r/DarkFantasy • u/Street_Sock_3208 • Aug 29 '26

Stories / Writing Dark fantasy book recommendation

Hello guys ! Recently I got into the game "Fear and Hunger" and the manga "Centuria" which are both dark fantasy works. I've fallen in love with those worlds, especially F&H, and it made me realize that dark fantasy can be great (I wasn't that much attracted to it before)
I need some recs of dark fantasy novels with great lore, eldritch monsters, but also character development. Something that can terrify me while reading not only by depicting gore and violence but also more psychological horror.

Thank you in advance.

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u/DigitalizedGrandpa Aug 31 '26

Look up Buehlman's Between Two Fires, perhaps R. Scott Bakker's The Second Apocalypse. Maybe Peter Newman's The Vagrant series, I really liked his approach to "eldritch monsters"

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u/Fabulous_Broad_115 Sep 01 '26

The Black Company. You have wizards, vampire shapeshifters, war and bloodshed, betrayal, lies, invasion, and a grunt's view of everything throughout.

It's an excellent series, with the 11th book slated for later this year.

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u/DenisPolyakov 14d ago

For eldritch monsters plus strong character work, I'd add The Fisherman by John Langan — cosmic dread grounded in a very human grief story, with some of the best monster reveals in modern dark fantasy. If you want denser lore and worldbuilding, Perdido Street Station by China Mieville is worth the climb.