But how does that apply to books? Instead of documentaries, we have nonfiction. So I would say that mockumentary books are those that, while fictitious, mimic nonfiction. Hey, maybe they’ll even have you googling the facts only to discover that the thing never happened at all. I think this has to do mostly with how the story is told. Be it with words, interviews, diary entries, letters, fake documents, and whatnot. Mockumentary books can encompass epistolary novels, historical fiction, ergodic fiction, or even oral histories for example. They just have to mimic nonfiction. A well-known example could be Max Brook’s World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Unless a zombie apocalypse just passed through my door, I’m pretty sure it’s not real. But it pretends it is. Which makes it a staple mockumentary book. So with that out of the way, let’s get to some of the best mockumentary books that seem so real you just might believe them. I found that mockumentary books are most popular in certain genres. So here it goes! One quick note: I’ve found that books in this sub-genre are mostly written by white, male-presenting authors. Let me know if there are any I missed!
Horror Mockumentary Books
Contemporary Mockumentary Books
Historical Mockumentary Books
For more fiction reads with nonfiction elements, check out the 100 best epistolary novels list, or maybe our intro to ergodic fiction!