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After

My Darling Dreadful Thing

Johanna van Veen2024

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The Night Class

    Thomas Piccirilli

    A college student returns to campus over winter break to investigate a murder. He experiences surreal hallucinations and shifting memories.

    Same dreamlike register, still unreliable narrator

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Short Stories (Berenice / Fall of the House of Usher / Ligeia / Morella / Oval Portrait)

    Edgar Allan Poe1999

    A collection of gothic tales featuring obsessed narrators, crumbling estates, and women who return from the dead.

    Same dreamlike register, still gothic horror

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Ambergris

    Jeff VanderMeer2020

    This collection follows the history of a city built atop a subterranean race. It uses fake histories, journals, and detective noir.

    Same dreamlike register, still unreliable narrator

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    dreamlike → dark

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Score

    Elle Kennedy2016

    A college senior has a one-night stand with a hockey player to get over a breakup. They continue the arrangement as graduation approaches.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

  • 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.

    dreamlike → propulsive

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

  • This Man

    Jodi Ellen Malpas2013

    An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.

    dreamlike → tense

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

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·bleak+1

  • 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-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.

    dreamlike → tense

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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-1

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    dreamlike → elegiac, still unreliable narrator

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Florence Giles

    John Harding2010

    A young girl in a remote 1890s mansion invents her own language to process her isolation. She becomes convinced a ghost is threatening her brother.

    dreamlike → tense, still gothic horror

    pace-1·prose0·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    dreamlike → elegiac

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    dreamlike → meditative, still unreliable narrator

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Terror

    Dan Simmons2007

    Two British ships searching for the Northwest Passage in 1845 become trapped in ice and are hunted by a creature.

    dreamlike → bleak

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+1