Top 15 Books About Doppelgangers Updated 04 /2024

A lot of people are still scared by Jordan Peele's new horror film "Us." You won't be able to watch it at home for a while, but you can go to the theater to see it. After you see "Us," I have 15 books about doppelgängers that you can read. There's no reason you can't keep the terror level high for weeks to come.

Us is the sequel to Peele's debut movie "Get Out," which was released in 2017. It stars Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke as a married couple who are threatened by unknown doubles of themselves and their children. It's not clear who these people are, but they look a lot like Adelaide and Gabe. They also want to kill their whole family. Many people have left the movie with more questions than answers. I think that's what makes it a good horror movie that will keep you scared even after you leave the theater.

To keep the twinned suspense going after you've seen Us in the theater, you need to read the 15 books below. Horror, mystery, and thriller books with twins and doppelgangers at the heart of their stories are all on this list. You're going to love them. Here are some of my favorite things:

'3:59' by Gretchen McNeil

Every morning at 3:59 A.M., Josie has a dream about a girl named Jo who has the life she wants. There are two worlds: one where Jo lives, and the other where Josie lives. Every morning at 3:59, the two girls' lives come together. It's finally time for them to switch places. When they do, Josie thinks that she's finally found the life she's always wanted. But Josie's dream world turns out to be more of a nightmare than she could have ever thought.

'The Lie' by Petra Hammesfahr

Her wealthy lookalike, Nadia, wants her lookalike Susanne to take her place at home for a weekend that Nadia wants to spend with a lover. The unemployed Susanne can't say no. They do more of these swaps, but Susanne starts to fall for Nadia's husband, which could put everyone in danger.

'You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine' by Alexandra Kleeman

The three main characters in Alexandra Kleeman's new book are A, B, and C. They are all named after people in the book. A is trying to figure out who she is as she thinks about her relationship with boyfriend C, who is addicted to sugar, TV, and pornography. Even though B wants to be a like A, A starts to think that disappearing might be a way out.

'The Likeness' by Tana French

Second in Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series, The Likeness is about Cassie Maddox, who investigates the murder of a woman who looks just like her, and whose ID has the same name that Cassie used to be a spy.

'Lost Futures' by Lisa Tuttle

Lisa Tuttle, the author of The Silver Bough, wrote this book. Clare, a 33-year-old woman who isn't happy with her life, finds out that she can go back to any of her possible lives. The other Clares she might have been aren't as happy as she is, and there are consequences to questioning the identities of all those other Clares, too.

'The Scapegoat' by Daphne du Maurier

After meeting at the station, the English John and the French Jean are immediately drawn to each other because of their looks. Their night goes well, but John wakes up the next day to find that Jean has stolen his identity, leaving him no choice but to dress up as the French man and find him.

'The Similars' by Rebecca Hanover

Six new students have come to Darkwood Academy, and everyone wants to talk about them. Emmaline just wants them to go away, though. Emmaline doesn't want to see anyone who looks like Oliver, her best friend, but isn't. Levi is one of the Similars, and he looks just like Oliver. Emmaline, on the other hand, finds out that Darkwood Academy has more secrets than the clones.

'The Poor Clare' by Elizabeth Gaskell

He falls in love with Lucy while looking for the daughter of a lonely woman who hasn't seen her in years. She has been cursed to live with an evil double that keeps her from being happy.

'Brat Farrar' by Josephine Tey

New to England, foundling Brat Farrar could inherit a large estate if an actor and conman convinces him to pass himself off as an heir named Patrick Ashby, who hasn't been seen in a while. When the Ashbys accept Brat as their son Patrick, the truth about what happened to their oldest son starts to come out more and more.

'The Evil Twin' by Francine Pascal

The last book in a six-volume series called Sweet Valley High, this book is about twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield and Margo, a new student who looks like the Wakefield twins and wants to kill one of them and take her place.

'The Night Strangers' by Chris Bohjalian

To start a new life after a plane crash that killed 39 people, Chip moves with his wife and their twin daughters into an old Victorian house. But there are more questions than answers about the move, though. To keep the door closed. And what do the family's herbalist neighbors want to do with the twin girls?

'The Thirteenth Tale' by Diane Setterfield

The author of Once Upon a River wrote this book about Vida, an old author who wants to tell her real story after years of making up stories about herself. When Vida talks to a biographer, she tells him about her mysterious and ghastly past. But will the other writer believe in a truth that is stranger than fiction?

'The Sisters' by Clare Douglas

Abi is left alone after the death of her twin sister. She tries to start a new life in the ashes. Twins Bea and Ben take Abi under their wing. Each of them has a secret, and new mysteries in Abi's life could ruin them all.

'The Silent Companions' by Laura Purcell

Elsie Bainbridge, who is pregnant, moves into the ancestral home of her late husband's cousin. The villagers don't like or trust the place, which is cursed and feared. There, she finds a group of painted wooden figures, known as "silent companions," including one that looks a lot like her as a child.

'Mist of Midnight' by Sandra Byrd

When Rebecca Ravenshaw loses her family in India, she comes back to England, where she stands to inherit her family's money and land. Her family's money had already been taken over by another woman, who claimed to be Rebecca Ravenshaw. She died only a few months later. When people think Rebecca is a fake now, she has to show them that she is not.

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