Not everyone has the stomach for disturbing literature, but there is such a large amount of writing in the genre that everyone should give it at least one try. This list will help to introduce you to the darker side of novels – the disturbing, macabre, and oftentimes downright sick. The only rule to this list is that the book must be a work of fiction. If you think something has been left off the list, be sure to tell us in the comments.
Anyone who has read this book will appreciate its inclusion here; if for no other reason than the axe scene (in which the protagonist chops off one of his feet with an axe – this is the hobbling scene in the movie). That scene aside, the pages upon pages of descriptions of the pain suffered by the bedridden main character, coupled with the psychological torment as he tries to move through the house unnoticed, make this a much deserved entry.
In 18th century France, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with no scent of his own, but with with a supernatural ability to detect the scent of others is driven to murder in order to create the perfect perfume. The book is a bizarre tale, but it is also lyrical and hypnotic–almost a fairy tale of terror. The ending is utterly vile and if you like disturbing literature, that alone makes this book worth a read. You won’t be disappointed, I promise you.
Upon anonymous publication, this book so scandalized France that Napoleon ordered the arrest of the author, stating that the book was “the most abominable book ever engendered by the most depraved imagination”. The plot concerns Justine, who is presented with vice and abuse everywhere she turns. For example, she seeks refuge and confession in a monastery, but is forced to become a sex-slave to the monks, who subject her to countless orgies, rapes and other abuses. This is a must-read for anyone interested in French literature, the history of sadism, or disturbing literature.
This is one of the only books that I have not finished reading. I was so horrified by a scene early in the book (involving a dog, a bum, and a very sharp knife) that I could not go on. It was my first introduction to truly disturbing writing. I have since learnt to cope better and will, eventually, give this book another go. In the novel, people are sawed in half, gutted, sliced, diced and quartered in every imaginable form. What is striking about this novel’s violence is how emotionally unattached the protagonist is to it all, he has lost all feeling for anything but the thrill of the taboo. This book will change you.
The ‘Painted Bird’ is a holocaust novel that mentions the concentration camps only in passing, and rarely details the Nazis and their terrible work. This is the story of a young boy who gets separated from his parents when they send him to the (perceived) safety of the countryside when World War II breaks out in Eastern Europe. What happens to the boy – the things that are done to him, the things he sees and endures – is staggering. It’s a shocking description of hell on Earth. This book is a carnival of torture.
Straddling the borderlands between realism, fantasy and horror, “Geek Love” deals with the remarkable Binewski carnival family: Arturo the Aqua-Boy, born with flippers but no limbs; the musical Siamese twins Electra and Iphigenia; the telekinetic boy-wonder Chick; and the long-suffering Olympia, our narrator, who is a bald hump-backed albino dwarf. The story progresses through the family’s relatively innocent conception into much darker territory, primarily concerning Oly’s megalomaniac brother, Arty, and eventually culminates in a catastrophic event which claims the lives of all but a few Binewskis.
Kevin is a 15 year old mass murderer; a child who’s been emotionally unstable all his life. This book is written from the perspective of his mother, Eva. She, too, is emotionally disturbed. Shriver does do a creepily good job of highlighting all of the real school shootings that have taken place in America in the last few years, making We Need to Talk About Kevin not just disturbing in the far-off sense, but in the sense that although this particular story isn’t real, Eva could be any number of mothers in this country whose children have done the unthinkable.
The book is told entirely by Frank, a 17 year old who manages to sound perfectly sane and rational as he explains how he killed 3 people while he was still just a child or as he performs the rituals of the Wasp Factory (bizarre rituals that need to be read to be believed). The casualnes with which violent and unpleasant events are described is possibly more horrible than the events themselves and the irony that Frank considers himself the sanest person he knows is understated throughout. “I had been making the rounds of the Sacrifice Poles the day we heard my brother had escaped. I already knew something was going to happen; the Factory told me.”
