Mrs. March

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.

sardonic → meditative, still psychological horror

pace0·prose-1·bleak0

Ambergris

Jeff VanderMeer2020

This collection follows the history of a city built atop a subterranean race. It uses fake histories, journals, and detective noir.

sardonic → dreamlike, still unreliable narrator

pace0·prose+1·bleak0

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.

sardonic → cold, still psychological horror

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

Ligeia

Edgar Allan Poe2004

A narrator mourns his first wife, Ligeia, then marries another who falls ill. He watches as the second wife's body appears to transform.

sardonic → dreamlike, still psychological horror

pace0·prose+1·bleak0

She Went All the Way

Meg Cabot2002

A screenwriter and an actor survive a helicopter crash in the Alaskan wilderness and must hike to safety while being pursued by a killer.

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

The Lost Symbol

Dan Brown2009

Symbologist Robert Langdon follows a trail of Masonic puzzles through Washington D.C. monuments to save his kidnapped mentor.

sardonic → propulsive

pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Walking Disaster

Jamie McGuire2013

This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.

sardonic → propulsive

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

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.

sardonic → propulsive

pace+2·prose-2·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.

sardonic → bleak

pace+2·prose-2·bleak+1

Shattered

Dean Koontz1973

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

sardonic → tense

pace+2·prose-2·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.

sardonic → playful

pace-1·prose+1·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.

sardonic → elegiac, still unreliable narrator

pace-1·prose+1·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.

sardonic → meditative

pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

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.

sardonic → bleak, still psychological horror

pace0·prose0·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.

sardonic → bleak, still psychological horror

pace+1·prose-1·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.

sardonic → tense, still psychological horror

pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1