TALES OF THE GROTESQUE AND ARABESQUE - In Two Volumes - Vol. I (Bon-Bon / Devil in the Belfry / Duc de L’omelette / Fall of the House of Usher / King Pest / Ligeia / Lionizing / Man That Was Used Up / Morella / Ms. Found in a Bottle / Scythe of Time / Shadow / Signora Zenobia / William Wilson)

Ghost Stories

Henry James2001

A collection of Victorian tales where the existence of ghosts is often left to the reader's interpretation.

dreamlike → meditative, still gothic horror

pace0·prose+1·bleak0

Tales of Mystery and the Supernatural

Edgar Allan Poe2013

A collection of 19th-century gothic stories. Narrators descend into madness, obsession, and the macabre through prose-heavy descriptions.

dreamlike → bleak, still gothic horror

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

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

pace0·prose+1·bleak0

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.

dreamlike → cold, still psychological horror

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

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

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

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-2·bleak-2

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.

dreamlike → wry

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

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+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.

dreamlike → 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.

dreamlike → tense

pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

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-1·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-1·prose+1·bleak+1

Either/Or

Søren Kierkegaard1992

A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

dreamlike → meditative

pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

A Head Full of Ghosts

Paul G. Tremblay2015

A camera crew films a family whose daughter exhibits signs of possession. The story is told through the sister's memory and the footage.

dreamlike → tense, still psychological horror

pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

Silent Children

Ramsey Campbell2000

A man discovers his father may have been a child killer, leading him into a confrontation with the past and a current threat.

dreamlike → bleak, still psychological horror

pace0·prose0·bleak+1

Nona

Stephen King2016

A hitchhiker and a woman named Nona go on a violent killing spree across Maine. The narrator recounts the events from a jail cell.

dreamlike → bleak, still psychological horror

pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1