Subscribe to Listverse
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
September 30th, 2008 at 1:46 am
Nice list.!
September 30th, 2008 at 1:56 am
I loved Perfume, probably shouldn’t confess that
September 30th, 2008 at 1:57 am
Kudos for including American Psycho!
September 30th, 2008 at 1:59 am
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
September 30th, 2008 at 2:02 am
i really liked perfume too!
September 30th, 2008 at 2:02 am
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
September 30th, 2008 at 2:04 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 2:05 am
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!
September 30th, 2008 at 2:11 am
Jamie: I must admit I only read the book because of the movie
September 30th, 2008 at 2:15 am
juggz: hehe I only watched the movie for having read 2 chapters of the book
September 30th, 2008 at 2:21 am
Great more must reads, including another dodgy Easton Ellis, cheers.
September 30th, 2008 at 2:27 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 2:28 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 2:34 am
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
September 30th, 2008 at 2:41 am
Man, this is so cool!
September 30th, 2008 at 2:43 am
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
September 30th, 2008 at 2:47 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 2:48 am
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!
September 30th, 2008 at 2:52 am
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
September 30th, 2008 at 2:54 am
Ringtailroxy- I considered a boy called it – consider it item 11
September 30th, 2008 at 3:05 am
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 sex game goes wrong, scream as loud as she likes no-one can hear her. Excellent read.
September 30th, 2008 at 3:11 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 3:21 am
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!
September 30th, 2008 at 3:35 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 4:01 am
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 porn 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.
September 30th, 2008 at 4:06 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 4:15 am
Freaky.
September 30th, 2008 at 4:30 am
Hmm, I think I’ve just about compiled my christmas list.
September 30th, 2008 at 4:35 am
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
September 30th, 2008 at 4:36 am
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 analysis and the massacre at Babi Yar (Nazi massacre of 30,000+ Jewish civilians ouside Kiev).
These are more emotionally disturbing that graphically violent.
September 30th, 2008 at 4:44 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 4:45 am
Okay… just reading the -list- was disturbing to me. I guess I’m not cut out for books like these.
September 30th, 2008 at 4:47 am
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).
September 30th, 2008 at 4:47 am
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
September 30th, 2008 at 4:58 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 5:01 am
I’ve only read Misery–I’d forgotten about the foot-cutting bit, thanks for refreshing my memory!
September 30th, 2008 at 5:05 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 5:06 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 5:11 am
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 shit, 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.
September 30th, 2008 at 5:14 am
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!
September 30th, 2008 at 5:30 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 5:40 am
Yes, Filth! I’m not easily disturbed but that one did make me feel a bit crook.
September 30th, 2008 at 5:42 am
What, no Dianetics?
Nice list.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:00 am
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?
September 30th, 2008 at 6:00 am
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!
September 30th, 2008 at 6:10 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:11 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:25 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:25 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:27 am
rather a very entertaining list.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:30 am
i think apt pupil should be in this list
September 30th, 2008 at 6:31 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:33 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:33 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Great list, but I was surprised that Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” was left out.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:39 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:45 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:46 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:50 am
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.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:59 am
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
September 30th, 2008 at 7:05 am
Great list! I’ve read four of these (and agree that they are incredibly disturbing), but now it seems I can add a few more books to my “to-read-soon” list.
September 30th, 2008 at 7:13 am
I need to read more books. I love this list.
September 30th, 2008 at 7:36 am
YAY! New books to read!
September 30th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Gulag, By Anne Applebaum
Bigwig Rabbit – readable though Gulag is, I thought it merely resembled a collation of much of what I had read on the topic by other writers.
But if you enjoyed Gulag, let me suggest Dolgun (by Patrick Dolgun); a young American citizen with a Russian father who was sent to the camps after being arrested on the streets of Moscow. He was a civilian worker at the US Embassy in Moscow and ended up spending years in the gulag system.
I studied Russian at university and, out of interest, have read dozens of books over the years dealing with the gulag; Dolgun is, head and shoulders, the best IMHO.
