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After

Stories from the Twilight Zone

Rod Serling1960

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Frankenstein in Baghdad

    Ahmed Saadawi2013

    In US-occupied Baghdad, a scavenger sews together body parts from blast victims to create a creature that seeks vengeance for the dead.

    Same sardonic register, still horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Nova Express

    William S. Burroughs1964

    An experimental narrative uses the cut-up technique to depict a war between intergalactic criminals and the police. It is a collage of imagery.

    Same sardonic register, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • Valis

    Philip K. Dick1981

    A man experiences a beam of pink light that imparts vast information. The narrative explores his mental breakdown and search for God in California.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

sardonic → playful, still science fiction

3 more ↓

  • The Last Question

    Isaac Asimov2007

    A short story told in seven vignettes spanning billions of years. Humanity asks a supercomputer if the heat death of the universe can be avoided.

    sardonic → meditative, still science fiction

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Dream Park

    Steven Barnes1981

    A security chief investigates a real death during a high-stakes holographic role-playing game. The story tracks the game mechanics and the murder.

    sardonic → propulsive, still science fiction

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Grunge

    Larry Correia2016

    A Marine killed in a bombing is resurrected to hunt supernatural creatures. He joins a private company that kills monsters for government bounties.

    Same sardonic register, still horror

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    sardonic → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • 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.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • All Systems Red

    Martha Wells2017

    A self-aware security android hacks its own governor module to watch soap operas while protecting a team of scientists on a distant planet.

    sardonic → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Invisible Cities

    Italo Calvino1972

    Marco Polo describes fifty-five imaginary cities to Kublai Khan. The book is a series of short, prose-poem meditations on urban existence.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-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.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

sardonic → bleak, still science fiction

3 more ↓

  • The Walking Dead: Compendium One

    Robert Kirkman2009

    A sheriff wakes from a coma into a zombie apocalypse. He leads a group of survivors through various temporary shelters over several years.

    sardonic → bleak, still horror

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+1

  • Dead Inside

    Chandler Morrison2015

    A hospital guard and a doctor bond over their shared compulsion to consume human remains. It is a graphic work of transgressive horror.

    Same sardonic register, still horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Rise of the Governor

    Jay Bonansinga2018

    Philip Blake seeks shelter in a zombie-infested Georgia. The story tracks his transformation into a ruthless authoritarian leader.

    sardonic → bleak, still horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1