The Children on the Hill

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.

pace-1·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

pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

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, still gothic

pace-1·prose+2·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, still psychological horror

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

Tall, Tatted and Tempting

Tammy Falkner2013

A tattoo artist who communicates through sign language falls for a woman who enters his shop. The story follows their domestic courtship.

tense → tender

pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

A Veiled Deception

Annette Blair2009

A vintage shop owner investigates a murder during her sister's wedding preparations to clear her family's name.

pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

It Starts with Us

Colleen Hoover2022

A single mother navigates a new relationship with her first love while managing a jealous ex-husband. The story alternates perspectives.

tense → earnest

pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

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+1·prose-1·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+1·prose-1·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+1·prose-1·bleak0

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Shirley Jackson1962

Two sisters live in isolation after a family poisoning. When a cousin arrives to claim their fortune, the younger sister fights to keep him out.

tense → cold, still gothic

pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

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 gothic

pace-1·prose+1·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.

tense → dreamlike, still unreliable narrator

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Zombie

Joyce Carol Oates1995

A serial killer keeps a diary of his attempts to create a lobotomized slave. The prose mimics his fractured, clinical thought process.

tense → clinical, still psychological horror

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

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

pace0·prose0·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

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1