LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Zen of Zombie: Better Living Through the Undead (Zen of Zombie Series)

Scott Kenemore

5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Prudence

    Gail Carriger

    A young woman takes a dirigible to India to find a rare tea for her vampire father. She manages a crew of friends while navigating local politics.

    Same playful register

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

playful → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    playful → dark

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+3

  • 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.

    playful → cold

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+3

  • Ghost Stories

    Henry James2001

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

    playful → meditative

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    playful → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-1·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.

    playful → bleak

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak+3

  • Shattered

    Dean Koontz1973

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

    playful → tense

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak+1

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.

    Same playful register

    pace-1·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.

    playful → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+3

  • The Pale King

    David Foster Wallace2011

    An unfinished, experimental novel about the mundane daily operations of an IRS processing center in 1985 Illinois.

    playful → sardonic, still satire

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The M.D.: A Horror Story

    Thomas M. Disch1991

    A boy receives a caduceus from a supernatural entity that allows him to heal or inflict disease. He grows up using it to manipulate the world.

    playful → sardonic, still satire

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+3

  • Frankenstein

    Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley1818

    Victor Frankenstein assembles a living being from scavenged parts. The narrative follows the creature's rejection and its violent revenge.

    playful → elegiac

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+3

  • Flowers in the Attic

    V.C. Andrews1979

    Four children are hidden in an attic for years by their mother and grandmother to secure an inheritance. They face gradual poisoning and abuse.

    playful → elegiac

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+3