Tales of Science (Balloon-Hoax / Descent Into the Maelstrom / Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar / Mesmeric Revelation / Ms. Found in a Bottle / Some Words with a Mummy / Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade / Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall)

Meddling Kids

Edgar Cantero2017

Adults who solved a mystery as children return to their hometown to confront the trauma of what they actually saw. It is a satire of Scooby-Doo.

clinical → playful, still satire

pace+1·prose0·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.

clinical → dreamlike

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.

clinical → dreamlike

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

The Golden

Lucius Shepard1993

A vampire detective investigates the murder of a woman bred for her blood. The story takes place within a sprawling castle during a summit.

clinical → decadent

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

This Man

Jodi Ellen Malpas2013

An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.

clinical → tense

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

Real Murders

Charlaine Harris1990

A librarian in a small Georgia town belongs to a club that studies famous crimes. A real murder occurs that mimics a historical case.

clinical → wry

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

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.

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.

clinical → bleak

pace+2·prose-2·bleak+2

Shattered

Dean Koontz1973

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

clinical → tense

pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

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.

clinical → 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.

clinical → playful

pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

Absalom, Absalom!

William Faulkner1936

The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

clinical → elegiac

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

The Pale King

David Foster Wallace2011

An unfinished, experimental novel about the mundane daily operations of an IRS processing center in 1985 Illinois.

clinical → sardonic, still satire

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

Frankenstein

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley1818

Victor Frankenstein assembles a living being from scavenged parts. The narrative follows the creature's rejection and its violent revenge.

clinical → elegiac

pace0·prose0·bleak+2

Flowers in the Attic

V.C. Andrews1979

Four children are hidden in an attic for years by their mother and grandmother to secure an inheritance. They face gradual poisoning and abuse.

clinical → elegiac

pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

A prince of Denmark is told by a ghost that his uncle killed his father. He feigns madness while deciding whether to take revenge.

clinical → meditative

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2