September 30th, 2008 at 7:42 am
Well, a fine list.
I worked for several years for the So. CA. Mystery Writers of America. I met several of the authors listed above, and have read some of theeir books (well, skimmed…I’m not a huge mystery fan, though some mystery writers I make an exception for!). I just can’t read the horribly graphic, disturbing tales.
I used to be able to. Not any longer.
Some great writers on the list, Jamie! So for those so inclined, I’d say they probably can’t miss on most of the books.
September 30th, 2008 at 7:45 am
oops, Dolgun was actually written by Patrick Watson (Canadian journo/author).
There’s info on Dolgun himself here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Dolgun
September 30th, 2008 at 7:52 am
I haven’t actually read Perfume but I loved the movie. I think I would love the book even more.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Anyone read “Perv-A Love Story” ?
September 30th, 2008 at 8:08 am
I love the littreture lists, keep’em comin’
September 30th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Ack I read Geek Love about 12 years ago and totally forgot about it. Thanks for bringing it up again! Painted Bird sounds interesting though.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:25 am
First time commenter. I have read all the lists and enjoy both the lists and the comments. Surprising lack of trolls on this site. Very welcome change. I would like to plug my own writing here. I have a book entitled “Killing Janus” which was published in 2006. Not a lot of sales yet, but the reviews indicate that maybe this is the audience I have been seeking. Kirkus Reviews stated the following, “Gardner’s vigorous, pulpy prose and well-wrought action scenes somewhat redeem his shameless wallowing in pornographic violence.”
I apologize if this plug is inappropriate for this forum, but I think I have written a really good book. All reviews have been positive, but I do not have an agent and it’s a tough racket to break in to. Killing Janus is available on Amazon.com.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Before Hannibal Lecter and Silence of the Lambs, there was Thomas Bishop in “By Reason of Insanity”. I was looking for this book for almost 5 years, it was out of print, but i can assure you it was worth the waiting. Thomas Bishop is The Serial Killer.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:30 am
i like this one JFrater.ü will read one of those in a moment..ü
September 30th, 2008 at 8:33 am
I was surprised Clive Barker wasn’t mentioned – he gives pleasure/pain a whole new meaning!
September 30th, 2008 at 8:34 am
I just finished American Psycho yesterday. It was tremendous, and the movie is a dreadful, distorted representation of an amazing novel. Read the book! One I might have added to this list is “Drawing Blood” by Poppy Z. Bright, because although a book like that might be an obvious choice for such a list as this, “Drawing Blood” is just…different, and disturbing in a whole host of ways.
September 30th, 2008 at 9:00 am
The Sluts is by far the most disturbing piece of literature I have ever come across. Check it out.
September 30th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Callie: I read “Go Ask Alice” when I was in high school. It was definitely a great read and somewhat sad but I’m not sure it should be on a most disturbing list.
I feel like all of Chuck Palahnuik’s books are disturbing. I DID read story #1 from Haunted because my brother made me and it was VERY disturbing. I never read the rest…I did read his book “Diary” which was really twisted.
One of the most disturbing books I have read that would be on my top 10 would be “The Long Walk” by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King). It’s about an annual walking race where 100 boys enter and the prize is anything they want. Basically the winner is the last person left standing…everyone else dies either from being shot or from sheer starvation and exhaustion. (A competitor would get shot if they went to slow or have stopped three times.) What’s so disturbing about it is that it’s talked about so nonchalantly as if it’s no big deal that all of these people are dying, and the whole town comes out to watch, as if it were a regular old marathon!
September 30th, 2008 at 9:02 am
In the author’s notes at the end of Haunted, Chuck talks about that first story, Guts. When he reads it out loud to audiences, at least one person will inevitably faint. It’s that disturbing. But for me, the most disturbing thing about Haunted is that the cover of the book (at least the one shown on here) glows in the frickin’ dark! It was on the nightstand when I woke up in the middle of the night and it scared the $#% out of me!
