LitQueuelitqueue

After

Funland

Richard Laymon1989

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Alison Hewitt Is Trapped

    Madeleine Roux2011

    A woman and her coworkers barricade themselves inside a bookstore during a zombie outbreak. She records the survival effort in a blog.

    Same propulsive register, still horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

propulsive → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • Android Karenina

    Лев Толстой2010

    The text of Tolstoy's classic is modified to include robots, cyborgs, and space travel in a 19th-century Russian setting.

    propulsive → elegiac, still horror

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

  • 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.

    propulsive → dreamlike, still horror

    pace-1·prose+3·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.

    propulsive → dark

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Man Who Quit Money

    Mark Sundeen2012

    A biography of Daniel Suelo, who abandoned currency in 2000. It follows his daily life scavenging and living in caves in the Utah wilderness.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2

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

    Scott Kenemore

    A satirical self-help guide that uses the behavior of zombies as a model for achieving mindfulness and reducing stress.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2

  • The Colour of Magic

    Terry Pratchett1983

    A failed wizard and a naive tourist travel across a flat world carried by a turtle. The story parodies fantasy tropes and clichés.

    propulsive → playful

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Rats

    James Herbert1974

    Giant, man-eating rats overrun London, attacking citizens in homes and subways. The story follows the escalating biological disaster.

    Same propulsive register, still horror

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • The Rising

    Brian Keene2003

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

    propulsive → bleak, still splatterpunk

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • Shattered

    Dean Koontz1973

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

    propulsive → tense, still horror

    pace+1·prose0·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.

    propulsive → 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.

    propulsive → 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.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak-1

Heavier

propulsive → bleak, still horror

3 more ↓

  • Desperation

    Stephen King1996

    A demonic entity possesses a small-town sheriff and begins slaughtering travelers. A young boy who hears God leads the survivors.

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Burning Side

    Sarah Damoff

    propulsive → tense, still horror

    pace+1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • And By God's Hand You Shall Die

    David Sodergren2023

    A woman working in a brothel built on a ruined church experiences visions of an apocalypse. Violence and gore ensue as a priest's warnings come true.

    propulsive → bleak, still splatterpunk

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1