LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Stake

Richard Laymon1990

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still splatterpunk

1 more ↓

  • Dawn of the Dead

    George A. Romero1978

    Four survivors barricade themselves in a suburban shopping mall during a zombie uprising. It follows the plot of the 1978 film.

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

tense → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • Ghost Stories

    Henry James2001

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

    tense → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    pace-1·prose+2·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+2·bleak+1

To recover

tense → propulsive

3 more ↓

  • This Man

    Jodi Ellen Malpas2013

    An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.

    Same tense register

    pace0·prose-1·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.

    tense → wry

    pace0·prose-1·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+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Johnny Gruesome

    Greg Lamberson2008

    A murdered teenager returns from the grave to kill the classmates who betrayed him. It is a fast-paced slasher story with high gore.

    tense → sardonic, still splatterpunk

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Clickers

    J. F. Gonzalez2000

    Giant carnivorous crabs emerge from the ocean to attack a small Maine town. A group of survivors attempts to escape the escalating gore.

    tense → propulsive, still splatterpunk

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Hungry 4

    Steven W. Booth2013

    A sheriff and an outlaw travel to Los Angeles during a zombie outbreak. They encounter a suspicious rehabilitation facility in Malibu.

    tense → propulsive, still splatterpunk

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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·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+2·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+2·bleak-1

Heavier

tense → bleak, still splatterpunk

3 more ↓

  • The Girl Next Door

    Jack Ketchum1989

    A group of children in the 1950s witness and participate in the prolonged torture of two sisters held captive in a basement.

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • The Rising

    Brian Keene2003

    A father travels across an apocalypse where the dead are possessed by malevolent, intelligent demons. The world is ending permanently.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

  • The Light at the End

    John Skipp2000

    A group of New Yorkers hunts a punk-rock vampire who is killing people in the subway system during the 1980s.

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1