After
The Last Town
Blake Crouch2014
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing faster
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
They Thirst
Robert McCammon
An ancient vampire brings an army to Los Angeles to turn the city into a necropolis. A group of survivors attempts to stop the apocalypse.
Same propulsive register, still horror
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Rats
James Herbert1974
Giant, man-eating rats overrun London, attacking citizens in homes and subways. The story follows the escalating biological disaster.
Same propulsive register, still horror
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Blood Oath
Christopher Farnsworth2010
A young White House staffer is partnered with a 140-year-old vampire. They investigate a government conspiracy involving biological weapons.
Same propulsive register, still horror
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Battle Royale
Koushun Takami1999
A class of junior high students is trapped on an island and forced to kill each other until one remains. It follows several students' perspectives.
Same propulsive register, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
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Chasing the Dead
Joe Schreiber2006
A mother follows a kidnapper's instructions through a snowstorm to save her daughter while being forced to confront a secret from her past.
Same propulsive register, still horror
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
propulsive → dreamlike
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski1998
A man finds a door in his house that should not exist. The story is told through layers of academic footnotes and a decaying manuscript.
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
Ambergris
Jeff VanderMeer2020
This collection follows the history of a city built atop a subterranean race. It uses fake histories, journals, and detective noir.
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
Android Karenina
Лев Толстой2010
The text of Tolstoy's classic is modified to include robots, cyborgs, and space travel in a 19th-century Russian setting.
propulsive → elegiac, still horror
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
Racconti [55 stories]
Edgar Allan Poe2011
A collection of 55 stories featuring unreliable narrators and gothic settings. Themes include obsession, premature burial, and the macabre.
propulsive → dreamlike, still horror
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
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.
propulsive → dark
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
To recover
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Grunge
Larry Correia2016
A Marine killed in a bombing is resurrected to hunt supernatural creatures. He joins a private company that kills monsters for government bounties.
propulsive → sardonic, still horror
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
The Kaiju Preservation Society
John Scalzi2022
A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.
propulsive → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose-1bleak-2
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.
propulsive → playful
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
propulsive → wry
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace-2prose-1bleak-2
The Comfort Book
Matt Haig2021
A collection of short reflections, lists, and anecdotes intended to provide mental support. It is a non-linear book of philosophy and memoir.
propulsive → warm
pace-2·prose-1·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-3prose+2bleak+1
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
propulsive → bleak, still dystopian
pace-3·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-3prose-1bleak-1
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.
propulsive → mysterious, still horror
pace-3·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+2bleak0
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.
propulsive → dreamlike
pace-3·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-3prose+2bleak-2
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.
propulsive → playful
pace-3·prose+2·bleak-2
- pace-3prose+2bleak-1
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.
propulsive → playful
pace-3·prose+2·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Desperation
Stephen King1996
A demonic entity possesses a small-town sheriff and begins slaughtering travelers. A young boy who hears God leads the survivors.
propulsive → bleak, still horror
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-1prose0bleak+1
Flowers in the Attic
V.C. Andrews1979
Four children are hidden in an attic for years by their mother and grandmother to secure an inheritance. They face gradual poisoning and abuse.
propulsive → elegiac, still horror
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak+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.
propulsive → cold, still horror
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
Exquisite Corpse
Poppy Z. Brite1996
Two serial killers meet in New Orleans and collaborate on the abduction and murder of a young man. The prose details extreme physical violence.
propulsive → bleak, still horror
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+1bleak+1
Let the Right One In
John Ajvide Lindqvist2004
A bullied boy befriends a vampire who appears to be a young girl. The story depicts their relationship alongside a series of gruesome murders.
propulsive → bleak, still horror
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1
