After
The Colour Out of Space and others
H.P. Lovecraft1969
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
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Tales of H.P. Lovecraft
H.P. Lovecraft
A collection of stories featuring ancient cosmic entities and scholars who lose their minds upon discovering forbidden truths.
Same dreamlike register, still cosmic horror
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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.
Same dreamlike register, still cosmic horror
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The Fisherman
John Langan2016
Two widowers go fishing at a mysterious creek and discover a local legend involving a dark pact and a gateway to another world.
dreamlike → elegiac, still cosmic horror
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- pace0prose0bleak0
Dark Gods
T.E.D. Klein1985
Four novellas explore modern people encountering ancient, malevolent entities hidden in urban and rural landscapes.
dreamlike → tense, still cosmic horror
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1 more ↓ ↑
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Not a Speck of Light: Stories
Laird Barron
A collection of short stories blending hardboiled noir with cosmic horror. Characters encounter occult forces and ancient, indifferent entities.
dreamlike → bleak, still cosmic horror
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Denser prose
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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.
Same dreamlike register
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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 weird fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
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Edgar Allen Poe (Black Cat / Cask of Amontillado / Fall of the House of Usher / Gold Bug / Metzengerstein / Murders in the Rue Morgue / Narrative of Arthur Gordn Pym / Never Bet the Devil Your Head / Pit and the Pendulum / Purloined Letter / Tell-Tale Heart)
Edgar Allan Poe2005
A collection of gothic stories and a novel. Narrators deal with psychological collapse, premature burial, and macabre crimes.
dreamlike → bleak, still cosmic horror
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
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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.
dreamlike → cold, still cosmic horror
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
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The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft
H.P. Lovecraft2003
A collection of stories following characters who travel into a shared dream world. It focuses on strange geography and cosmic entities.
Same dreamlike register, still cosmic horror
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
To recover
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
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.
dreamlike → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-2bleak-2
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.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
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.
dreamlike → earnest
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-2bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
dreamlike → wry
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
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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.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
Creepers
David Morrell2005
Five urban explorers break into a long-abandoned hotel in New Jersey and find themselves trapped with a killer.
dreamlike → tense
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
Patient Zero
Jonathan Maberry2009
A detective joins a secret government task force to stop a terrorist group using a bio-weapon that reanimates the dead. It is an action thriller.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
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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
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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
- pace+2prose-2bleak0
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
Slower
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
The night land
William Hope Hodgson1972
Millions of years after the sun dies, a man leaves an underground fortress to rescue a woman. The prose uses archaic, repetitive syntax.
Same dreamlike register, still cosmic horror
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
Same dreamlike register
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak-2
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.
dreamlike → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose+1bleak-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.
dreamlike → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak+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.
dreamlike → bleak, still cosmic horror
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
Heavier
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The Croning
Laird Barron2012
An elderly geologist discovers his wife and her social circle belong to an ancient cult. The narrative shifts between his past and present.
dreamlike → tense, still cosmic horror
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
Song for the Unraveling of the World
Brian Evenson2019
A collection of short stories where characters experience physical and psychological distortions. The reality of each narrator is unreliable.
dreamlike → cold, still cosmic horror
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
dreamlike → cold, still cosmic horror
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+1prose0bleak+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.
dreamlike → bleak, still cosmic horror
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+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, still cosmic horror
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
