LitQueuelitqueue

After

Bird Box

Josh Malerman2001

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Red Hill

    Jamie McGuire2013

    Three groups of survivors attempt to reach a ranch during a sudden zombie outbreak. The story follows their separate paths to the same refuge.

    Same tense register, still post-apocalyptic

    pace0·prose-1·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → dreamlike, still cosmic horror

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • Ambergris

    Jeff VanderMeer2020

    This collection follows the history of a city built atop a subterranean race. It uses fake histories, journals, and detective noir.

    tense → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • The Fall of the House of Usher

    Edgar Allan Poe

    A narrator visits a childhood friend in a decaying mansion. The house and the family's health decline simultaneously toward a collapse.

    tense → dreamlike, still psychological horror

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

tense → playful

3 more ↓

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

    A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.

    tense → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Comfort Book

    Matt Haig2021

    A collection of short reflections, lists, and anecdotes intended to provide mental support. It is a non-linear book of philosophy and memoir.

    tense → warm

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Odessa Sea

    Clive Cussler2016

    Dirk Pitt investigates a ghost ship in the Black Sea and discovers a conspiracy involving a lost Romanov secret. It is a high-speed adventure.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 28 Days Later

    Alex Garland2002

    A man wakes from a coma to find London deserted and overrun by humans infected with a rage virus. He joins a small group of survivors.

    tense → bleak, still post-apocalyptic

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • Dead City

    Joe McKinney2006

    A police officer attempts to navigate San Antonio and find his family during a sudden, violent zombie outbreak caused by a virus.

    tense → propulsive, still post-apocalyptic

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • The Fall

    Thomas A. Watson

    A survivalist uses his preparation and skills to protect his family during a sudden global collapse. The focus is on tactical defense.

    tense → earnest, still post-apocalyptic

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → mysterious

    pace-2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    tense → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • A Head Full of Ghosts

    Paul G. Tremblay2015

    A camera crew films a family whose daughter exhibits signs of possession. The story is told through the sister's memory and the footage.

    Same tense register, still psychological horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Silent Children

    Ramsey Campbell2000

    A man discovers his father may have been a child killer, leading him into a confrontation with the past and a current threat.

    tense → bleak, still psychological horror

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Terror

    Dan Simmons2007

    Two British ships searching for the Northwest Passage in 1845 become trapped in ice and are hunted by a creature.

    tense → bleak, still cosmic horror

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1