Books like 'The Lecturer's Tale'
Readers who enjoyed The Lecturer's Tale by James Hynes also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary fantasy horror comedy humor literary-fiction satire dark-academia magical-realism
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Good Omens by Dirk Maggs, Terry Pratchett
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA full-cast BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman’s celebrated apocalyptic comic novel, with bonus length episodes and outtakes.According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday in fact. Just after Any Answers on Radio 4….Events have been set in motion to bring about the End of Days... -
The Great Glowing Coils of the Universe by Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsFrom the authors of the New York Times bestselling novel Welcome to Night Vale and the creators of the #1 international podcast of the same name, comes a collection of episodes from Season Two of their hit podcast, featuring a foreword by the authors, behind-the-scenes commentary, and original illustrations... -
Tales from the Gas Station: Volume Two by Jack Townsend
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNightshift clerk and high-functioning insomniac Jack is back to work, trying his best to keep out of trouble. But when his chain-smoking coworker discovers a mysterious radio signal revealing the guarded secrets of their town, Jack will learn that an annoying new dayshift manager is far from the worst of his problems... -
Mostly Void, Partially Stars by Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsFrom the authors of the New York Times bestselling novel Welcome to Night Vale and the creators of the #1 international podcast of the same name, comes a collection of episodes from Season One of their hit podcast, featuring an introduction by the authors, behind-the-scenes commentary, and original illustrations... -
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The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsIn this new Zamonian adventure, Optimus Yarnspinner, a young writer, inherits from his beloved godfather an unpublished short story by an unknown author. His search for the author’s identity takes him to Bookholm the so-called City of Dreaming Books. On entering its streets, our hero feels as if he has opened the door of a gigantic second-hand bookshop...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction magical-realism 21st-century action-adventure audiobook book children -
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 95 ratings‘Armageddon only happens once, you know. They don’t let you go around again until you get it right.’People have been predicting the end of the world almost from its very beginning, so it’s only natural to be sceptical when a new date is set for Judgement Day...Categorized as:
humor magical-realism satire 20th-century action-adventure angels apocalyptic audiobook -
Tales from the Gas Station: Volume Three by Jack Townsend
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAn army of monsters walks among us, hidden in plain sight. They’re fast. They’re strong. They’re unrelenting. And they only want one thing: the sh*tty gas station at the edge of town.Coming as a surprise to absolutely no one, Jack—night-shift clerk and local crazy person—has found himself neck-deep in the middle of yet another world-ending terror. And this time around, nobody can be trusted... -
Collected Stories by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe only hardcover edition of Roald Dahl’s stories for adults, the Collected Stories amply showcases his singular gifts as a fabulist and a born storyteller.Later known for his immortal children’s books, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and The BFG, Dahl also had a genius for adult short fiction, which he wrote throughout his life...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction satire 20th-century anthologies audiobook children children-books -
Deadly Assessments by Drew Hayes
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsAfter several years as a vampire, starting a business, founding his own clan, and proposing to his girlfriend, Fred is finally beginning to settle into life as an undead accountant. Unfortunately, not everyone is happy about his continued survival, or the dangerous friends he’s made along the way... -
The Fangs of Freelance by Drew Hayes
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWhen Fred formed his own parahuman clan out of necessity, he understood that it was going to come with new responsibilities. Much as he hoped those tasks would center around extra paperwork and perhaps the occasional mandatory class, enough time around the supernatural has taught him to be ready for anything. Or so he thought... -
Undeading Bells by Drew Hayes
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsAfter surviving countless perils and dangers, including an examination by the Blood Council, Fred is preparing to take on his most important adventure to date: marrying Krystal. That is, if he can get everything handled in time. Visiting Boarback, hiring new staff, clearing out his schedule for a honeymoon; there’s no shortage of tasks to check off before the big day arrives... -
Hell for the Holidays by D.M. Guay
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe tree is trimmed. The mistletoe is hung. The eggnog is spiked. It’s time to celebrate the merriest, most heart-warming Christmas ever! Or not? No. Definitely, absolutely not. This Christmas won’t be cheerful. It’ll be more like Ash vs Evil Dead meets National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Because the Wallace family’s annual Christmas Eve party is about to skid off the rails... -