I normally restrict these lists to one book per author. Today I am breaking that rule. Glamorama definitely needs to be on this list (along with the other Easton Ellis book, American Psycho) because of the gut churning violence depicted throughout the entire second half of the novel. There is a poisoning scene which you will never forget, a scene involving dismemberment (and described in every detail as is always the case with this author), and a plane crash. The book does have many elements of humor (for example, the main character, a male model, thinks that Global Warming is a type of shampoo) and I found it to be an enjoyable read, but it is definitely up there as one of the most disturbing books I have ever read.
Haunted is truly one disturbing but entertaining book of short stories. The first story is about a guy who loses some of his organs – it is the perfect example of “disturbing” literature. This is possibly the most blatantly twisted of Palahniuk’s novels; Haunted pushes the borders of what is considered socially acceptable. The book tells the story of 18 or so struggling writers who sign up for a “workshop” that involves being locked inside a dilapidated mansion for several days to develop story ideas. The chapters are the consequences of their brainstorming. One review sums up the gruesomeness of this book (and illustrates why it is item 1): “I thought that if I made it through story #1 (eating your way through your own prolapsed rectum) that I could get through anything, but I was wrong.”
Sources: Some synopses courtesy of Amazon and Librarything
Nice list.!
I loved Perfume, probably shouldn’t confess that
Agreed this one was amazing book! Also the movie was beautiful and well-made as well despite it’s disturbing nature.
Kudos for including American Psycho!
I only read number 10 and 7. so now i got 8 more books to read!
I had a teacher that claimed that Misery wasn’t really literature and she and I got in a huge fight because i think it’s written very well. i still really dislike her
i really liked perfume too!
juggz: while I couldn’t finish the book, the film is one of my favorites. I am definitely going to buy my own copy of the book and give it another shot though
American Psycho is by far the MOST disturbing book i have ever read!! I remember a couple different parts where I literally would start gagging and HAD to put the book down for a moment or two to compose myself… I did read it entirely, but it was the only book that had that kind of effect on me ( the gagging) and everyone i meet i tell that this book WILL change their life, but if they can get through it, it's a great read!!
You’ve encoraged me to get it, i’ve read 20 pages so far… its just the beggining!
Yay, more books to read. Although I found Justine to be a trifle dull. But that’s probably my bias against De Sade coming out.
jck1074: wow – that is closed minded! What an awful teacher! Considering many comic books are now considered literature, you would think some slack could be cut for mainstream horrors!
Jamie: I must admit I only read the book because of the movie
juggz: hehe I only watched the movie for having read 2 chapters of the book
Great more must reads, including another dodgy Easton Ellis, cheers.
I’ve only read Haunted actually.
After seeing what else was on the list I was surprised that something I’ve read was on the list.
I wish I had some more disturbing novels to add, but I’m not really of a fan of reading upsetting things.
Three years later, but these are my exact thoughts. Also, We Need to Talk About Kevin will be at Cannes this year, starring John C Reilly
Good list, but I was hoping (well, maybe hoping is the wrong wqord) to see The Naked Lunch on the list. I reaD it years ago and some of the scenes depicted are VERY disturbing.
I definitely agree, I was actually expecting that to turn up as number one. Really the list should contain just about everything that Burroughs ever wrote, as it is all INFINITELY more disturbing than these things.
In Misery he only gets his ankles broken in the movie, in the novel she actually cuts off one of his feet with an axe
Man, this is so cool!
yes,Robert! Annie actually hacks off his foot in grizzly detail. all the while he begs and pleads and then it’s gone, with little more than an iodine-stained lump remaining… but Annie explains the ‘hobbling’ procedure as well…
As far as disturbing books go, I’m not much of the reader of such things. “A Boy Called IT” was mortifying to me, because I was an abused child, but not to the extent that the author was. (My mother only strangled me with a piece of cloth… the author’s mother stabbed him with a knife)It was a sad book and it was all true…
rtr
Can anyone give me tips on how to describe very disturbing scenes very graphically? I’m currently writing a scary novel myself but I dunno how to describe scenes very disturbingly.
