Kill City Blues

Nightwise

R. S. Belcher2015

An amoral occultist travels across the United States to settle a debt involving a supernatural conspiracy. It uses noir tropes and urban grit.

Same sardonic register, still urban fantasy

pace0·prose0·bleak+1

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+2

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+2

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·bleak+1

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.

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Grunge

Larry Correia2016

A Marine killed in a bombing is resurrected to hunt supernatural creatures. He joins a private company that kills monsters for government bounties.

Same sardonic register, still urban fantasy

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Skylark DuQuesne

Edward Elmer Smith1966

Two rival geniuses must unite their space fleets to stop an alien threat. It features planet-destroying weapons and faster-than-light travel.

sardonic → earnest

pace+1·prose0·bleak-1

Creepers

David Morrell2005

Five urban explorers break into a long-abandoned hotel in New Jersey and find themselves trapped with a killer.

sardonic → tense

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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.

sardonic → propulsive

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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+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.

sardonic → playful

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

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+2

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·bleak0

The Bleeding Season

Greg F. Gifune2003

Three friends investigate the suicide of a childhood companion. They uncover a history of violence and a supernatural secret in their small town.

sardonic → bleak, still noir

pace-1·prose0·bleak+2

Frankenstein

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley1818

Victor Frankenstein assembles a living being from scavenged parts. The narrative follows the creature's rejection and its violent revenge.

sardonic → elegiac

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

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.

sardonic → elegiac

pace0·prose0·bleak+2