September 30th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Some books that I think are disturbing:
Dr. Adder by K. W. Jeter
- extreme violence, pervert sex and cyberpunk
Crash by J. G. Ballard
- car accidents are sex
After the Flood by P. C. Jersild
- world after nuclear war
September 30th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Cat:
Really? American Psycho is one of the very few movies that I thinik is as good as the book. To Kill A Mockingbird and The Princess Bride round out the top three for me. The Rules Of Attraction was a pretty bad movie based on a kick ass book- also by Bret Easton Elis. I believe there were talks about making a Glamorama movie, too, but I think those may have died out.
Jackie:
I think someone would have caused a fuss if they let us read that book in high school! There’s a specific scene I’m thinking of, in which the titular character and a friend are repeatedly drugged and raped over a period of days and then turned out on the street that I found particularly disturbing, and also one in which the girl is forced into prostitution for drugs and describes her client in detail and what he wants her to do. Considering she’s only about 15, it’s definitely unpleasant.
September 30th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Im glad to see several books on here I have read. I was very pleased to see the the Marquis was not forgotten! I’ve read most his works since first discovering thier lurid and vile talkes at the age of 11. Yea watch your kids in public libraries they can wander to the wrong section like I did! ^_^
September 30th, 2008 at 9:35 am
I meant vile tales not viles talkes….. sorry
^_^
Shibari Hime out
September 30th, 2008 at 9:49 am
I admit that some of those books are mildly disturbing. And if the list author can’t finish one of them, he’ll no doubt not make it past the first ten pages of what is truly the most twisted book ever written:
Hogg, by noted science fiction author Samuel R. Delaney
But this one certainly ain’t science fiction. It’s the “adventures” of a sexually perverted adolescent boy who gets sort of adopted by an older man (Hogg).
Seems that Hogg, who is fat, smelly, with disgusting feet and pee-stained pants, makes his living as a rapist-for-hire. I firmly believe that “Chip” Delaney wrote this novel solely to see if he could get the sickest book ever written published. The rape scenes are as brutal as possible, making the forced prostitution of family members seem mild in comparison. Even the consensual sex is ghastly — almost unimaginably so.
It takes a strong, stable personality just to be able to read this thing without going insane — but your hands will shake nonetheless… at the very least.
Note: while there is plenty of both gay and straight sex taking place, don’t make the mistake of thinking of this book as “erotica” because everything is so perverted that I am tempted to label the novel as “horror”… but in reality there simply is no genre for perversion of this magnitude.
September 30th, 2008 at 9:52 am
YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!! I would have DIED if Haunted wasn’t on this list! I made my boss read ‘Guts’ and she almost killed me.
I’m such a freak- at 15 I can read those books and not be scared by them whatsoever. Just more intrigued.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:13 am
I don’t know what is more scary. The descriptions of these books or the Authors whos minds could actually imagine this horrifying stuff. The dark side of the brain is a hellish place.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:17 am
i was expecting a clockwork orange, but after reading the list i understand why it was left off lol
September 30th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Ah JFrater…giving me more books to read than I’ll be able to finish in a lifetime…
The only one here I’ve read is Misery, but I will likely try to read all the others at some point. I have finally decided to make a text document (Notepad, woo!) listing books I want to get, instead of relying on myself to come back to certain lists. So far I have 25…
I’ll also agree with Craig (comment 51) that Apt Pupil is worthy of this list, however I think Misery deserves it more, and Apt Pupil isn’t a “novel” it’s somewhere between short story & novel, but I did found it very disturbing.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Jackie R-
I read The Long Walk, because my girlfriend loved that book, but I really disliked it. Yeah, it’s a little disturbing, but the never-changing environment and setting bored me.
I’m glad someone pointed out that in the book Misery he get his foot actually cut off. Then let’s not forget about when she cuts off his thumb with a turkey knife…
I’ve never read justine, but I saw the movie. Yeah, it’s pretty bad, but as someone mentioned, 120 Days Of Sodom is waaay worse. I couldn’t even finish it.
