LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Coming of the White Worm

Clark Ashton Smith2009

5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Dark Gods

    T.E.D. Klein1985

    Four novellas explore modern people encountering ancient, malevolent entities hidden in urban and rural landscapes.

    cold → tense, still weird fiction

    pace0·prose-1·bleak0

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.

    cold → meditative

    pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2

  • Redshirts

    John Scalzi2012

    Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.

    cold → playful

    pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2

  • The Da Vinci Code

    Dan Brown2003

    A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.

    cold → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-3·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-3·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-3·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-3·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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·prose0·bleak-2

  • 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.

    cold → playful

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

  • The Conspiracy Against the Human Race

    Thomas Ligotti2010

    A series of philosophical essays arguing that human consciousness is a tragic evolutionary accident. It posits that non-existence is preferable.

    cold → bleak, still cosmic horror

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak+1

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 weird fiction

    pace0·prose-1·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 weird fiction

    pace+1·prose-1·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·prose-1·bleak+1