After
Android Karenina
Лев Толстой2010
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier, nothing denser
More like it
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Disappearance at Devil's Rock
Paul G. Tremblay2016
A fourteen-year-old boy disappears from a park. His family falls apart while receiving strange, possibly supernatural signs of his presence.
Same elegiac register, still horror
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
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The Bride of Lammermoor
Walter Scott1800
In 1703 Scotland, two lovers from feuding families attempt to stay together despite political instability and a family curse.
Same elegiac register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
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Frankenstein
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley1818
Victor Frankenstein assembles a living being from scavenged parts. The narrative follows the creature's rejection and its violent revenge.
Same elegiac register, still horror
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Poe's Children
Peter Straub2008
An anthology of twenty-five contemporary horror stories. The collection focuses on literary and atmospheric styles rather than gore.
Same elegiac register, still horror
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
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The Girl with a Thousand Faces
Sunyi Dean2023
An amnesiac exorcist works for triads in post-WWII Kowloon Walled City. A powerful water spirit claims to know her forgotten identity.
Same elegiac register, still horror
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
To recover
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
Starter Villain
John Scalzi2023
A substitute teacher inherits his uncle's secret supervillain business, including a volcano lair and talking cats.
elegiac → wry, still humor
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
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Modern Romance
Aziz Ansari2015
A comedian and a sociologist analyze how technology and culture have changed dating. It uses data and interviews to compare eras.
elegiac → playful, still humor
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
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Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
Mindy Kaling2011
A collection of essays about the author's childhood, her career in comedy, and her observations on friendship.
elegiac → wry, still humor
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
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You're Never Weird on the Internet
Felicia Day2015
The actress and creator of 'The Guild' recounts her life as a homeschooled child, her gaming addiction, and her career in digital media.
elegiac → playful, still humor
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
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The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank
Erma Bombeck1976
A collection of essays observing the daily frustrations and domestic absurdities of suburban family life in the 1970s.
elegiac → playful, still humor
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
Shattered
Dean Koontz1973
A man and his future stepson drive across America while being stalked by the woman's vengeful ex-husband.
elegiac → tense, still horror
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
Grunge
Larry Correia2016
A Marine killed in a bombing is resurrected to hunt supernatural creatures. He joins a private company that kills monsters for government bounties.
elegiac → sardonic, still horror
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
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Intercepts
T.J. Payne2020
A worker at a government facility monitors human test subjects driven insane by sensory deprivation. The experiment enters his private life.
elegiac → tense, still horror
pace+2·prose-3·bleak0
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
Infected
Bobby Adair
A slow-acting virus turns the population into aggressive predators. The story follows a survivor navigating the initial societal collapse.
elegiac → propulsive, still horror
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
The Undead Day One
R.R. Haywood
A supermarket manager attempts to survive the first twenty-four hours of a zombie outbreak in England. The story is told in real-time.
elegiac → propulsive, still horror
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-1prose-3bleak-2
Lady Audley's Secret
Mary Elizabeth Braddon1862
A man returns from Australia to find his friend's wife is a governess with a hidden past. He investigates her identity after his friend disappears.
elegiac → mysterious, still horror
pace-1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
The night land
William Hope Hodgson1972
Millions of years after the sun dies, a man leaves an underground fortress to rescue a woman. The prose uses archaic, repetitive syntax.
elegiac → dreamlike
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
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Dhalgren
Samuel R. Delany1975
An amnesiac wanderer enters Bellona, a city cut off from the world where time and geography shift. He joins a gang and writes poetry.
elegiac → dreamlike
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak-3
Gödel, Escher, Bach
Douglas R. Hofstadter1979
An exploration of how cognition emerges from hidden neurological patterns. It uses math, art, and music to explain self-referential systems.
elegiac → playful
pace-1·prose0·bleak-3
- pace-1prose0bleak-2
Ulysses
James Joyce1914
Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.
elegiac → playful
pace-1·prose0·bleak-2
