What kind of horror even is this? More like these, please!

[John]

Hi folks, I'm looking for more books like the following two titles, and I'm not even sure what sub-genre of horror they fall into. Hope you can help me to put a label on what I'm looking for, as well as offer some likely suggestions! They are:

Ancestral Hungers by Scott Baker.
--It has vampires in it, but that's not the point, it's more than vampire horror. In fact, I think the sorcery is more interesting than the bloodsuckers, and the overall lore is more interesting than both. World-building? You spend the whole book uncovering more and more about vampires, ancient spirits, snakes, sorcery, this decadent family, satanism, other ancient gods, deep history... each answer reveals a new mystery. The book is not terrifying at all, but is as tense as any thriller.

The Sea of Ash by Scott Thomas.
--Weird, weird, weird. This book also has highly original -- and weird -- world-building. **Spoilers** A character looks into a corpse's mouth and sees nothing but a void. He reaches his whole arm in, feels nothing. He lowers a stone on a string, which descends for dozens of yards before hitting bottom. He hears a distant voice. When he pulls up the stone, there is a note attached. It is in his own handwriting. **End spoilers** Weird, right?! The whole book is like that, and ultimately only half of the mysteries are revealed. It's not so much horror as unsettling, and gives me a deep desire to know more about that world.

Anyone read these books?
Do they even belong to the same sub-genre? Which one(s)?
Can you recommend anything else like them?

Thanks!
-John

[Latasha]

that first one i'd say dark fantasy? and the 2nd one it's tagged as Lovecraftian & weird tales. i'd click on those tags on the book's page and maybe it will take you to more like those. hope this helps.

[Kelly B]

If you like weird, I would recommend you check out anything by Carlton Mellick III. He's written multiple bizarro books. One of my favorites is Quicksand House, but I've liked pretty much all of his that I've read so far.

[Kel]

[John]

Thanks Latasha, Kelly and Kel. I have added to my "Books To Read" list, thanks to you. Can't wait to get started.