Smae with The Painted Bird, I started reading it and had to stop, I just couldn’t handle it.
Another note-worthy (but not top 10-worthy) is Hells Angels by Hunter Thompson. It’s an entertaining read, but can be very graphic at times.
I’d also like to mention Pet Semetary by King, if you haven’t read the book, it puts the movie to shame (as per usual)
September 30th, 2008 at 10:31 am
when i read the title of the list, i expected to see either “the pearl” or else “of mice and men” but these are much more disturbing than either one of those, and i now learned of 10 new books i need to read.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Great list. I’ve not read anything presented, but of course I’ve seen both movies, Misery and American Psycho.
The only 2 books that come to my mind as being twisted and disturbing are Doris Lessing’s “The Fifth Child” which we had to read for 12th grade AP English and a book which I truly loved but was so revolted by to even attempt reading a second time, Anne Rice’s “Violin.”
“Violin” is just psychotic. It was captivating, but I remember there was a passage in the middle of the book that was so revolting and my sensibilities were so offended that I literally threw the book across the room and damned it…Only to pick it back up again and finish reading it! I tried some years later to read it again, and I was so distraught trying to get through the opening chapters again I have put it down and I don’t think I can go back to it, but it’s worth the 1st read!
September 30th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Let’s Go Play At The Johnsons by Mendel Johnson is pretty disturbing. A group of kids tie up, rape and torture their young babysitter for kicks.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:37 am
I meant Let’s Go Play At The Adams!
September 30th, 2008 at 10:42 am
American Psycho is terrible, dont finish reading it. I literaly threw up and had terrible anxiety attacks because i actually finished it.
Haunted was also very disturbing. I adore Chuck Palahnuik novels but this one… Cant say I enjoyed it.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:45 am
The road by Cormack McCarthy sent shivers up my spine. It takes place in a world that is entirely possible and makes you really think about how human nature itself would change in a world of complete anarchy. It’s a perfect book for anyone who has a kid, as it follows a father and son through a post-apocolyptic nightmare. No disemboweling or eating prolapsed rectums here because that’s just a buncha psychopaths who moonlight as writers putting out stories like that.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:46 am
I don’t think whoever wrote this list read Misery…his foots chopped off in the book.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Ben, I don’t think you read the comments, the listwriter acknowledged the mistake, and will be correcting it.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:54 am
I never could make it through Haunted, it wasn’t that it was too gory, it was just the topic of the gore and the way it was written. I am a voracious reader, but had issues getting into the rhythm of the writer. He lost me along the way too many times. Same thing happened when reading Violin by Anne Rice. It took me a month to finish a book I should have read in 2 days!
I’ll have to check out Justine, though, sounds interesting. Stephen King – I own/have read all his works. One of my favorites of his was The Longest Walk, written as Richard Bachman.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Nice list – have not read the comments yet just come in from work. 8-00pm. right now, I look forward to this list everyday.
Thanks guys.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Good list. Now I wanna read American Psycho and Haunted. I’ve never read a Chuck Palahniuk book but I’ve always wanted to because of Fight Club. I’ll be about to buy one in the book store and I look at the price and it is like $15 for a small paperback so I put it back.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:07 am
The minute I saw the title of this list, I immediately thought of Haunted, especially the story “Guts.” I didn’t think it would be on the list, but I’m glad it is. It was one of the most disturbing pieces of literature I’ve ever read.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:16 am
no Edward lee? Try reading Flesh Gothic. Hes an author that doesn’t like to hold back anything but his work is really scattered, in that the quality level really shifts in his work. Flesh gothic is my favorite and the Backwoods is very good too. He also has a movie that is complete called “HEADer” that is having trouble finding a distribution deal, but I’ve heard it’s both awesome and vomit inducing.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Okay – the error in item 10 is now fixed.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Loved Perfume so much that I got my nick from Suskind’s name. I din’t find it disturbing. It was just amazing.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:25 am
“American Psycho” is the most violent, pornographic novel I’ve ever read-and I read a lot. “Less than Zero” by Ellis also had some really disturbing scenes. Love these lists J, but I’d need three lifetimes to get through all these books!
