LitQueuelitqueue

After

Suicide Forest

Jeremy Bates2015

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still survival horror

1 more ↓

  • The Watchers

    A.M. Shine

    A woman is trapped in a glass room in an Irish forest with three strangers. Every night, creatures emerge to watch them through the windows.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

Denser prose

tense → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • 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

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

  • 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

    pace-1·prose+3·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

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Kaiju Preservation Society

    John Scalzi2022

    A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.

    tense → playful

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-2

  • Project Hail Mary

    Andy Weir2021

    A man wakes up on a spaceship with amnesia and two dead crewmates. He must use scientific experiments to remember his mission and save the sun.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak-2

  • The Book of Hope

    Jane Goodall2021

    A dialogue-based book where Jane Goodall discusses her life's work and her reasons for remaining optimistic about the environment.

    tense → earnest

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2

Faster

Same tense register, still survival horror

3 more ↓

  • Urban Gothic

    Brian Keene2009

    Suburban teens are trapped in a fortified house in a ruined city. A family of cannibalistic mutants hunts them through the basement.

    tense → bleak, still survival horror

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Battle Royale

    Koushun Takami1999

    A class of junior high students is trapped on an island and forced to kill each other until one remains. It follows several students' perspectives.

    tense → propulsive, still survival horror

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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+1·prose0·bleak0

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-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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Darkness on the Edge of Town

    Brian Keene2010

    A small Virginia town is surrounded by a wall of absolute blackness. The residents struggle to survive as the darkness begins to change them.

    tense → bleak, still survival horror

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Laws Of The Skies

    Grégoire Courtois2019

    A group of six-year-olds and their chaperones go camping. A child begins a killing spree while the others are picked off by the wilderness.

    tense → bleak, still survival horror

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Walking Dead, Book Three

    Robert Kirkman2007

    Survivors of a zombie plague attempt to build a permanent community inside a prison while facing threats from other humans.

    tense → bleak, still survival horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1