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After

Comfort Me with Apples

Catherynne M. Valente2021

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Penpal

    Dathan Auerbach2012

    A man reconstructs his childhood by investigating a series of disconnected, disturbing memories. The story originated as online horror fiction.

    Same tense register, still psychological horror

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+1

Denser prose

tense → dreamlike, still psychological horror

3 more ↓

  • 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, still unreliable narrator

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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, still psychological horror

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Ghost Stories

    Henry James2001

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

    tense → meditative, still psychological horror

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

tense → playful

3 more ↓

  • She Went All the Way

    Meg Cabot2002

    A screenwriter and an actor survive a helicopter crash in the Alaskan wilderness and must hike to safety while being pursued by a killer.

    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.

    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.

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

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+1·prose-2·bleak+1

  • 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+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • 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+1·prose-2·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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, still unreliable narrator

    pace-2·prose+1·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+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.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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·prose0·bleak+1

  • Nona

    Stephen King2016

    A hitchhiker and a woman named Nona go on a violent killing spree across Maine. The narrator recounts the events from a jail cell.

    tense → bleak, still psychological horror

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+1

  • Penpal

    Dathan Auerbach2012

    A man reconstructs his childhood by investigating a series of disconnected, disturbing memories. The story originated as online horror fiction.

    Same tense register, still psychological horror

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+1