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After

By blood we live

Glen Duncan2014

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same sardonic register, still horror

1 more ↓

  • The Doll's House

    Neil Gaiman2013

    In this second volume of the Sandman series, Dream tracks down escaped nightmares while a young woman searches for her brother.

    sardonic → dreamlike, still horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Ghost Stories

    Henry James2001

    A collection of Victorian tales where the existence of ghosts is often left to the reader's interpretation.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    sardonic → decadent

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • The Unholy Consult

    R. Scott Bakker2017

    A messiah leads his armies toward a final confrontation with an ancient, soul-devouring force. The world is ending.

    sardonic → bleak, still dark fantasy

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Mane Event

    Shelly Laurenston2007

    A female cop reunites with a childhood friend who is now a lion-shifter. They navigate a romantic attraction while he pursues her in New York.

    sardonic → playful

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Mile High

    Liz Tomforde2023

    A professional hockey player and a flight attendant clash on the team's private plane during a season-long road trip.

    sardonic → playful

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Behind the Net

    Stephanie Archer2024

    A former musician becomes the live-in assistant for a professional hockey goalie she knew in high school.

    sardonic → playful

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Shattered

    Dean Koontz1973

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

    sardonic → tense, still horror

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    Same sardonic register, still horror

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • 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.

    sardonic → tense, still horror

    pace+1·prose-2·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.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-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.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

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

    sardonic → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1

Heavier

sardonic → bleak, still horror

3 more ↓

  • The Burning Side

    Sarah Damoff

    sardonic → tense, still horror

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • Mapping the Interior

    Stephen Graham Jones2017

    A teenager follows a figure resembling his dead father into the hidden spaces of his home. He maps a shifting, dangerous interior.

    sardonic → elegiac, still horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Flowers in the Attic

    V.C. Andrews1979

    Four children are hidden in an attic for years by their mother and grandmother to secure an inheritance. They face gradual poisoning and abuse.

    sardonic → elegiac, still horror

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+1