I swear that when I publish mine hopefully, it will be included in any one of the extensions to this list.
if you have to ask someone how to write disturbing descriptions, then there's a good chance it won't be on here
Robert – ah thanks for pointing that out – I saw the film more recently than the book so obviously got my wires crossed. I will rectify it first thing in the morning
Telboy: I didn’t consider naked lunch for this list because I enjoyed it so much and didn’t find it too disturbing. Eventually I read the other books Burroughs “cobbled” together from the drug fueled manuscript that gave birth to naked lunch. They are equally good!
denzell – I think that following the examples here would be a good start, but ultimately, being able to imagine the situations in great detail would be key
Ringtailroxy- I considered a boy called it – consider it item 11
What about night by elie wiesel? I can literally see piles of dead bodies and smell burning flesh. He should have got a mention especially since it's a true story.
Wow, love the list and will be digging them all out at the local bookstore! Ha ha! Love these kinds of books, just have to look really hard for them I guess. Not read any of these, but will.
Know it’s probably nowhere near as disturbing as some of these novels but I loved the discriptions in Stephen King’s “Gerald’s Game”. Jessie (main character) is handcuffed to a bed in her cabin in the middle of no-where after a ***** game goes wrong, scream as loud as she likes no-one can hear her. Excellent read.
I would think a boy called it would have been up there, it was so difficult to read, but after reading it, there seems to be much speculation over just how true it is. One brother confirms it, one denies it. If it really happened, it’s the most horrifying thing I’ve read, but some opponents of the book say some of the incidents he describes just simply aren’t possible.
all of u people are sick what is this fascination with finding the most disturbing and graphic material you can get your hands on Jesus Christ I’m a Sadomasdochist and still can’t sit through this stuff and jfrater I hate you this site would be so much better if they got rid of you I can’t stand your list or your comments on your own list and in your picture you look like a complete deuschbag cracked.com is so much better than this site better authors and more interesting topics in closing jfrater I hate u and hope u lose ur job and end up penniless and homeless selling your body for money to buy McDonald’s
Who the fuc* are you? And who cares what you think.
It’s a shame many young people here in Germany don’t like The Perfume because they have to read it in school *sigh*
Though only a short story, there is Lily Franky’s “Death Penalty” perfectly fitting this list. A story about a future where any crime is punished by death penalty – only the gruesomeness of the procedure differs depending on your crime (or your lawyer). As for the disturbing part, the execution of a rapist is portrayed…
Oh, and… very nice list!
I remember I read American Psycho on my way to work, in the subway, and I used to open the book just enough so that I could read it but no one could see over my shoulder what I was reading.
I was afraid I would be considered a psychopath myself for reading such weird litterature.
This is actually a really good list, I’ve read most of the stuff here.
Good call on Justine, but no 120 Days of Sodom? I would have put that at number one. Reading it is like being put through a never ending nightmare – it’s utterly unbelievable stuff.
American Psycho had some great torture and killing scenes, but I never finished it for a different reason – it BORED me to death. The first 100 pages, nothing happened except people going to clubs and describing their suits. I understand what Ellis was trying to do, but I just couldn’t bare such inanity so I gave up.
The Painted Bird was awesome.
Geek Love sounds interesting. I must pick it up.
The Wasp Factory was AWFUL. I had to read it for a Gothic Lit class, and while it showed some imagination (the killing scenes, the baby with the maggots in its head), it was still a stupid story, only enlivened by some fun dialogue between Frank and Eric. And the twist was stupid.
Haunted was awesome. I never really got into Palahnuik, but Guts, the Progeria story, and the amateur ***** story were just brilliant. Oh, and the one about the journalist and his dog.
This list was also quite Westerncentric. Check out the works of Ryu Murakami if you want disturbing. Also Battle Royale, which was originally a novel.
Marquis de Sade literature is awesome, you really need to be strong to get through 120 days of Sodom.
Heh, I wondered if that Chuck Palahniuk book would be on here, that first chapter is easily the most nasty thing I have ever read.
Definitely. The first chapter is gag-inducing. Great book though.
Freaky.
Hmm, I think I’ve just about compiled my christmas list.
Nice list! The problem is that you cannot probably have a collection of these novels or else no one would date you for long enough…so, read them, burn them and keep the ashes in your wicked minds
I keep Marquis de Sade lieterature in hidden place…..
