After
Resistance
William C. Dietz2009
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier, nothing faster
More like it
- pace0prose-1bleak0
The Walking Dead, Vol. 5: The Best Defense
Robert Kirkman
Survivors at a fortified prison encounter a sadistic leader from a nearby settlement. The focus is on the threat posed by other living humans.
Same tense register, still post-apocalyptic
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Incidents Around the House
Josh Malerman2024
An eight-year-old girl is stalked by a malevolent entity that wants to possess her. The story follows her family's attempts to flee the spirit.
Same tense register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Rolling in the Deep
Mira Grant2015
A mock-documentary crew sails to the Mariana Trench to film a hoax about mermaids and finds real, predatory creatures. Everyone is in danger.
Same tense register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Deeper
James Moore2009
Divers off the New England coast recover a strange creature that survives on land and begins hunting humans.
Same tense register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Temperature
Adam Santo2010
After dying in a car crash, Sally is resurrected by a stranger and led through a world of the undead.
Same tense register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
tense → dreamlike
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski1998
A man finds a door in his house that should not exist. The story is told through layers of academic footnotes and a decaying manuscript.
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
Ambergris
Jeff VanderMeer2020
This collection follows the history of a city built atop a subterranean race. It uses fake histories, journals, and detective noir.
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak-1
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.
Same tense register
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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.
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
Blindness
José Saramago1999
An epidemic of sudden blindness strikes a city, leading to the collapse of social order. A small group struggles to survive in a filthy asylum.
tense → bleak
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
To recover
- pace-1prose-1bleak-3
Redshirts
John Scalzi2012
Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.
tense → playful
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-3
- pace0prose-1bleak-3
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown2003
A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.
tense → propulsive
pace0·prose-1·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose-1bleak-3
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James2000
A college student enters a sexual contract with a wealthy businessman. The story focuses on their power dynamics and BDSM encounters.
tense → earnest
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-3
- pace0prose-1bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
tense → wry
pace0·prose-1·bleak-3
- pace0prose-1bleak-3
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline2008
A teenager in a dystopian future hunts for a digital easter egg inside a massive simulation. The quest relies on 1980s pop culture trivia.
tense → propulsive
pace0·prose-1·bleak-3
Slower
- pace-3prose-1bleak-2
Lady Audley's Secret
Mary Elizabeth Braddon1862
A man returns from Australia to find his friend's wife is a governess with a hidden past. He investigates her identity after his friend disappears.
tense → mysterious
pace-3·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace-3prose+2bleak-1
The night land
William Hope Hodgson1972
Millions of years after the sun dies, a man leaves an underground fortress to rescue a woman. The prose uses archaic, repetitive syntax.
tense → dreamlike
pace-3·prose+2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+2bleak-1
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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-3·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-3prose+2bleak-3
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.
tense → playful
pace-3·prose+2·bleak-3
- pace-3prose+2bleak-2
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-3·prose+2·bleak-2
