyard shift, centre line, gleaming scythe.
Brakes jammed, sirens blared, the prank waned—
This gothic vigilante traffic cop waved us by!
We dropped Patient Moaner at the hospital,
Jeff smoked, and I ate canteen Colcannon,
Our "bat signal" crackled, flashed in the cab:
"Cosplay brawl at the Hotel Shannon."
We drove off for more Boo-Boo Bus Bedlam
to hit our Gotham's streets and tend the injured.
Catherine wheel jack-o-lantern through windscreen;
The Pumpkin Bomber’s cackle went unheard.
Ears temporarily-deafened, thumbs up given;
Faces, hands, arms burned—scarred medics.
Flying glass cuts on our cheeks and necks:
Carers now mummified patients: sideline critics.
The first cracks of dawn chase shadows away;
A Grand Grimoire yielding to Grey's Anatomy,
Our carriage—the repair yard's hollow gourd,
All-Saints sunrise feast to shed All Hallows' agony.
On the Lord of Death's night, we didn't die:
Weary defiance met coffee and pumpkin pie.
© 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”
―
I'm Rich—ambulance medic on Crazies Night,
Demented chariot driver in the mediverse,
Skeleton crew for swarms of ailing impostors,
Our dashboard crucifix, buffeting every curse.
Jittery, side-burned Jeff riding shotgun,
I tease his grumbling about missing fun:
"A toast with your Pumpkin Spice Latte!
Breakfast on me when our shift is done."
Behind us, a female living portrait groaned—
Drunk or high, headfirst, she kissed the road.
Mona Lisa frame unmounted for treatment,
delirious spoilers dropped for The Da Vinci Code!
Death's Reaper stood daring us in our path;
graveyard shift, centre line, gleaming scythe.
Brakes jammed, sirens blared, the prank waned—
This gothic vigilante traffic cop waved us by!
We dropped Patient Moaner at the hospital,
Jeff smoked, and I ate canteen Colcannon,
Our "bat signal" crackled, flashed in the cab:
"Cosplay brawl at the Hotel Shannon."
We drove off for more Boo-Boo Bus Bedlam
to hit our Gotham's streets and tend the injured.
Catherine wheel jack-o-lantern through windscreen;
The Pumpkin Bomber’s cackle went unheard.
Ears temporarily-deafened, thumbs up given;
Faces, hands, arms burned—scarred medics.
Flying glass cuts on our cheeks and necks:
Carers now mummified patients: sideline critics.
The first cracks of dawn chase shadows away;
A Grand Grimoire yielding to Grey's Anatomy,
Our carriage—the repair yard's hollow gourd,
All-Saints sunrise feast to shed All Hallows' agony.
On the Lord of Death's night, we didn't die:
Weary defiance met coffee and pumpkin pie.
© 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”
―
“I’ve seen Narbonic (and now Skin Horse) described as surreal or absurd, but they always strike me as almost depressingly logical. What I try to do is start from a point of mild deviation from the norm and gradually, ploddingly, build from there until the plot becomes toweringly irrational and you have hamsters in flying islands and whatnot.”
― Narbonic
― Narbonic
