r/suggestmeabook • u/Friendly-Concern-558 • 8h ago

Seeking read-alikes Over the Garden Wall-esq Recs

I’m looking for a book whose aesthetics are saturated in a vintage autumn style. Something fairytale and sinister!! Any ideas would be great

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6

u/mt_wales 7h ago

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson might scratch that itch. Has fairytale-esque elements (less than in Over the Garden Wall though), two sisters who are kind of against the world after a tragedy strikes their family.

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James also deals with young children and some sort of sinister force that might hit on these elements as well.

6

u/magaoitin Fantasy 7h ago

Nettle & Bone by T Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon) and A Sorceress Comes to Call, also by T Kingfisher.

1

u/irishihadab33r 2h ago

If fall means baking to OP - A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T Kingfisher, too!

3

u/Hatherence SciFi 8h ago

The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed

3

u/Nome550 7h ago

Pan's Labyrinth by Cornelia Funke and Guillermo del Toro. Not autumn but dark fairytale vibes and has kid going to unusual world.

2

u/1stBornAngst 8h ago

Lots of people recommend A Night in Lonesome October. I thought it was more campy than unsettling or sinister. It tried to walk the line between comfy and creepy.

Honestly, I'm posting as a reminder to see what others come up with.

2

u/Angry_Beta_Fish 7h ago

House of Salt and Sorrows is very atmospheric retelling of the 12 dancing princesses full of gothic/fairytale/sinister vibes

1

u/BitingLime 2h ago

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury was the first that popped into my head. Two boys go to a traveling carnvival and meet people who prey on the townspeople's dreams and fears. It borders on horror with some magic, but I definitely got vintage autumn vibes when I read it!

1

u/FloridaFlamingoGirl 2h ago

Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett