#and then there's xiao hua of course who's never had pretenses that he's a good person and isn't afraid to say it

[qilingxiong]

top huaxie exchanges that have made me want to hurl myself into the sun

[yuexuan]

Fiction Recommendation 14

September 5th is Zhong Yuan Jie (Ghost Day) in many parts of Asia and October 31st is the Western Halloween, I thought I’d dedicated this round of fiction recommendation to some of the supernatural and mysterious unique to Chinese (and other Asian) cultures. The comment section will contain a short synopsis of the novels, along with some of my own thoughts about the story. 

1. Daomu Biji 盗墓笔记 by Kennedy Xu 

Genre: Mystery, adventure, horror, suspense

Comment: Anyone following my blog knows I am a huge fan of Daomu. Along with Ghost Blows Out Light, both works were considered the pioneering novels that opened the tomb-raiding literature market in China. Daomu is told from a first-person perspective, detailing the adventures of Wu Xie as he visited tomb after tomb to unveil the mysteries that surround him, including that of his close friends and the role he played in the whole scheme of things. This is a highly suspenseful story spanning nine published books with two published sequels - Zang Hai Hua and Sha Hai. One of the highlights of the book is the first person narrative, which allows us to relate and engage with the protagonist, while collecting clues and solving mysteries with the character. 

2. XiongZhai Biji 凶宅笔记 by  贰十三

Genre: Mystery, horror, supernatural

Comment: Xiongzhai - a term applied to haunted houses with past history(ies) of death - are usually sold at very low market price. But where there’s money, there’s business. Jiang Shuo and his friend Qin YiHeng decided to buy these houses cheaply, exorcised then, then resold it at much higher market prices. The two friends work through a series of haunted houses, until Jiang Shuo started to suspect that there’s someone purposefully drawing him to different haunted houses. Also narrated through first-person, XiongZhai Biji explores an interesting ‘market’ and who knows, you might find a haunted house one day. 

3.  海岭荒城 by 罪化/王十一

Genre: BL, supernatural, horror *R18

Comment: Considered one of the classic BL horror stories out there -All reporter Tao wanted to do was interview CEO Ling and enter a contest with said interview. Instead, he was directed to a city designed specifically for movie sets. Granted, the city was a property of the Ling company...When Tao arrived, the city seemed abandoned. There are few, if any, tourists in that area except for a group of hired performers. CEO Ling Li thought that reporter Tao would fare no better than previous reporters, but to his surprise, Tao stayed within the city for more than one night and uncovered a series of mysteries related to the occult. Although plot-wise and character-wise the story is mediocre, but it contains very vivid descriptions of horrific scenes that send chills down my back. 

4.  都市探幽录 by  罪化/王十一

Genre: Mystery, supernatural

Comment: Another series of novel by ZuiHua. Reporter Xia Han and intern Fu Wei were invited to XiangXi Province to experience a river-rafting tour. What was definitely not included in the tour are a line of zombies passing by in the dead of night, a huge snake within the waters and red water bubbling within the last stall of the girl’s toilet...thank goodness Reporter Xia and his intern are familiar to these sightings, seeing as they publish their stories in a special newspaper called the ‘Occult Weekly’. There are four books and each book is a different short story, though interlinked loosely with one another. This title is the opposite of recommendation #3, it has a stronger plot and character setting, but contains less scare factors. 

5.  哇！今夜哪裡有鬼！by 黯然銷魂蛋

Genre: BL, supernatural/horror, humor *R15

Comment: He BiXue is a paranormal reality TV show producer, who happens to also have a tendency to attract the dead unwittingly. Enters Yin Jian, who is a Taoist the studio invited to help deal with the ghosts. From a girlfriend who got severed in half, to being trapped within dreams, to an ancient princess that came back to life, it seems that this reality TV show is definitely ‘cursed’. This story has an interesting setting and is relatable especially for those who watch Taiwanese reality shows. My critique is that it feels like the author hasn't got a strong grip on the characters' personalities, which changes quite frequently throughout the book.

6.  天師執位Ⅰ by  樊落

Genre: BL, supernatural, *R15

Comment:  Nie XiFeng's first impression of Zhang Xuan is as bad as bad can be. After almost dying as a result of listening to the words of a con man posing as a taoist, he swore to never trust another taoist again. In comes Zhang Xuan, who works in his company, but also works a self-acclaimed taoist. Together they solved the mysteries around them -- albeit while fighting with each other -- and just when Nie XiFeng fell in love with Zhang Xuan, he learned that the latter might have some hidden agenda. There are several books in this series, each focusing on a different mystery that involves the supernatural. Plot-wise it can seem to drag a bit in some parts, but overall it’s not bad, plus the ending is surprising. 

7.  見鬼鮮花店 by  雲過是非 Genre: BL, supernatural, humor *R15

Comment: In this day and age, the Western and Oriental supernatural beings have developed friendly ties. Unfortunately, just as prices are increasing in the living world, the prices of items in hell are skyrocketing, especially with less and less people being superstitious these days. The supernaturals have no choice but to walk the modern route and purchase things online. Shu Jiu is a flower shop owner who repeatedly received requests from strange customers. What’s more, he learned that there are four ghosts inside his shop. Really humorous story with cute characters. It's a bit sad though that the ending was very rushed (basically the author spent over 40 chapters to develop a mystery and everything got solved in one ._.) But still, a really nice read.

8. 陰書  by 夜半來敲鍾  Genre: Horror, supernatural, BL **R18

Comment: A group of teenagers in love with all things supernatural decided to visit a haunted house to explore, unwittingly finding a shredded corpse. Ever since then, one by one the teenagers disappeared, who would be next? And how do they break the cycle? I thought that out of all the horror stories, this author’s works are definitely more bone-chilling than the others. 

9.  校園七怪談 by  夜半來敲鍾

Genre: Horror, supernatural, BL

Comment: Lin Feng recently transferred to a new school.  Ever since he transferred, strange happenings abound. The soft sigh in the middle of the night, the footsteps outside the room door, his roommate's haunted looks...When will things end? This story builds on the popular concept of ‘seven strange happenings’ in Asian schools - the strange happenings often refer to unexplained phenomenons that are experienced by multiple students. 

10.  小镇 by dnax

Genre: BL, adventure, suspense

Comment:  Fu En accidentally entered a town in which no one leaves. Here, townsfolk are happy and everyone had their own supernatural powers...except there's a price to using the powers and people aren't as content as they seem. He quickly discovers the loopholes in the 'rules' of the town, along with the twisted mindset of some of the inhabitants. A really bizarre story, but highly suspenseful and really image-evoking.

11.  解忧杂货店 by  东野圭吾

Genre: Supernatural, comfort

Comment:  All the worries and troubles, let this shop help you resolve them. There is a small shop by a corner of the roadside, as long as you write down your worries and place it within its letterbox, you will get an answer in the milkbox located behind the store on the second day. A series of worries, with prophetic-like answers. Very heart-warming and touching.

12.  我準是在地獄 by  YY的劣迹

Genre: Mystery, **R (rated for murder and violence)

Comment: Ning Xiao is just like any other murder mystery author. One night he was mugged but when he found the police at his door next day accusing him for the murder of the mugger, things took a twist. Consecutive murders that follow the plot of his stories, repressed memories and a police with a suspicious background, just who is behind all of these murders? A rabid fan? Ning Xiao’s split personality? Or perhaps the ‘police’...? Even though the story was marked as BL by others, I really think that there's no romantic relationship between the two protagonists - most of the story is focused on the murder mystery plotline. 

13.  谋杀官员1：逻辑王子的演绎 by  紫金陈

Genre: Mystery

Comment: Graduated from Ze Da University's math department, Xu Ce is also known as the prince of logic. Later he won a scholarship to support a PhD study in psychology. However, upon hearing his mother's death, he returned to China. On the other hand, his friend - Gao Dong - also known for his specialty in crimonology, encountered numerous murder cases of government officers. Could Gao Dong resolved these cases? And what does it have to do with Xu Ce? 

14.  推理之王·坏��孩 by  紫金陈

Genre: Mystery

Comment: Four years into their marriage, Xujing had an affair and wanted a divorce. Her husband, Zhang DongShen realized that he would be left with nothing should the divorce occur, and there is only one way out. On the pretense of taking her parents out for a trip, he plotted a murder. Everything should have been perfect. Except that three children became witnesses to the murder, and they are anything but innocent.

15.  推理之王·无证之罪 by  紫金陈

Genre: Mystery

Comment: What if someone claims that he conducted murders to save another person, would you believe their intention? Behind the crimes lie a heart filled with anger and love. A high-class murderer versus a math teacher, both of which are equally skilled, who would win in this chase?

16. 都市夜歸人 by 朱砂

Genre; Mystery, supernatural, BL **R18

Comment: As a sniper, Chen Gu knew his eyesight is superb, just not to the extent that he can see the supernaturals...But how is it that he hadn't notice this strange phenomenon before? Of course, without a certain Mr. Zhong's mentioning, he wouldn't have noticed the strange things around him either. Case after case of supernatural phenomenon appeared, and it is up to the duo to resolve them. However things are more complicated than they expected, - there's still an avenging ghost-human out there trying to revive his dead wife by breaking all the Taoist rules that one can phantom. The author has quite an extensive knowledge of different mythologies and legends. I recommend reading the actual text first before reading the prequel (the prequel was rather dark and slow-paced. Honestly I couldn’t finished it).