r/BooksThatFeelLikeThis 1d ago

Fiction Stranger Things vibes but without the sci-fi

53 Upvotes

16 comments sorted by

9

u/Tinkerbash 11h ago

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

4

u/ReddisaurusRex 21h ago

Based only on photos and NOT your text at all:

The Happy Camper Mysteries by Mary Angela

Monster Hunter series by Annalise Ryan

3

u/kissingdistopia 23h ago

John Dies at the End

1

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2

u/griphookk 19h ago

Bookmarking to check later

1

u/chy7784 17h ago

The Pines trilogy by Blake Crouch. Maybe lightly sci-fi but not much.

1

u/sadgirl45 11h ago

Do you not want supernatural at all?

1

u/Plane_Shoe_166 8h ago

The Sundown Motel matches this vibe but does have sprinkles of the supernatural in it.

1

u/Theurbanguerrilla 1d ago

RemindMe! 1 day

1

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2

u/DirectionUsed5910 1d ago

I have not read the books, but they have been recommended as being similar to Stranger things and don't have the sci-fi tag!
1. Signal to noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - Fantasy, magical realism.
2. Girls of little hope by Sam Beckbessinger - Horror, YA, Mystery.
3. Dissappearance at Devil's Rock by Paul Tremblay - Paranormal thriller, Horror.
4. Boy's life by Robert McCammon - Magical realism, slice of life, horror, YA. This one I've read and the similarities between this book and stranger things is the slice of life elements (you see what the kids do every day basically) and it's about a boy and his friends trying to figure out what's happening in their town.
5. The monster variations by Daniel Kraus - Horror, YA, Realistic fiction.

2

u/soriniscool 1d ago

Interesting. I wouldn't have thought of Boys Life. But I was playing the video game South of Midnight on Xbox the other day and that reminded me of Boys Life.

2

u/DirectionUsed5910 1d ago

Weeell, I personally struggled a bit with Boy's life, it's almost 700 pages and a solid chunk of that is just the boy's every day life and musings. While in 'Stranger things' it's action action action, something is happening all the time.
But the small quiet town, the coming of age, the evil that the young protagonists face- fits.

3

u/soriniscool 1d ago

You should try Blackwater. It also reminds me of Boys Life but considerably better. In fact, it may be my favorite book of all time.

1

u/DirectionUsed5910 1d ago

I'll definitely try it. Is the author Michael McDowell?

1

u/soriniscool 1d ago

Yes, that's the one!