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After

Sleeping Beauties

Owen King2017

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still horror

1 more ↓

  • Carrion Comfort

    Dan Simmons1989

    Humans with the ability to mentally control others hunt one another for sport. A survivor of the Holocaust attempts to stop them.

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • The Unholy Consult

    R. Scott Bakker2017

    A messiah leads his armies toward a final confrontation with an ancient, soul-devouring force. The world is ending.

    tense → bleak, still dark fantasy

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Android Karenina

    Лев Толстой2010

    The text of Tolstoy's classic is modified to include robots, cyborgs, and space travel in a 19th-century Russian setting.

    tense → elegiac, still horror

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Racconti [55 stories]

    Edgar Allan Poe2011

    A collection of 55 stories featuring unreliable narrators and gothic settings. Themes include obsession, premature burial, and the macabre.

    tense → dreamlike, still horror

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Redshirts

    John Scalzi2012

    Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Fifty Shades of Grey

    E.L. James2000

    A college student enters a sexual contract with a wealthy businessman. The story focuses on their power dynamics and BDSM encounters.

    tense → earnest

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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, still horror

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • 30 Days of Night

    Steve Niles2002

    Vampires attack an Alaskan town during a month of total darkness. The residents must survive a thirty-day siege without sunlight.

    Same tense register, still apocalyptic

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

  • Cell

    Stephen King2006

    A signal sent through cell phones turns people into murderous killers. An artist walks across New England to find his son among the survivors.

    Same tense register, still horror

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

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.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • 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-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.

    tense → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2

Heavier

tense → bleak, still horror

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.

    tense → elegiac, still horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • The Lottery

    Shirley Jackson1983

    Villagers gather for an annual ritual in a small town. The story follows the procedural steps of a lottery that ends in a public execution.

    tense → cold, still horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • Exquisite Corpse

    Poppy Z. Brite1996

    Two serial killers meet in New Orleans and collaborate on the abduction and murder of a young man. The prose details extreme physical violence.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2