After
Earth Guys Are Easy
Karen Kelley2009
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Lauren's Barbarian
Ruby Dixon2017
A woman is abducted by aliens and abandoned on an ice planet, where she is found by a blue-skinned hunter who believes she is his mate.
Same playful register, still sci-fi romance
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Flip This Zombie
Jesse Petersen2011
A married couple runs a zombie extermination and 'flipping' business. They treat the apocalypse as a series of domestic and financial hurdles.
Same playful register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek
Rhett McLaughlin2019
Two friends investigate a reform school in 1990s North Carolina after a classmate disappears. It is a mystery involving local conspiracies.
Same playful register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose+1bleak0
The Invisible Library
Genevieve Cogman2014
A librarian spy travels to a magical, steampunk London to retrieve a rare book. She must navigate dragons, vampires, and secret societies.
Same playful register, still fish out of water
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
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Enchanted, Inc.
Shanna Swendson2005
A woman who is immune to magic moves to New York and takes a job at a firm that provides magical services to the public.
Same playful register, still fish out of water
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
Denser prose
playful → dreamlike
- pace-1prose+3bleak+2
House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski1998
A man finds a door in his house that should not exist. The story is told through layers of academic footnotes and a decaying manuscript.
pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+3bleak+2
Ambergris
Jeff VanderMeer2020
This collection follows the history of a city built atop a subterranean race. It uses fake histories, journals, and detective noir.
pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+3bleak+3
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.
playful → dark
pace-1·prose+3·bleak+3
- pace-1prose+3bleak+3
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.
playful → cold
pace-1·prose+3·bleak+3
- pace-1prose+3bleak+2
Ghost Stories
Henry James2001
A collection of Victorian tales where the existence of ghosts is often left to the reader's interpretation.
playful → meditative
pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2
Faster
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
Cell
Stephen King2006
A signal sent through cell phones turns people into murderous killers. An artist walks across New England to find his son among the survivors.
playful → tense
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
Battle Royale
Koushun Takami1999
A class of junior high students is trapped on an island and forced to kill each other until one remains. It follows several students' perspectives.
playful → propulsive
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
Creepers
David Morrell2005
Five urban explorers break into a long-abandoned hotel in New Jersey and find themselves trapped with a killer.
playful → tense
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
Patient Zero
Jonathan Maberry2009
A detective joins a secret government task force to stop a terrorist group using a bio-weapon that reanimates the dead. It is an action thriller.
playful → propulsive
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
The Rats
James Herbert1974
Giant, man-eating rats overrun London, attacking citizens in homes and subways. The story follows the escalating biological disaster.
playful → propulsive
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2
Slower
- pace-2prose+3bleak+2
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.
playful → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+3bleak0
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.
Same playful register
pace-2·prose+3·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
Same playful register
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+3bleak+3
Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner1936
The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.
playful → elegiac
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+3
- pace-2prose+3bleak+1
Either/Or
Søren Kierkegaard1992
A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.
playful → meditative
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1
Heavier
playful → elegiac
- pace-1prose+2bleak+3
Frankenstein
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley1818
Victor Frankenstein assembles a living being from scavenged parts. The narrative follows the creature's rejection and its violent revenge.
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+3
- pace0prose+1bleak+3
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.
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+3bleak+3
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.
playful → meditative
pace-1·prose+3·bleak+3
- pace-1prose+2bleak+3
The Terror
Dan Simmons2007
Two British ships searching for the Northwest Passage in 1845 become trapped in ice and are hunted by a creature.
playful → bleak
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+3
- pace0prose+1bleak+3
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.
playful → cold
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
