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After

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Anne Brontë1847

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More like it

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  • Small Angels

    Lauren Owen2022

    A woman returns to her village for a wedding, awakening a ghost in the local woods that her family has kept at bay for generations.

    earnest → dreamlike, still gothic

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

earnest → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • The Fall of the House of Usher

    Edgar Allan Poe

    A narrator visits a childhood friend in a decaying mansion. The house and the family's health decline simultaneously toward a collapse.

    earnest → dreamlike, still gothic

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • 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.

    earnest → dark, still gothic

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Macbeth

    William Shakespeare

    A Scottish general kills his king to take the throne after hearing a prophecy. His guilt and paranoia lead to a series of additional murders.

    earnest → tense

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Love Her or Lose Her

    Tessa Bailey2020

    A woman enrolls her distant, ex-soldier husband in a marriage boot camp to save their relationship and pursue her dream of opening a restaurant.

    earnest → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Flip This Zombie

    Jesse Petersen2011

    A married couple runs a zombie extermination and 'flipping' business. They treat the apocalypse as a series of domestic and financial hurdles.

    earnest → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Play

    Kylie Scott2014

    A drummer for a famous rock band hires a woman to pose as his girlfriend to improve his public image. They live together to sell the lie.

    earnest → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Rising

    Brian Keene2003

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

    earnest → bleak

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak+2

  • Shattered

    Dean Koontz1973

    A man and his future stepson drive across America while being stalked by the woman's vengeful ex-husband.

    earnest → tense

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

  • 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.

    earnest → tense

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    earnest → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    earnest → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-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.

    earnest → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Monk

    Matthew Gregory Lewis

    A celebrated monk is seduced by a woman in disguise and descends into a cycle of rape, murder, and sorcery. He eventually makes a pact with Satan.

    earnest → bleak, still gothic

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

  • The House Next Door

    Anne Rivers Siddons1978

    A couple watches as a newly built house next door causes a series of tragedies for its occupants. The house preys on the flaws of those inside.

    earnest → dread, still gothic

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • The Elementals

    Michael McDowell1981

    Two families vacation at a coastal estate where one of three houses is slowly being buried by sand and inhabited by a malevolent presence.

    earnest → dread, still gothic

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2