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After

The Call of Cthulhu

H.P. Lovecraft2016

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The Croning

    Laird Barron2012

    An elderly geologist discovers his wife and her social circle belong to an ancient cult. The narrative shifts between his past and present.

    cold → tense, still cosmic horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

To recover

cold → propulsive

3 more ↓

  • This Man

    Jodi Ellen Malpas2013

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

    cold → tense

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • 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.

    cold → wry

    pace+1·prose-2·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.

    pace+2·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.

    cold → 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.

    cold → tense

    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.

    cold → tense

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    cold → mysterious

    pace-1·prose-2·bleak-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.

    cold → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    cold → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft

    H.P. Lovecraft2014

    This collection presents twenty-two stories of cosmic horror alongside extensive footnotes regarding the author's life and influences.

    Same cold register, still cosmic horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Mr. Shivers

    Robert Jackson Bennett2010

    A father hunts a scarred vagrant across Depression-era America to avenge his daughter's murder. He joins other men seeking the same killer.

    cold → bleak, still cosmic horror

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • The Terror

    Dan Simmons2007

    Two British ships searching for the Northwest Passage in 1845 become trapped in ice and are hunted by a creature.

    cold → bleak, still cosmic horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1