Supernatural Stories
Spooky season is here! Grab your pumpkin spice lattes, put on that flannel shirt, and cuddle up under your fluffiest blanket. This month is all about Larry fanfiction with a little extra magic – fantasy, sci-fi, and soulmate fics.
As a reminder, some of these works require an Archive of Our Own account to access, and you need to sit on a waitlist – typically for a week or two – to gain access. I recommend hopping on that list as soon as possible and diving into the open fics now!
1. Shadow Dances by Itsmotivatingcara
Summary: Louis Tomlinson has a begrudging gift, he’s able to communicate with the spirits of the dead. Often against his will, and almost always at the most inconvenient of times. Harry Styles was brought into the FBI for not only his skills, but his ability to mitigate the influx of spirits surrounding the elusive and obnoxiously infuriating sharp-tongued medium he’d been assigned to. They do however have to find a way to set aside their sordid history, and their reluctant attraction, to track down the murderer plaguing their coastal city.
Why I Liked It: I find all of Itsmotivatingcara’s works addicting, but Shadow Dances hits different. It has ghosts and poltergeists, found family, and so many twists that I found myself constantly on the edge of my seat. It’s close to my heart and impossible to put down. While she has many works that could fit in this category, Shadow Dances stands out to me as uniquely memorable, a strong showing of her ability to pull fantasy and sci-fi elements into her stories.
Content Warning: MANY – Please read tags
2. Say Hallelujah, Say Goodnight by alivingfire
Summary: Louis is an angel who is just a little too bad to be good, Harry is a demon who is just a little too good to be bad, and they’re both a little too in love to be impartial when angels and demons go to war.
Why I Liked It: I’ve never read a fic I would consider to be truly epic until I read Say Hallelujah, Say Goodnight. I cried, I laughed, I was shocked, I wanted to throw my phone. alivingfire has a fast-paced writing style, and paired with a timeline as long as this fic covers, you get to see decades and centuries of Louis and Harry. I don’t think I’ll ever read another story quite like this one.
Content Warning: War, violence, major illness, temporary main character death
3. we are ghosts amongst these hills by orphan_accoun
Summary: Harry spontaneously buys a house in Yorkshire because the universe, or fate, keeps leading him to it. What he didn’t know, is that his new house comes with a past that seems to be mysteriously tied to his own life. Before he knows it he finds himself travelling back in time, stuck in the middle of a century old love story.
Why I Liked It: I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this, and I’m glad I didn’t. When Harry begins to experience waking dreams of a man from decades before his life, you get to share the experience of piecing together the mystery. A beautiful story of love that conquers all, including time. I’m getting chills again just thinking about it!
Content Warning: Violence, arranged marriage
4. waiting for the tides to meet by nauticalleeds
Summary: Soulmate AU. Everyone is born with heterochromia — one eye is their own eye colour, while the other is the colour of their soulmate’s. It’s only when they meet their soulmate for the first time that their own eyes match properly. After a hazy night at a frat party, Louis wakes up to blue eyes and the shocking realization that he had met his soulmate, without any sober recollection. Seven years pass where Louis comes to terms with the fact that he’ll never know who his soulmate is. Then one fated summer, a beautiful green-eyed photographer arrives at Louis’ workplace, with promises of endless laughter and a familiar feeling in Louis’ heart.
Why I Liked It: A purple floral shirt, a full head of lettuce, a cat that heavily prefers one type of canned food over another, and a bathtub. Welcome to waiting for the tides to meet, and a communication miss that will have you screaming at your phone in between bouts of laughter. This fic is a ton of fun, but heartbreaking as well. Imagine finding your soulmate and losing them in the same moment. Enjoy the ride!
Content Warning: No major triggers
5. Etched in Salt (is a cathedral of the world) by HelloAmHere
Summary: Louis asks for very few things in life, and they are: to solve cases, to keep bad people from doing their bad things, to get good coffee, to go home to a spacious apartment with nobody else in it, and to manage his stupid telempathy powers with minimal interference. And now he’s stuck in a tiny cabin in a snowstorm in the middle of god-awful-nowhere with Harry Styles. Because of course he is.
Why I Liked It: Etched in Salt is a plot-heavy one-shot, which isn’t very common in my experience. The tension in this enemies-to-lovers story is enhanced by the rich mystery at the forefront. You’ll like this fic if you don’t mind a little less emphasis on Larry from time to time in exchange for gorgeous and impactful writing. I’d also recommend this for fans of Itsmotivatingcara’s work, especially Shadow Dances.
