The End of Everything: Book 1

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 survival horror

pace+1·prose0·bleak0

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-1·prose+3·bleak+1

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.

tense → cold

pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

Ghost Stories

Henry James2001

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

tense → meditative

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Margo's Got Money Troubles

Rufi Thorpe2024

A young mother starts an OnlyFans to avoid eviction. She uses her father's professional wrestling advice to build a persona and manage her life.

tense → wry

pace0·prose+1·bleak-2

Ten Things I Love About You

Julia Quinn2010

To save her family from poverty, Annabel Winslow must choose between a wealthy, elderly earl and his charming, penniless nephew.

pace0·prose+1·bleak-2

Seeing a large cat

Elizabeth Peters1988

Archaeologist Amelia Peabody investigates a mysterious warning in the Valley of the Kings in 1903. She balances family life with solving a murder.

tense → wry

pace0·prose+1·bleak-2

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 survival horror

pace+1·prose0·bleak0

City Of The Dead

Brian Keene2005

Survivors of a zombie plague retreat to a fortified skyscraper. The undead are possessed by demons and retain their human intelligence.

tense → bleak, still zombie apocalypse

pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

28 Days Later

Alex Garland2002

A man wakes from a coma to find London deserted and overrun by humans infected with a rage virus. He joins a small group of survivors.

tense → bleak, still zombie apocalypse

pace+1·prose0·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.

tense → playful

pace-2·prose+3·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.

tense → elegiac

pace-2·prose+3·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.

tense → meditative

pace-2·prose+3·bleak-1

Darkness on the Edge of Town

Brian Keene2010

A small Virginia town is surrounded by a wall of absolute blackness. The residents struggle to survive as the darkness begins to change them.

tense → bleak, still survival horror

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

The Night of the Living Dead

John A. Russo

A group of strangers barricades themselves in a farmhouse to survive a night against reanimated corpses.

Same tense register, still zombie apocalypse

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

The Walking Dead, Book Three

Robert Kirkman2007

Survivors of a zombie plague attempt to build a permanent community inside a prison while facing threats from other humans.

tense → bleak, still survival horror

pace0·prose0·bleak+1