Beelzebelle by Heide Goody
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTo the devil a daughter! Parenthood can come as a shock to some. It’s especially shocking if you are Satan, the Prince of Hell, and are trying to live a quiet life of semi-retirement in suburban England under the name of Jeremy Clovenhoof... -
The Witchstone by Henry H. Neff
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn unforgettable, high-stakes, laugh-out-loud funny novel, The Witchstone blends the merciless humor of The Good Place with the spellbinding fantasy of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods.Meet Laszlo, eight-hundred-year-old demon and Hell’s least productive Curse Keeper. From his office beneath Midtown, he oversees the Drakeford Curse, which involves a pathetic family upstate and a mysterious black stone... -
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Undeath and Taxes by Drew Hayes
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe sequel to the Amazon bestseller THE UTTERLY UNINTERESTING AND UNADVENTUROUS TALES OF FRED, THE VAMPIRE ACCOUNTANT. After discovering just how filled with magic, intrigue, and adventure the parahuman world of being an Undead American can be, Fredrick Frankford Fletcher did exactly what was expected--he became a certified parahuman accountant... -
Demon Dentist by David Walliams
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThis New York Times bestseller from David Walliams, the UK’s #1 bestselling children’s author and “the heir to Roald Dahl” (The Spectator), launched his books stateside in a big way!Walliams makes going to the dentist a wacky adventure with his signature humor—this is one dentist appointment you don’t want to miss.Something strange is happening in Alfie's town...Categorized as:
humor magical-realism action-adventure audiobook book children children-books comedy -
Son of a Liche by J. Zachary Pike
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsA doubly disgraced Dwarven hero. A band of accident-prone adventurers. Giving redemption a second shot may have been a grave mistake... Still bruised and heartbroken from their last calamitous quest, Gorm Ingerson and his band of washed-up heroes try to make amends for the Orcs they accidentally betrayed. But justice is put on hold when an old foe marches to the city gates... -
Tales from the Gas Station, Vol. 1 by Jack Townsend
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWorking at a dead-end retail job in the middle of nowhere can be hard. The long hours. The helpless customers. The enormous eldritch horror living deep below the building… As the only full-time employee at the twenty-four hour gas station at the edge of town, Jack has pretty much seen it all... -
Tales from the Gas Station: Volume Four by Jack Townsend
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAs the new owner of the worst business in history, Jack has a lot on his plate. His self-appointed “biggest fan” wants to finally meet, and won’t take no for an answer. The annoying cultists are back and cultier than ever. Plus, there’s a creature living under the building's crawlspace that must be fed regularly (or else)... -
Old Haunts by Dave Turner
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDeath's not taking the news he received at the end of Paper Cuts very well. Dave is still getting used to the undead trying kill him at regular intervals while he and Anne attempt to solve the mystery of the strange forces that continue to engulf London. And Melanie's still putting up with more than any person should in a relationship... -
Tales of the Unexpected by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsA wine connoisseur with an infallible palate and a sinister taste in wagers. A decrepit old man with a masterpiece tattooed on his back. A voracious adventuress, a gentle cuckold, and a garden sculpture that becomes an instrument of sadistic vengeance. Social climbers who climb a bit too quickly. Philanderers whose deceptions are a trifle too ornate...Categorized as:
humor satire 20th-century action-adventure anthologies audiobook children children-books -
The Best of Joe R. Lansdale by Joe R. Lansdale
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGodzilla’s in a twelve-step program. A soul-sucking Mummy stalks Elvis and John F. Kennedy. Joe Bob Briggs has a moral dilemma: If your girlfriend turns zombie on you, what do you do?And that’s the tame stuff.In this red-hot collection from world-champion Mojo storyteller Joe R. Lansdale, you’ll find his best, most outrageous stories... -
Hellzapoppin' by Heide Goody, Iain Grant
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLife at St Cadfan’s is never dull. There’s the cellar full of unexplained corpses. There’s the struggle to find food when the island is placed under quarantine. And there’s that peculiar staircase in the cellar… Being a demon in Hell has its own problems. There’s the increasingly impossible torture quotas to meet. There’s the entire horde of Hell waiting for you to slip up and make a mistake... -
What the Hell Did I Just Read by David Wong, Jason Pargin
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsNYT bestselling author Wong takes readers to a whole new level with his latest dark comic sci-fi thriller, set in the world of John Dies at the End and This Book is Full of SpidersDave, John and Amy recount what seems like a fairly straightforward tale of a shape-shifting creature from another dimension that is stealing children and brainwashing their parents, but it eventually becomes clear... -