Content Warning: Childhood trauma
6. the school of extraordinary lovers by stylinsoncity
Summary: harry is a third-year witch and violinist at Laitswold, the only magical academy in the UK, with dreams of taking on the world, and hopefully breaking the centuries-old curse on his family while he’s at it. he does not dream of facing off against his childhood rival and duet partner, but louis is back in town after six years abroad, so that’s exactly what happens.
Why I Liked It: stylinsoncity is well known for delivering detailed, expansive worlds, but the school of extraordinary lovers stands out in particular. Witches, vampires, demons, and werewolves abound, and Harry works to figure out a way to halt a family curse that could end his life. I love a story with multiple strong plot lines, and there’s so much story to follow here.
Content Warning: Closeted characters/coming out, past character death, minor violence, implied/referenced domestic violence
7. The Afterlife Fic (The Best I Ever Had in My Entire Life… Or Death) by LovingCup
Summary: On his first full day in the Afterlife, Louis meets Harry Styles, and the two have an instant connection. Over the course of their Reviews, they fall in love and begin to find that even though they didn’t know each other on Earth, they are nonetheless linked to one another in perfect ways. Both are hoping to move ahead in the universe together, but they are challenged with the threat of separation if one or both of them is sent back to Earth to be born again.
Why I Liked It: Get ready for a rollercoaster of a new proportion. Take the sweetest, fluffiest soulmate fic of all time and blend it with pure emotional devastation and you’ve got The Afterlife Fic. It’s long and detailed, and for some can be boring at times towards the beginning, but once you get into the meat, it’s an incredibly powerful read that will have you sobbing. Louis’ gonna fight for Harry.
Content Warning: Death (car accident), descriptions of death, domestic trauma (parental arguments)
8. Three Days in February by mercurial-madhouse (writing_practice)
Summary: How close is too close? Harry and Louis are about to find out after a drunken night leaves Louis cursed. With only a week before tour starts, the race is on to fix things before they lose Louis forever. Oh, and Harry has to keep his long-time crush on Louis a secret while the lad can literally hear his thoughts. Easy, right?
Why I Liked It: A canon-adjacent fic with magic? Sign me up. I was glued to my screen reading Three Days in February, with a plot unlike any I’d read before. Louis is effectively trapped in Harry’s mind, only able to communicate with him. The mystery was incredible, but learning about Louis’ feelings had me screaming at my phone. You’re going to laugh, and you’re going to rage. Have fun!
Content Warning: No major triggers, but stressful nightmare depictions occur
9. Don’t Let the Tide Come and Take Me by kiwikero
Summary: The aquarium in the lobby has been there as long as Louis can remember, and so has the merman inside. That is, until the day Louis loses his job and decides to set the creature free. They set off on a road trip to the sea, learning to communicate more and more each day. Their destination is LA, but the closer they get and the more Louis gets to know the merman, the more he dreads having to say goodbye.
Why I Liked It: A soft, lovely read with a twist ending that had me in tears. What’s not to adore? I loved exploring this world where a merman is only a bit out of place, and Louis feels a calling to get him out of captivity. Truly, this fic is a comfort read, and I could easily see myself returning to it when I need something hopeful and sweet.
Content Warning: No major triggers
10. Full Moon Dreaming by jacaranda_bloom
Summary: Every month, Full Moon Dreaming reveals a person’s soulmate. Sometimes it’s an object or a place, or for the lucky ones, the love of their life. Louis has given up hope of dreaming of a person, resigned to living a life devoid of that kind of all-consuming love for another and receiving the same in return. But when a new neighbour descends on Louis’ beloved Hanson Bay and moves into the other beach house, could all that be about to change?
Why I Liked It: This may be my favorite jacaranda_bloom fic. They’re well known in the community for cranking out fantastic, fluffy reads that warm your heart, touching on various situations and universes, but this soulmate fic brings in some hurt/comfort. I don’t want to spoil what happens, but it had me in tears, especially with the personal impact bushfires have had on jacaranda_bloom, prompting them to make this story. A gorgeous way to round out our list.
Content Warning: Bushfires and near-death experiences
If you have questions or are seeking additional recommendations, you can find me on Twitter at @FitzandLarry – happy reading, and have a lovely October!
