LitQueuelitqueue

After

Fever Dream

Samanta Schweblin2014

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Song for the Unraveling of the World

    Brian Evenson2019

    A collection of short stories where characters experience physical and psychological distortions. The reality of each narrator is unreliable.

    dreamlike → cold, still weird fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • The Fall of the House of Usher

    Edgar Allan Poe

    A narrator visits a childhood friend in a decaying mansion. The house and the family's health decline simultaneously toward a collapse.

    Same dreamlike register, still psychological horror

    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.

    dreamlike → cold, still psychological horror

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Ghost Stories

    Henry James2001

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

    dreamlike → meditative, still psychological horror

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Overdue Life of Amy Byler

    Kelly Harms2019

    An overworked single mother takes a summer break in New York City for a makeover and a dating life. She rediscovers her identity apart from her kids.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-3

  • Redshirts

    John Scalzi2012

    Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-3

  • The Da Vinci Code

    Dan Brown2003

    A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.

    dreamlike → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

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.

    dreamlike → bleak

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak0

  • Shattered

    Dean Koontz1973

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

    dreamlike → tense

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • 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.

    dreamlike → tense

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

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.

    Same dreamlike register, still unreliable narrator

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-3

  • 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.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2