After
A Winter Haunting
Dan Simmons2002
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose+1bleak0
Wylding Hall
Elizabeth Hand2015
A folk-rock band records an album in a remote manor in 1972. Decades later, members recount the disappearance of their lead singer.
Same elegiac register, still haunted house
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Floating Staircase
Ronald Malfi2011
A novelist moves to a lakeside home and becomes obsessed with a staircase in the water and the ghost of a drowned boy.
Same elegiac register, still ghost story
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose+1bleak0
Fog Heart
Thomas Tessier1997
Two couples mourning the loss of their children encounter a medium who claims she can contact the dead, leading to a series of hauntings.
Same elegiac register, still ghost story
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Petra's Ghost
C.S. O’Cinneide2019
A man walks the Camino de Santiago while grieving his wife. He begins to suspect a supernatural presence is following him on the trail.
elegiac → meditative, still ghost story
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Shining
Stephen King1977
A family stays in an isolated hotel for the winter. The father's alcoholism and the building's history lead to a mental breakdown.
elegiac → tense, still psychological horror
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Boneland
Alan Garner2012
An adult Colin searches for his lost sister while an ancient shaman performs rituals in the same landscape. The two timelines mirror one another.
Same elegiac register, still unreliable narrator
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace0prose+2bleak0
Tours of the Black Clock
Steve Erickson1989
A ghostwriter for Hitler's private pornography lives in a surreal version of the 20th century where history and memory blur.
elegiac → dreamlike, still unreliable narrator
pace0·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+2bleak0
The Claw of the Conciliator
Gene Wolfe1981
An exiled torturer travels with a gem that can heal the dead. The narrative uses archaic vocabulary and an unreliable perspective.
elegiac → dreamlike, still unreliable narrator
pace0·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak-1
Love & Sleep
John Crowley1994
Pierce Moffett researches the history of magic while living in a small town. The narrative shifts between his life and the Renaissance.
elegiac → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace0prose+2bleak-1
In the Night Garden
Catherynne M. Valente2006
A girl with tattooed eyelids tells a prince interlocking stories of monsters and folklore. The narrative is a series of nested myths.
elegiac → dreamlike
pace0·prose+2·bleak-1
To recover
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
This Girl
Colleen Hoover2013
A husband retells the story of his early relationship to his wife. It uses dual timelines to revisit events from the first book in the series.
elegiac → earnest
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
The Score
Elle Kennedy2016
A college senior has a one-night stand with a hockey player to get over a breakup. They continue the arrangement as graduation approaches.
elegiac → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
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To Sir Phillip, With Love
Julia Quinn2003
Eloise Bridgerton travels to meet a widowed baronet she has only known through letters. They consider a marriage of convenience.
elegiac → warm
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
All Rhodes Lead Here
Mariana Zapata2021
A woman moves back to her Colorado hometown after a breakup and rents a garage apartment from a grumpy single father.
elegiac → warm
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Hannah's List
Debbie Macomber2010
A widower receives a letter from his late wife suggesting three women he should date. He begins to interact with each woman over the following year.
elegiac → warm
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Matt Dinniman2020
Earth is converted into an 18-level televised death game. A man and a cat must navigate traps and monsters to survive.
elegiac → sardonic
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-2
The Stainless Steel Rat
Harry Harrison1961
A futuristic con man is caught by the Special Corps and forced to use his criminal skills to catch other lawbreakers.
elegiac → playful
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
Mind's Eye
Douglas E. Richards2014
A man discovers he has the ability to access the internet and process data directly with his mind. He is hunted by a secret organization.
elegiac → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
The Atlantis Gene
A.G. Riddle2013
A geneticist and a counter-terrorism agent uncover a global conspiracy involving human evolution and an ancient Antarctic discovery.
elegiac → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
Monster Hunter International
Larry Correia2007
An accountant kills his boss, who has become a werewolf, and is recruited by a private company that hunts monsters for government bounties.
elegiac → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-1prose+2bleak-1
Love & Sleep
John Crowley1994
Pierce Moffett researches the history of magic while living in a small town. The narrative shifts between his life and the Renaissance.
elegiac → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Boneland
Alan Garner2012
An adult Colin searches for his lost sister while an ancient shaman performs rituals in the same landscape. The two timelines mirror one another.
Same elegiac register, still unreliable narrator
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak-1
The Habitation of the Blessed
Catherynne M. Valente2010
A priest finds the lost kingdom of Prester John. The story is told through three nested layers of journals, myths, and historical accounts.
elegiac → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+2bleak-1
Unfinished Tales
J.R.R. Tolkien1980
A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.
elegiac → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+2bleak-1
Moonwise
Greer Gilman1991
Two women are pulled into a world created by their own folk-tales. The narrative uses dense, archaic language to describe a shifting landscape.
elegiac → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
Pet Sematary
Stephen King1983
A family moves to Maine and discovers a burial ground that can return the dead to life. They use it, and the consequences are absolute.
elegiac → tense, still psychological horror
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
The Red Tree
Caitlín R. Kiernan2009
A writer moves to a rural house and finds a manuscript about a local tree. Her journal records her increasing obsession and mental decline.
elegiac → dreamlike, still psychological horror
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
The Doll Who Ate His Mother
Ramsey Campbell1976
After a car crash, a woman discovers her brother's arm has been stolen. She joins three strangers to track a person with a history of cannibalism.
elegiac → bleak, still psychological horror
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose+1bleak+1
Dream Baby
Bruce McAllister1989
A nurse in the Vietnam War experiences precognitive visions of death and is recruited into a secret psychic warfare unit.
elegiac → bleak, still psychological horror
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose+1bleak+1
The Fifth Season
N. K. Jemisin2015
A mother searches for her daughter across a continent undergoing a tectonic apocalypse. Some chapters address the reader in the second person.
elegiac → bleak
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1
