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Not a Speck of Light: Stories

Laird Barron

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More like it

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  • The White People

    Arthur Machen2004

    A young girl records her experiences with folk magic and supernatural entities in a diary. The story is framed by a discussion between two men.

    bleak → dreamlike, still cosmic horror

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Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • House of Leaves

    Mark Z. Danielewski1998

    A man finds a door in his house that should not exist. The story is told through layers of academic footnotes and a decaying manuscript.

    bleak → dreamlike

    pace0·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.

    bleak → dreamlike, still weird fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

  • The Coming of the White Worm

    Clark Ashton Smith2009

    A warlock observes frozen omens in a prehistoric land before a sentient glacier arrives. It is a cosmic horror story told in ornate prose.

    bleak → cold, still cosmic horror

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • On a Pale Horse

    Piers Anthony1983

    After accidentally killing the personification of Death, a man must take over the office. He navigates the bureaucracy of the afterlife.

    bleak → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Tuesdays with Morrie

    Mitch Albom1994

    A journalist reconnects with his dying college professor for weekly lessons on life. They discuss aging, regret, and love as the professor declines.

    bleak → tender

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The Rooster Bar

    John Grisham2017

    Three law students realize their school is a scam and drop out to pose as lawyers. They steal identities to survive and pay off their debts.

    bleak → sardonic

    pace+1·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.

    Same bleak register

    pace+2·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.

    bleak → tense

    pace+2·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.

    bleak → tense

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    bleak → playful

    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.

    bleak → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    Same bleak register, still cosmic horror

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft

    H.P. Lovecraft2014

    This collection presents twenty-two stories of cosmic horror alongside extensive footnotes regarding the author's life and influences.

    bleak → cold, still cosmic horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Mr. Shivers

    Robert Jackson Bennett2010

    A father hunts a scarred vagrant across Depression-era America to avenge his daughter's murder. He joins other men seeking the same killer.

    Same bleak register, still cosmic horror

    pace+1·prose0·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.

    Same bleak register, still cosmic horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1