LitQueuelitqueue

After

Tales (Black Cat / Facts in the Case of M Valdemar / Fall of the House of Usher / Gold Bug / Masque of the Red Death / Murders in the Rue Morgue / Pit and the Pendulum)

Edgar Allan Poe1909

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Turn of the Screw

    Henry James1898

    A governess at a remote estate becomes convinced that two ghosts are haunting the children in her care. The prose is dense and ambiguous.

    Same tense register, still psychological horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → dreamlike, 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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → cold, still psychological horror

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

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.

    tense → meditative

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Craven Manor

    Darcy Coates2018

    A man takes a job as a groundskeeper at a decaying estate. He finds a crypt, a strange employer, and evidence that the house is not empty.

    Same tense register, still gothic horror

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Thoughtful

    S.C. Stephens2015

    Kellan Kyle falls for his best friend's girlfriend, Anna. The story retells the events of Thoughtless from Kellan's perspective.

    tense → earnest

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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-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.

    Same tense register

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • The Executioner

    Chris Carter2010

    A Los Angeles detective hunts a serial killer who murders victims using their specific phobias. Each crime scene features a blood-scrawled number.

    Same tense register

    pace+2·prose-2·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-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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • A Head Full of Ghosts

    Paul G. Tremblay2015

    A camera crew films a family whose daughter exhibits signs of possession. The story is told through the sister's memory and the footage.

    Same tense register, still psychological horror

    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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → bleak, still psychological horror

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1