September 30th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Callie (54): I have read Lunar Park – I loved it! There is just something about BEE writing that really strikes a chord with me. In fact, Lunar Park was probably my favorite of his so far (though the Informers was pretty good too – they are making that in to a movie!) He should have a new book out in two years – he is already working on it.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:36 am
I was actually thinking about the mind of these writers, too, and realized it must be easier to think up and write these stories than to read them. If it comes from your mind, it’s not disturbing, is it? You’re just very creative. And you only need some information to springboard your ideas. I suppose a lot of the “disturbing” qualities of these books would be tying it in and writing it, not just it itself.
I’ve actually never read anything on this list, except the story mentioned in Haunted was read to me by a friend. Kind of reminded me of that urban legend about the mud shrimp/lobster woman.
Thanks for this list, Jamie. I may check out a couple of them.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Umm I guess this list omits the short stories of Poe. Because he should be number one, his language was creepy. I havent read these but I doubt the words and language used is not as erie as Poe.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
cparker: there is an entire list on this site dedicated to Poe, check it out under the List Archives if you haven’t read it yet!
September 30th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
great list, i’ve read almost all these books at some point or another. The book Battle Royale should be put in some where, a story about a middle school class who is gassed than brought to a island where they a have to kill each other with in 3 days untill one is left. It’s written really well and if ppl like the books on the list than they will like this book as well
September 30th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Oh, and I just want to amend my previous statement…I took my Notepad list, and plugged it into Amazon, now I have a wishlist
September 30th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
great list!!
I have to agree with American Psycho. There were certain parts that i would actually GAG and have to put it down. It took me a few tries to get through it. The part you talk about, with the dog and the bum, thats not even the worst of it!!
another one that i really think disturbed me alot was another King book, but a lesser known. it’s called Gerald’s Game. If you haven’t picked it up, i suggest it. Freaking creepy!!
September 30th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Callie: Oh no I think you misunderstood me, I didn’t have to read it FOR high school, I just happened to be in high school when I read it (just trying to give a roundabout age of when I read it I guess). Haha that WOULD be disturbing for teachers to make us read….also I don’t deny that there were disturbing parts to the book, and the whole book is extremely sad and terrible…I guess I just meant I couldn’t see it ‘on par’ with any of these books listed here as most disturbing.
Ghostship: oh that’s a shame that you didn’t like the book, but I’m glad to hear that someone else read it and it’s nice to hear another perspective and view on the book
lightningclash: My boyfriend read that book The Road and said he hated it and it was very very boring and that NOTHING happens so I probably won’t read it…he didn’t think it was disturbing at all
September 30th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Jackie:
Ha! miscommunication at it’s finest. I see your point. All these memories of Bret Easton Ellis novels have made me visit his website and reminded me how truely disturbing (but somehow oh so good) his books are. I think Go Ask Alice does pale in comparison. Also, if it WAS true, it doesn’t deserve a place on a novels list.
I’m not a huge Stephen King fan, something about his writing makes it hard for me to immerse myself, but I’ll see if I can check out The Longest Walk..I have to disagree with your bf though- not sure it should be on the list, as I didn’t find it that disturbing, but I thought The Road was an amazing story.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
thats funny i read misery not too long ago, but i dont remember it being all that disturbing.
american psycho is one of my favorite movies, but i havent gotten around to reading the book yet..
September 30th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
If you like disturbing novels and can understand french, I strongly suggest Aliss by Patrick Sénécal. It is a twisted version of Alice in Wonderland full of sex, drugs and violence. Anything by Patrick Sénécal is disturbing, really. He is a very popular author here in Quebec.
