LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Haunting of Hill House

Shirley Jackson2025

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Yellow Wall-Paper

    Charlotte Perkins Gilman1995

    A woman is confined to a bedroom for a rest cure. She becomes obsessed with the patterns in the room's wallpaper as her mental state declines.

    dreamlike → tense, still gothic

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Ambergris

    Jeff VanderMeer2020

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

    Same dreamlike register, still unreliable narrator

    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.

    dreamlike → dark, still gothic

    pace0·prose+1·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.

    dreamlike → cold, still psychological horror

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Ice Planet Barbarians

    Ruby Dixon2021

    A group of human women are stranded on a frozen world and rescued by blue, horned aliens. The story focuses on survival and biological attraction.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Secondhand Spirits

    Juliet Blackwell2009

    A vintage shop owner who can feel the history of clothes uses her magic to solve a murder. She must find a killer while hiding her identity.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • A Spell for Chameleon

    Piers Anthony1977

    In a land where everyone has a unique magical talent, a man with no apparent power goes on a quest to avoid exile.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace+1·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.

    dreamlike → 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.

    dreamlike → 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.

    dreamlike → tense

    pace+2·prose-2·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.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·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.

    dreamlike → elegiac, still unreliable narrator

    pace-1·prose+1·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.

    dreamlike → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    dreamlike → clinical, still psychological horror

    pace+1·prose0·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.

    dreamlike → tense, still psychological horror

    pace+1·prose-1·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.

    dreamlike → bleak, still psychological horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1