Here are a couple of extra suggestions
Michel Tournier – Le Roi des Aulnes (Eng Trans ‘The Ogre’)
- a convicted (but innocent) French child molester/P.O.W who kidnaps ‘Aryan’ children for the Nazis – this is an absolutely amazing novel.
D.M Thomas – The White Hotel – erotic fantasy, Freudian *****ysis and the massacre at Babi Yar (Nazi massacre of 30,000+ Jewish civilians ouside Kiev).
These are more emotionally disturbing that graphically violent.
I remember I read American Psycho on my way to work, in the subway, and I used to open the book just enough so that I could read it but no one could see over my shoulder what I was reading.
Arnaud – LOL. I did exactly the same thing. And, it was quite eerie…I’d get off the tube (subway) feeling kinda weird.
Okay… just reading the -list- was disturbing to me. I guess I’m not cut out for books like these.
jfrater – I didn’t know you’d read The Painted Bird. My copy is probably still on our parents’ bookshelves! Excellent book. Kosinsky killed himself, I think (by that stage he was involved in movies, too).
i keep adding lists like these to my favourites on my computer so i can reference back to them to check them off or find another book but i have so many lists now i find myself reading more lists then books, alas, so many books and so little time to read them! nice list though
Robert – As an author myself, I have to ask… do you have a group of people set up to read your work and tell you what they think of it? Personally, I have close friends do that for me. I used to have my family do it… but after a few short stories, including one that has traumatized one of my sisters for life, none of them will even read my poetry for fear of what might happen to their minds. A good place to go to sharpen your skills is http://www.urbis.com . It’s free, takes all of a minute or two to sign up, and you’ll have strangers and professionals reviewing your work immediately.
As for the list – LOVED IT!! I think this will become part of my required reading list now.
I’ve only read Misery–I’d forgotten about the foot-cutting bit, thanks for refreshing my memory!
I haven’t read any of these books, and am not likely to. The most disturbing novel I’ve ever read is “The Summer of Katya” by Trevanian, best known for “The Eiger Sanction”. It is genteel, almost lyrical, but describes the complete disintegration of a human mind. If you like “disturbing” but don’t like “warped” I highly recommend it. If you have read it, please tell me. I haven’t encountered anyone else so far.
For all you fans of Chuck Palahniuk, there are two other authors that you need to check out. Craig Clevenger, who wrote the Contortionist’s Handbook and Dermophoria. Both are absolutely amazing, in the same twisted way as Palahniuk. The other author is Will Christopher Baer, who wrote the Phineous Poe series. No books have ever gotten under my skin like those.
Misery’s great, I read it again after I’d finished it, the only book I’ve ever done that with. But I think The Stand would’ve been a better King novel to include. It’s full of paranormal elements, but it is about civilisation going to *****, and there are some disturbing sequences mentioned in passing (a little boy falls down a well, but no one can help him because 99% of the population has been killed off my a virus, so he’s left to die).
Also, Rage, written under King’s psyeudonym (sp?) Richard Bachman is quite bleak and disturbing, but enjoyable.
I’d loved the movie for years but I didn’t read “Misery” until I was in college. I read the hobbling scene sitting in the student center one day. It was bright, noisy and crowded but I was so terrified by what I was reading that I was shaking and someone I had never met asked me if I was okay. I still count it as one of the greatest books I’ve ever read. Unfortunately, that’s the only one on the list I’ve read. I work at a library so I’ll have to see how many of the others we have!
Ive read Chuck Palahniuk’s stuff. Fight Club was groundbreaking… however, I found after reading his Snuff and Haunted novels he seems to be running out of steam. Just because you have intimate trivial knowledge of what happens when a body decomposes or the meaning behind various prison tattoos doesnt make up for lack of plot.
Most disturbing Ive read of late? ‘Filth’ by Irvine Welsh. (the author of ‘Trainspotting’.) His corrupted protagonist in that story makes Harvey Keitel from the Bad Lieutenant look like Mr. Rogers.
Yes, Filth! I’m not easily disturbed but that one did make me feel a bit crook.
What, no Dianetics?
Nice list.
