LitQueuelitqueue

After

Her Fearful Symmetry

Audrey Niffenegger2009

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Taltos

    Anne Rice1994

    The immortal leader of a corporate empire discovers another member of his ancient species exists. He travels to Scotland to find them.

    haunting → meditative

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Macbeth

    William Shakespeare

    A Scottish general kills his king to take the throne after hearing a prophecy. His guilt and paranoia lead to a series of additional murders.

    haunting → tense

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    haunting → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Blindness

    José Saramago1999

    An epidemic of sudden blindness strikes a city, leading to the collapse of social order. A small group struggles to survive in a filthy asylum.

    haunting → bleak

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    haunting → propulsive, still mystery

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Catering to Nobody

    Diane Mott Davidson1990

    A Colorado caterer is accused of poisoning a guest at a wake. She investigates the murder to save her business and includes recipes in the text.

    haunting → warm, still mystery

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Real Murders

    Charlaine Harris1990

    A librarian in a small Georgia town belongs to a club that studies famous crimes. A real murder occurs that mimics a historical case.

    haunting → wry, still mystery

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

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.

    haunting → bleak

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak+2

  • Shattered

    Dean Koontz1973

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

    haunting → tense

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

  • 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.

    haunting → tense

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • The Conspiracy Against the Human Race

    Thomas Ligotti2010

    A series of philosophical essays arguing that human consciousness is a tragic evolutionary accident. It posits that non-existence is preferable.

    haunting → bleak

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+2

  • Blood on the dining-room floor

    Gertrude Stein1948

    A repetitive, circular narrative about a death in a country house. It uses experimental prose to obscure the facts of a traditional mystery.

    haunting → playful, still mystery

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Among Others

    Jo Walton2011

    A teenage girl at a 1970s boarding school copes with her twin's death through books and subtle magic. It is written as a series of diary entries.

    haunting → tender

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • When the Wolf Comes Home

    Nat Cassidy2025

    An actress flees with a five-year-old runaway whose fears manifest as physical violence. A father pursues them through a series of bloody events.

    haunting → tense, still supernatural

    pace+2·prose0·bleak+2

  • Immaculate Conception

    Ling Ling Huang2025

    haunting → eerie, still supernatural

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

  • The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

    Stephen Graham Jones2025

    haunting → eerie, still supernatural

    pace+2·prose0·bleak+2