metafiction rec list

self-referential, fourth-wall breaking, stories about stories. unlike my weird fiction recommendation list this list is not going to be divided by medium. most of them are video games anyway.

it's probably obvious that there's a major overlap between weird horror and meta horror (and, truly, i think there is nothing scarier than horror that acknowledges the reader, whether directly or indirectly). as with the weird fiction rec list, art ends up here because its meta elements were the greater influence on myself over the weird elements.

• OFF: possibly the first story i ever consumed that acknowledged the player/reader directly, which altered the psyche of sixteen-year-old me irrevocably. also? quite possibly the first horror story i ever enjoyed.
• umineko: a mystery about mysteries. possibly the most satisfied i've ever been thinking about (and trying to untangle) a story.
• zero escape: more specifically nine hours, nine persons, nine doors; which i think leans hardest into the system it was built for in its mechanics and its storytelling.
• undertale: oh, come on. you didn't think i was going to forget undertale? the game that asks you never to play it again after you get the golden ending? the game that corrupts your entire save file if you beat no mercy?
• homestuck: if you make me explain why homestuck is here i will block you.