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Quick answer: If you loved Earthlings, read Mona Awad's Bunny, then Oyinkan Braithwaite's My Sister, the Serial Killer, then Kōbō Abe's The Woman in the Dunes, and Bora Chung's Cursed Bunny and Melissa Broder's The Pisces. All are strange, unsettling Japanese fiction.
Sayaka Murata's Earthlings (2018) is a dark novel about a girl who believes she is an alien. These picks share its strangeness.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Ages | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bunny | Mona Awad | Adult | readers who like weird fiction |
| My Sister, the Serial Killer | Oyinkan Braithwaite | Adult | readers who want a quick read |
| The Woman in the Dunes | Kōbō Abe | Adult | readers who like existential stories |
| Cursed Bunny | Bora Chung | Adult | short horror |
| The Pisces | Melissa Broder | Adult | bizarre romance |
| Mrs. March | Virginia Feito | Adult | creeping paranoia |
| Geek Love | Katherine Dunn | Adult | dark carnivals |
| Kokoro | Natsume Soseki | Adult | classic of loneliness |
| The Bell Jar | Sylvia Plath | Adult | mental health classics |
| Kafka on the Shore | Haruki Murakami | Adult | more Murakami |
| Things We Lost in the Fire | Mariana Enriquez | Adult | more by the same author |
| The Dangers of Smoking in Bed | Mariana Enriquez | Adult | readers who like short horror |
| Salt Slow | Julia Armfield | Adult | more Armfield |
| Followers | Megan Angelo | Adult | readers who like tech satire |
| Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan | Adult | dry-humor readers |
1. Bunny by Mona Awad
Samantha joins a writing program at a New England university and is drawn to a clique of women. Surreal, dark and funny.
Best for: readers who like weird fiction.
2. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Korede cleans up after her beautiful sister Ayoola's murders in Lagos. Short, dark and funny.
Best for: readers who want a quick read.
3. The Woman in the Dunes by Kōbō Abe
An entomologist is trapped in a pit of sand with a woman. Eerie, symbolic and gripping.
Best for: readers who like existential stories.
4. Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung
Dark Korean stories about hidden lives and sudden horrors. Short, sharp and imaginative.
Best for: short horror.
5. The Pisces by Melissa Broder
A woman in Venice Beach falls for a merman. Dark, funny and strange.
Best for: bizarre romance.
6. Mrs. March by Virginia Feito
A wealthy woman descends into suspicion after reading a novel. Eerie and sharp.
Best for: creeping paranoia.
7. Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
A family of carnival performers breeds its own freaks. Dark, strange and unforgettable.
Best for: dark carnivals.
8. Kokoro by Natsume Soseki
A student befriends an older man with a past. Quiet and haunting.
Best for: classic of loneliness.
9. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
A young woman in 1950s New York slides into depression. Sharp, funny and sad.
Best for: mental health classics.
10. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
A runaway teen and an old man who speaks to cats follow converging paths. Surreal and moving.
Best for: more Murakami.
11. Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez
Enriquez's short story collection mixes ghosts, urban legends and sharp social commentary in Buenos Aires. A good introduction to her style.
Best for: more by the same author.
12. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez
Another collection of unsettling stories about haunted houses, cursed objects and the dead. Short and sharp.
Best for: readers who like short horror.
13. Salt Slow by Julia Armfield
A short story collection by the same author, full of eerie, tender stories about bodies and relationships. A natural next step.
Best for: more Armfield.
14. Followers by Megan Angelo
Two women chase fame in 2015, while a future story shows what fame becomes. A sharp social media satire.
Best for: readers who like tech satire.
15. Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan
An Irish teacher in Hong Kong is torn between two people. Dry, witty and observant.
Best for: dry-humor readers.
How We Chose These Books
Every pick is a real, widely available book that shares something specific with Earthlings: its tone, its themes, its pace or the kind of characters it puts at the center. We mixed well-known favorites with a few less obvious titles, and we noted who each book suits best so you can match it to the reader. Where a book belongs to a series, we list the first volume so you can start at the beginning.
If you are not sure where to begin, start with the first three picks in the table: they are the closest match to Earthlings. The rest of the list moves further out, so it works well once you know which part of the original you liked most.
How to Choose
For strange fiction, read Bunny. For dark humour, try My Sister, the Serial Killer. For Japanese fiction, pick The Woman in the Dunes.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote Earthlings?
Sayaka Murata, in 2018.
Is it disturbing?
Yes, it contains abuse and a dark ending.
Who is the author?
A Japanese writer born in 1979.
Which book here is best for dry-humor readers?
Try Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan, which suits readers looking for dry-humor readers.
Which book here is best for readers who like tech satire?
Try Followers by Megan Angelo, which suits readers looking for readers who like tech satire.
Which book here is best for more Armfield?
Try Salt Slow by Julia Armfield, which suits readers looking for more Armfield.
Which book here is best for readers who like short horror?
Try The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez, which suits readers looking for readers who like short horror.
Which book here is best for more by the same author?
Try Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez, which suits readers looking for more by the same author.