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Into the Forest by Mark Z. Danielewski
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe Familiar, Volume 1 Wherein the cat is found . . .The Familiar, Volume 2 Wherein the cat is hungry . . . From the universally acclaimed, genre-busting author of House of Leaves comes the second volume of The Familiar, a "novel [which] goes beyond the experimental into the visionary, creating a language and style that expands the horizon of meaning . . -
The Graveyard Shift by D.M. Guay
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA frightfully funny novel for fans of Tom Holt and Christopher Moore.Lloyd Wallace is the most clueless crossing guard the intersection of hell and earth has ever seen. So clueless, that he doesn't even realize the beer cave in the corner store where he works is the gateway to hell.The gate needs a hero, but Lloyd's a zero, a loser with a capital L... -
The Buying of Lot 37 by Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom the authors of the New York Times bestselling novels It Devours! and Welcome to Night Vale and the creators of the #1 international podcast of the same name, comes a collection of episodes from Season Three of their hit podcast, featuring an introduction by the authors, a foreword by Dessa, behind-the-scenes commentary, and original illustrations... -
Dream a Little Dream by Kerstin Gier
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsMysterious doors with lizard-head knobs. Talking stone statues. A crazy girl with a hatchet. Yes, Liv's dreams have been pretty weird lately. Especially the one where she's in a graveyard at night, watching four boys conduct dark magic rituals.The strangest part is that Liv recognizes the boys in her dream... -
Grave Creatures by John P. Logsdon, Christopher P. Young
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHow exactly do you kill someone who's already dead?Playboy Police Chief Ian Dex didn't believe in zombies...until now.An old necromancer has been summoning the dead. His goal is to overrun the world, one city at a time. Too bad he started in Vegas.With the horde of zombies heading in from the old cemeteries, Ian and his crew soon realize they can't handle this threat alone... -
Of Wicked Blood by Olivia Wildenstein, Katie Hayoz
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsNo rest for the wicked... or the cursed.SLATEI didn’t mean to steal the Bloodstone from the De Morel’s crypt. Scratch that, I did mean to steal it. Until I realized it was a curse-magnet that only comes off if I, along with a jolly trio, successfully defeat four curses.If any of us fail, I’m dead... -
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsCharlie Asher is a pretty normal guy with a normal life, married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. They're even about to have their first child. Yes, Charlie's doing okay—until people start dropping dead around him, and everywhere he goes a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets...Categorized as:
humor magical-realism satire 21st-century absurdism action-adventure adult audiobook -
Terms May Apply by Keith A. Pearson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhat would you give for a wish to come true? Your left arm? Your most cherished possession? Your last crumb of integrity?Kyle Hammond is suffering a surprise birthday party he really didn’t want. As he blows out the candles on his cake, he makes a token wish. Three days later, to his utter astonishment, that wish comes true... -
Kiss Kiss by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsIn these dark, disturbing stories Roald Dahl explores the sinister side of human nature: the cunning, sly selfish part of each of us that leads into the territory of the unexpected and unsettling.Originally published in 1960, Kiss Kiss brings together 11 of Roald's macabre adult tales...Categorized as:
humor magical-realism satire 20th-century anthologies audiobook children children-books -
It Devours! by Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsFrom the authors of the New York Times bestselling novel Welcome to Night Vale and the creators of the #1 international podcast of the same name, comes a mystery exploring the intersections of faith and science, the growing relationship between two young people who want desperately to trust each other, and the terrifying, toothy power of the Smiling God... -
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The Umbrella Man and Other Stories by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsIs it really possible to invent a machine that does the job of a writer? What is it about the landlady’s house that makes it so hard for her guests to leave? Does Sir Basil Turton value most his wife or one of his priceless sculptures? These compelling tales are a perfect introduction to the adult writing of a storytelling genius...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure anthologies children children-books classics -
Oddjobs by Heide Goody, Iain Grant
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt’s the end of the world as we know it, but someone still needs to do the paperwork. Incomprehensible horrors from beyond are going to devour our world but that’s no excuse to get all emotional about it. Morag Murray works for the secret government organisation responsible for making sure the apocalypse goes as smoothly and as quietly as possible... -
