After
Histoires Extraordinaires (Balloon-Hoax / Descent into the Maelstrom / Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar / Gold-Bug / Ligeia / Mesmeric Revelation / Metzengerstein / Morella / MS. Found in a Bottle / Murders in the Rue Morgue / Purloined Letter / Tale of the Ragged Mountains / Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall)
Edgar Allan Poe1857
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier, nothing denser
More like it
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
H.P. Lovecraft1965
A young man becomes obsessed with an 18th-century ancestor who practiced alchemy. He physically transforms as he uncovers family secrets.
Same tense register, still gothic
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Tales
Edgar Allan Poe2017
A collection of 19th-century gothic stories focusing on psychological collapse and macabre events. Narrators often confess to violent crimes.
Same tense register, still gothic
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
The Place Called Dagon (Lovecraft's Library) (Lovecraft's Library)
Herbert Gorman2003
A doctor moves to an isolated Massachusetts valley and discovers a community practicing ancient rituals. It is a 1927 gothic horror novel.
Same tense register, still gothic
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak0
The Croning
Laird Barron2012
An elderly geologist discovers his wife and her social circle belong to an ancient cult. The narrative shifts between his past and present.
Same tense register, still cosmic horror
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
The Yellow Wall-Paper
Charlotte Perkins Gilman1995
A woman is confined to a bedroom for a rest cure. She becomes obsessed with the patterns in the room's wallpaper as her mental state declines.
Same tense register, still gothic
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
To recover
tense → propulsive
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
The Lost Symbol
Dan Brown2009
Symbologist Robert Langdon follows a trail of Masonic puzzles through Washington D.C. monuments to save his kidnapped mentor.
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
Walking Disaster
Jamie McGuire2013
This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
This Man
Jodi Ellen Malpas2013
An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.
Same tense register
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline2008
A teenager in a dystopian future hunts for a digital easter egg inside a massive simulation. The quest relies on 1980s pop culture trivia.
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
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.
tense → wry
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
Creepers
David Morrell2005
Five urban explorers break into a long-abandoned hotel in New Jersey and find themselves trapped with a killer.
Same tense register
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
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.
tense → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak0
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+2·prose-3·bleak0
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
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+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-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+2·prose-3·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
The night land
William Hope Hodgson1972
Millions of years after the sun dies, a man leaves an underground fortress to rescue a woman. The prose uses archaic, repetitive syntax.
tense → dreamlike, still cosmic horror
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
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-1·prose0·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak-3
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-1·prose0·bleak-3
- pace-1prose0bleak-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-1·prose0·bleak-2
- pace-1prose-1bleak0
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.
tense → bleak, still cosmic horror
pace-1·prose-1·bleak0
