After
The Burning Side
Sarah Damoff
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier, nothing faster
More like it
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
Summer of Night
Dan Simmons1991
Five boys in 1960 Illinois discover an ancient evil awakening in their school. They must fight supernatural threats while their town decays.
Same tense register, still horror
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Desperation
Stephen King1996
A demonic entity possesses a small-town sheriff and begins slaughtering travelers. A young boy who hears God leads the survivors.
tense → bleak, still horror
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
The Exorcist
William Peter Blatty1971
A famous actress seeks help when her daughter displays violent behavior. Two priests perform a ritual to remove a demonic presence.
Same tense register, still horror
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose0bleak-1
Black House
Peter Straub2001
A retired detective investigates a series of child murders in a Wisconsin town that shares a border with another world.
Same tense register, still horror
pace-2·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
The Sentinel
Jeffrey Konvitz1974
A model moves into a Brooklyn brownstone where she discovers the blind priest on the top floor is guarding a gateway to hell.
Same tense register, still horror
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
Denser prose
tense → dreamlike
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
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.
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-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.
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+1bleak0
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-2·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
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-2·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak0
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.
tense → dark
pace-2·prose+1·bleak0
To recover
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
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.
tense → sardonic, still horror
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace-1prose-2bleak-3
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
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
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
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace-1prose-2bleak-3
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
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
tense → wry
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
Slower
- pace-3prose-2bleak-2
Lady Audley's Secret
Mary Elizabeth Braddon1862
A man returns from Australia to find his friend's wife is a governess with a hidden past. He investigates her identity after his friend disappears.
tense → mysterious, still horror
pace-3·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace-3prose+1bleak-1
Dhalgren
Samuel R. Delany1975
An amnesiac wanderer enters Bellona, a city cut off from the world where time and geography shift. He joins a gang and writes poetry.
tense → dreamlike
pace-3·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+1bleak-3
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-3·prose+1·bleak-3
- pace-3prose+1bleak-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.
tense → playful
pace-3·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-2prose0bleak-1
Black House
Peter Straub2001
A retired detective investigates a series of child murders in a Wisconsin town that shares a border with another world.
Same tense register, still horror
pace-2·prose0·bleak-1