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After

Gerald's Game

Stephen King1992

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Mute

    Stephen King2016

    A traveling salesman picks up a hitchhiker and confesses his wife's infidelity. He speaks to the man for hours before realizing the man is deaf.

    tense → meditative, still psychological horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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, still psychological horror

    pace0·prose+2·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, still psychological horror

    pace0·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

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Smokin' Seventeen

    Janet Evanovich2011

    A bounty hunter investigates bodies found in her boss's lot while choosing between three suitors. The story follows her daily mishaps in New Jersey.

    tense → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

    A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.

    tense → wry

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Duke and I

    Julia Quinn2000

    A duke and a debutante enter a fake courtship to avoid social pressure. They navigate Regency London's marriage market while hiding their deal.

    tense → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

Same tense register, still survival horror

3 more ↓

  • The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye

    Robert Kirkman

    A small-town deputy wakes from a coma to find a zombie apocalypse. He searches for his family and leads a group of survivors.

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → bleak

    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.

    tense → playful

    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.

    tense → elegiac, still unreliable narrator

    pace-1·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-1·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Silent Children

    Ramsey Campbell2000

    A man discovers his father may have been a child killer, leading him into a confrontation with the past and a current threat.

    tense → bleak, still psychological horror

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Nona

    Stephen King2016

    A hitchhiker and a woman named Nona go on a violent killing spree across Maine. The narrator recounts the events from a jail cell.

    tense → bleak, still psychological horror

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • Penpal

    Dathan Auerbach2012

    A man reconstructs his childhood by investigating a series of disconnected, disturbing memories. The story originated as online horror fiction.

    Same tense register, still psychological horror

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1