September 30th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
American Psycho is to me a play on the term “ad nauseam” and the word “nausea”. So it’s like that but a mangling of “written” into “wrought” (as being pounded into shape) so we have “Nausea Wrought”. This then can turn into “Nausea Rot” The mundane mixed with horror and the repetition of “consumer emptiness”
Over and over the book(narrator) repeats itself. and then there’s bursts of blood. then back to the grey of 1980’s product facades of perfection.
Ah, Geek Love. It’s been years sence I read that. I thought of a fictional Diane Arbus existing in that book. Dunn is a gifted writer and I found the afterward insightful and honest. The story itself is a beaut. About family. This would make an awesome film, but I can’t think of who could do it. Only a mixture of different directors.
The only other thing I’ve come across by Dunn is the amazing introduction to a book more disturbing than any fiction. A Homicide Detective’s Scrapbook. Very disturbing and weird collection of crime scene photos.
There are some additions or suggestion I could add, but I will read more here and perhaps include later.
Cheerio chaps!
September 30th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I just read a novel called Word Made Flesh by Jack Oconnell, and it was disturbing to say the least. Its a cops and robbers story but with a very strange sci fi/fantasy twist. The story of the pogroms and the Grinder, ack. Also, what about some Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian is creepy as hell. Some of the scenes in the Road sent chills down my spine.
September 30th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
“We need to talk about Kevin” is a FANTASTIC book and very though provoking (I was a high school teacher when I read it). Nice list!
September 30th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
The song Scentless Apprentice, by the American grunge band Nirvana, was inspired by Perfume. It appears on their 1993 album In Utero. The band’s singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain often described the novel as one of his favorite books. FROM WIKIPEDIA
September 30th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I am probably a little biased towards Stephen King, but parts of his writings are quite disturbing. The Stand as a whole is not all that bad, but what really got me was the chapter that depicted the government response to the accusations that they started the superflu. Also, his short stories “Cain Rose Up” and “Survivor Type” are very creepy. Cain Rose Up was inspired by the Texas A+M bell tower shootings. I first read that during a lockdown drill at my high school, and couldn’t stop shaking for a while afterwords. Survivor type is about a man who is shipwrecked on an island, and literally has to eat himself to survive. It’s told from a first person view and gets progressively more incoherent as you go on.
September 30th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
I have to read these,I’ve heard that The Girl
Next Door by Jack Ketchum is the most disturbing, look it up. Misery for no particular reason is one of the few stephen king books i have not read.
September 30th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
In my opinion, Pet Semetary is a far more disturbing book by Stephen King–one that he even had reservations about publishing.
Also, I was surprised not to see Battle Royale on this list. It’s a book about a government experiment that puts high school students on an island and forces them to kill each other. It’s one of my favorite books, but I know a lot of people who haven’t been able to finish it.
September 30th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Hmm, great list but I really think ‘Haunted’ doesn’t deserve a spot on here. I’m a fan of some of Chuck Palahniuk’s work, but honestly ‘Haunted’ wasn’t that disturbing… it was just a bit gory and boring. His writing was certainly not as good as in previous works with ‘Haunted’, either. I agree with the comment that said ‘The Road’ should have been on here – remember, disturbing does not equal graphic/gory. I would have liked to see at least one book on here that was disturbing without the use of lots of graphically written violence, and I think ‘The Road’ would fit very nicely. Otherwise, good job and good choices!
September 30th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
I think Kafka’s The Metamorphosis was truly the most disturbing book I’ve ever read. I mean the author must have been truly insane to come up with a storyline like that!
September 30th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Awesome list, definitely will have to go through and read some of these. But ‘Exquisite Corpse’ by Poppy Z. Brite, will make most people put it down to take a breathe. I warn it is not for people who are the faint of heart. It is very similar to the story of Jeffrey Dahmer.
September 30th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
I didnt read all the posts but ‘Gerald’s Game’ is far more messed up than misery and the ‘Books of Blood’ by clive Barker r greatness.
September 30th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
haunted! i LOVED it! short stories woven into one LONG freak fest……
September 30th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Sadly I have only read Misery and Justine. i found Pet Semetary to be more disturbing than Misery though.
