LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Great God Pan / The Shining Pyramid

Arthur Machen2018

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    cold → meditative

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Ambergris

    Jeff VanderMeer2020

    This collection follows the history of a city built atop a subterranean race. It uses fake histories, journals, and detective noir.

    cold → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+1·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.

    cold → dark, still gothic

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Thraxas

    Martin Millar

    An overweight, beer-drinking private investigator with minor magical abilities solves crimes in a corrupt fantasy city.

    cold → wry

    pace+1·prose-2·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-2·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-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 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

  • The Lottery

    Shirley Jackson1983

    Villagers gather for an annual ritual in a small town. The story follows the procedural steps of a lottery that ends in a public execution.

    Same cold register, still gothic

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

  • The Monk

    Matthew Gregory Lewis

    A celebrated monk is seduced by a woman in disguise and descends into a cycle of rape, murder, and sorcery. He eventually makes a pact with Satan.

    cold → bleak, still gothic

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1