LitQueuelitqueue

After

The First Days

Rhiannon Frater2011

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • FantasticLand

    Mike Bockoven2016

    Interviews and documents recount how employees at a flooded theme park turned into violent factions. It is told as a non-fiction oral history.

    Same tense register, still survival horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

tense → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • 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

    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

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Ghost Stories

    Henry James2001

    A collection of Victorian tales where the existence of ghosts is often left to the reader's interpretation.

    tense → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Smokin' Seventeen

    Janet Evanovich2011

    A bounty hunter investigates bodies found in her boss's lot while choosing between three suitors. The story follows her daily mishaps in New Jersey.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

    A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.

    tense → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Duke and I

    Julia Quinn2000

    A duke and a debutante enter a fake courtship to avoid social pressure. They navigate Regency London's marriage market while hiding their deal.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Creepers

    David Morrell2005

    Five urban explorers break into a long-abandoned hotel in New Jersey and find themselves trapped with a killer.

    Same tense register, still survival horror

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The remaining

    D. J Molles2014

    A soldier emerges from a bunker into a world where a bacterium has turned most people into predators. He attempts to find survivors.

    Same tense register, still post-apocalyptic

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • 30 Days of Night

    Steve Niles2002

    Vampires attack an Alaskan town during a month of total darkness. The residents must survive a thirty-day siege without sunlight.

    Same tense register, still survival horror

    pace+1·prose-1·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-2·prose+2·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

    pace-2·prose+2·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-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Troop

    Nick Cutter2014

    A scoutmaster and five boys are stranded on an island with a man carrying a parasitic infection. The organism spreads through the group.

    tense → bleak, still survival horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • The Ruins

    Scott Smith2005

    Four tourists are trapped on a hill in Mexico by locals and a predatory vine. The plant mimics sounds and grows inside their skin.

    Same tense register, still survival horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Autumn

    David Moody2011

    A viral outbreak kills billions, and the corpses begin to move. Two groups of survivors with different philosophies are forced to work together.

    tense → bleak, still post-apocalyptic

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+1