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsTitus Groan is seven years old. Lord and heir to the crumbling castle Gormenghast. A gothic labyrinth of roofs and turrets, cloisters and corridors, stairwells and dungeons, it is also the cobwebbed kingdom of Byzantine government and age-old rituals, a world primed to implode beneath the weight of centuries of intrigue, treachery, and death...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction magical-realism satire 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
Book of Souls by Brad Magnarella
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsEVERY WIZARD'S STORY HAS A BEGINNING Let’s go back to the night I turned thirteen, the night Grandpa filleted my finger with his cane sword. I can’t say what terrified me more, the cold anger in his eyes or the crazy things in his locked study. A talking trunk. Squirming coats. A bookshelf whose titles shifted before my eyes. And one chilling title in particular: Book of Souls...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction magical-realism action-adventure adult audiobook book classics -
The Barrow Will Send What it May by Margaret Killjoy
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMargaret Killjoy’s Danielle Cain series is a dropkick-in-the-mouth anarcho-punk fantasy that pits traveling anarchist Danielle Cain against eternal spirits, hypocritical ideologues, and brutal, unfeeling officers of the law... -
Demon Hunting in a Dive Bar by Lexi George
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLexi George blends “hilarious one-liners, sexy alpha males, and plenty of mayhem” (Publishers Weekly) in the third of her paranormal series set in a small Alabama town filled with demonoids…and those who hunt them... -
Rose's Run by Dawn Dumont, Daniel Grenier
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRose Okanese, a single mother with two kids, has been pushed into a corner by Rez citizens to claim some self-respect, and decides that the fastest way to do that is to run the reserve’s annual marathon. Though Rose hasn’t run in twenty years, smokes, and initially has little motivation, she announces her intention to run the race... -
The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsLeonora Carrington, the distinguished British-born Surrealist painter is also a writer of extraordinary imagination and charm. Exact Change launched a program of reprinting her fiction with what is perhaps her best loved book...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult aging apocalyptic -
Just Dreaming by Kerstin Gier
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA dream traveler faces the greatest challenge she's yet encountered in this gripping third and final book of the Silver trilogy.The course of dream travel never did run smooth—at least, not in Liv Silver's experience... -
Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest by A. Lee Martinez
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsWitness the epic battle of the cyclops!Visit the endangered dragon preserve! Please, no slaying.Solve the mystery of The Mystery Cottage, if you dare!Buy some knick knacks from The Fates! They might come in handy later.On a road trip across an enchanted America, Helen and Troy will discover all this and more...Categorized as:
humor magical-realism satire action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book comedy -
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Someone Like You by Roald Dahl
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn Someone Like You are fifteen classic tales told by the grand master of the short story, Roald Dahl...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction 20th-century anthologies audiobook children children-books classics -
Equoid by Charles Stross
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe "Laundry" is Britain's super-secret agency devoted to protecting the realm from the supernatural horrors that menace it. Now Bob Howard, Laundry agent, must travel to the quiet English countryside to deal with an outbreak of one of the worst horrors imaginable. For, as it turns out, unicorns are real. They're also ravenous killers from beyond spacetime.. -
The Proposal by Meg Cabot
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe last place Suze Simon expects to find herself during Valentine’s Day is a cemetery. But that’s what happens when you’re a mediator – cursed with the “gift” of communicating with the dead.That’s how Suze has ended up at the graves of a pair of NCDPs - Non-Compliant Deceased Persons – whose drama didn’t end with death. It’s Suze’s job to make sure they move on—for good... -
Down on the Farm by Charles Stross
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn Charles Stross’s novel The Atrocity Archive and its sequels, the “Laundry” is a secret British agency responsible for keeping dark interdimensional entitities from destroying the cosmos and, not incidentally, the human race. The battles with creatures from beyond time are dangerous; however, it’s the subsequent bureaucratic paperwork that actually breaks men’s souls... -
Clovenhoof by Heide Goody, Iain Grant
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCharged with gross incompetence, Satan is fired from his job as Prince of Hell and exiled to that most terrible of places: English suburbia... -
The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsThe Third Policeman is Flann O'Brien's brilliantly dark comic novel about the nature of time, death, and existence...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction magical-realism satire 20th-century absurdism action-adventure adult
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