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After

Dexter in the Dark

Jeff Lindsay2007

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Hard Light

    Elizabeth Hand2016

    A photographer arrives in London to find her lover, only to witness a murder. She flees across the English countryside to escape various gangs.

    Same sardonic register, still antihero

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

Denser prose

sardonic → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    sardonic → dark

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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.

    sardonic → cold

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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+2·bleak0

To recover

sardonic → 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-1·bleak-2

  • The Taming of a Wild Child

    Kimberly Lang2013

    A socialite and a journalist have a one-night stand. They must navigate their mutual dislike while avoiding tabloid exposure.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors

    Molly Harper2012

    A librarian prepares for her wedding while managing a newly turned teenage vampire she is legally responsible for. Her fiancé becomes jealous.

    pace0·prose-1·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.

    sardonic → bleak

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

  • Shattered

    Dean Koontz1973

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

    sardonic → tense

    pace+1·prose-1·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.

    sardonic → tense

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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+2·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+2·bleak+1

  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

sardonic → 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.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·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.

    sardonic → bleak

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    sardonic → cold

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1