LitQueuelitqueue

After

Bride of Pendorric

Victoria Holt

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Hidden Pictures

    Jason Rekulak2022

    A nanny in recovery looks after a boy whose drawings become increasingly violent and realistic. She investigates a cold case in the woods.

    Same tense register, still mystery

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

tense → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • The Golden

    Lucius Shepard1993

    A vampire detective investigates the murder of a woman bred for her blood. The story takes place within a sprawling castle during a summit.

    tense → decadent, still mystery

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Gormenghast

    Mervyn Peake1950

    A young heir and a social climber navigate the rigid rituals of a decaying, labyrinthine castle. The prose is dense and descriptive.

    tense → dark

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

    James Hogg1824

    A religious fanatic becomes convinced he is predestined for salvation and commits crimes at the behest of a mysterious stranger.

    tense → cold

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

To recover

tense → playful

3 more ↓

  • Mistress of Mellyn

    Victoria Holt

    A governess arrives at a Cornish estate to care for a difficult child and discovers secrets regarding the master's late wife.

    Same tense register, still gothic romance

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • I Hate You

    Ilsa Madden-Mills

    A college football player and a student who dislikes him are forced together. Their mutual animosity shifts into a romance on campus.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Dearest Clementine

    Lex Martin2014

    A college student signs up for a creative writing class and discovers her professor is the boy who lived next door. They become roommates.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Rising

    Brian Keene2003

    A father travels across an apocalypse where the dead are possessed by malevolent, intelligent demons. The world is ending permanently.

    tense → bleak

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak+2

  • Shattered

    Dean Koontz1973

    A man and his future stepson drive across America while being stalked by the woman's vengeful ex-husband.

    Same tense register

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • The Executioner

    Chris Carter2010

    A Los Angeles detective hunts a serial killer who murders victims using their specific phobias. Each crime scene features a blood-scrawled number.

    Same tense register

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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-1·prose+2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    tense → playful

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    tense → elegiac, still family curse

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

Heavier

tense → elegiac

3 more ↓

  • Hamlet

    William Shakespeare

    A prince of Denmark is told by a ghost that his uncle killed his father. He feigns madness while deciding whether to take revenge.

    tense → meditative

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • 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

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • The Lottery

    Shirley Jackson1983

    Villagers gather for an annual ritual in a small town. The story follows the procedural steps of a lottery that ends in a public execution.

    tense → cold

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2