Also, if you’re a WWII buff, ‘Ghost Soldiers’ by Hampton Sides was an amazing read. I’ve read my share of POW stories but this true story about the Bataan Death March and the real life prison break that follows was easily one of the most disturbing I’ve read in this genre.
Great list btw… but no classics? Clockwork Orange or 1984?
As i was reading this list i thought… at the end i’ll menton that haunted should have been on it. But there it is…right on number one! Finally im agreed with for a change!
I was expecting to see “Johnny Got His Gun” by Dalton Trumbo on here. Its certainly the most upsetting book I’ve ever read. In fact, I havent read it in almost 10 years because of how depressed it made me.
It’s funny that i’ve read The perfume and Justine the same week… i love both books but i haven’t managed to re-read Justine since. very disturbing but at the same time, a very good book. i’ll have to find the strength to read the other books on the list too.
Cows by Matthew Stokoe (sp?) was probably the most disgusting book I’ve ever read. And frighteningly enough I’ve read a good few on this list. I thought The Wasp Factory was great. I don’t see what’s great about Palahniuk however. Most of his later stuff seems to shock for the sake of being shocking.
I dont know why you restrict the list to only one book per author, if someone wrote 3 of the most disturbing books ever, then they should be here. Aside from that, a very entertaining book. For some reason the Wasp Factory sounds kinda cool/serial killer scary. I’ll be looking into it.
rather a very entertaining list.
i think apt pupil should be in this list
I hate to advocate watching a movie rendition rather than reading the book but I do think that I’m going to in the case of American Psycho. I got about half way into it and felt like I had spent far too much of my life in the world of the sick. Watching the movie takes around two hours, and it’s good, and your done. For me, it was number 1.
Pretty good list overall. Definitely a few books that should have been included were omitted however. I would have included at least one Cormac McCarthy book (Blood Meridian, Child of God, The Road) as well as Dennis Cooper’s Frisk. By far the most disgusting book I have ever read was Matthew Stokoe’s Cows.
Jfrater:
I’d like to recommend another BEE book. Lunar Park is kind of different than anything he’s done but it’s by far the creepiest I’ve read by him. There’s a scene involving a Furby toy and the main characters dog that will no doubt give you the heebie jeebies. He’s one of my favorite writers though- I just can’t believe some people can put words togther like that.
Also, Go Ask Alice is incredible. It’s supposedly the diary of a young girl, written as she starts doing “harmless” drugs and detailing her rapid descent into a drug fueled hell. It’s come under speculation that it’s fiction but even if it is, it’s quite disturbing to read- I had to put it down a few times.
Great list, but I was surprised that Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” was left out.
I am in the process of reading American Psycho, and to be fair, although I enjoy reading I have found this book to be a challenge. So far it has taken just over a month, and I’m only three quarters of the way through! On several occasions I have considered giving up and getting back to Feist, although I have never given up on a book no matter how dire it is. The constant extensive descripitions of every item of clothing each character in the book is wearing becomes tedious, although I do agree with JT that these referances are warrented to put the tedium of the main characters life into context, I have found this book to be more of a chore than a pleasure.
Hannibal, by Thomas Harris?
The Necroscope Series by Brian Lumley?
Gulag, By Anne Applebaum…Oh, wait! That’s non-fiction. Perhaps another list is needed.
as soon as i saw the title of this list i knew that “Haunted” would be on it. after i read Saint Gut-Free’s story i walked around in a daze…utterly amazed and disturbed.
Me too!!!
What about any of the books about Michael Slade??? In his books, there are twisted psychological serial killers, like a serial killer that is trying to mimic Jack the Rippers killings in modern day Canada. Plus there is one story (I forget which one) when a bunch of boys bury this other kid alive, and you read it and it sticks with your for a long time. Plus the dog killing scene in Swastika, will make your stomach sick for days.
Wow, we must have completely different I deas of disturbing, I thought Haunted was incredibly boring, then again I HATE Chuck Palahniuk’s smarmy writing style and only read it because I was on a long plane ride and had finished a good book and swapped with my travel companion.
I just picked up Geek Love on the reccomendation of a friend and look forward to reading it. The list does give me a few more books to look for as i’ve only read a few of these though