September 30th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
It’s a great list! I agree with every book on there.
however, I’d like to suggest another book. Aliss, by Patrick Sénécal. It’s in french, and contains lots of quebecois slang, though, so not everyone would be able to understand it. It’s a twisted take on Alice in Wonderland, but which happens in a Montréal neibourghood which you can only access from the subway (the equivalent of the rabbit hole). What’s interesting in this book, if you forget the fact that the neibourghood is completely isolated and can’t be found easily, it’s how realistic it is. there’s no ghosts or creatures or whatever, just weird customs and people. And in this book’s wonderland, there is no limits. Nothing is considered immoral, and logic doesn’t seem to existe.
This book is very, very disturbing. You actually feel somewhat sick when you read it, since the author makes it easy to understand how the main character feels. It’s really a hard read, but you get sucked in nonetheless.
definitively worth reading.
September 30th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
OH , I must add two that completely and utterly gave me the ultimate mindf***k….House of Leaves by Danielewski is just nearly unexplainable, it changed me and there is no monster, all psychological, but still I slept with the lights on and had nightmares.
Also,Cormac McCarthy’s most disturbing and nightmarish book is by far “Blood Meridian” (I swear, are the only books of his people read -or know from the MOVIES- The Road and No Country for Old Men??) Anyway, Blood Meridian was so nightmarish, it made me fear the imagination that came up with it. And it is not not just “ooo I’ll be super gross for the sake of being super gross!” like Easton Ellis, his writing is goosebump-inducing good, and terrifying without being in the horror genre. Truly a master
September 30th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
And Jake Ryder, I totally agree with you, Pet Semetary is much more terrifying that ANY other King’s – I think it is since I have a 3 babies and the thought of losing one, and digging one up….**trembling** that is just terror porn right there.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
The thing is, Amyss, Mcarthy says he spent his research time on actual artifacts of discriptive details of the time and people he depicted. Blood Meridian is his magnum opus and now that he is suddenly know in a much larger context it’ll take time for the muddy waters to reiside. I wanna read more, but at the right time.
“Child of God” is a good short one, like “the road”. small and fare, but like Murikami, touches of poetic lucidity and moments of disturbing details. Although Child of God is maybe more lyrical.
Oh, please descibe what happens in House of Leaves. I started it from a library borrowing(geez, almost ten years ago), and stopped midway. I liked the triple story experiment, along with the labarynth(sp?) of literary games. I think I got up to the rough explorer being brought in and, along with his team, becoming “lost” . It’s been a while.
Tell me Amyss, the loose story, as it was this way in which i first picked it up.
I remember reading a year later or so, a review by the guy that wrote Lowlife and him dissing it, but my curriosty has been reinstated.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
P.S. I meant to say Murakami’s “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle”
I don’t know, maybe not the best to bring up as comparision
September 30th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
awesome list! I’ve read a couple of these books. Of all the King books ive read, im not sure Misery would be the most disturbing, but wow, all great reads. I’m excited to do some Amazon shopping now! Easton Ellis and Chuck P. are so much fun to read. great list!
September 30th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
10. Misery. The suspense alone made me nuts. 15 pages to describe ten minutes. I had to skip ahead.
5. Geek Love. I read this years ago and never forgot it. How they TRIED to have abnormal children through whatever means to keep the act going.
4. Reminds me of “Give a Boy a Gun.”
1. Haunted. I have had this book for over a year and cannot make it past where they are picked up at the very beginning. It doesn’t entice me. Maybe I’ll give it another shot. We’ll see.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I knew something was off when I read the review of Haunted. It’s just a little note, but there definitely aren’t 8 characters. It’s 19, I believe. Even the second time I read it I had to keep a little notebook with brief character descriptions so I could keep theme all straight.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Ringtailroxy (16)That book broke my heart. I read it once and will never read it again. And I am so very sorry that you suffered at the hands of a monster. There are no words I can say to think I could understand what you went through. I can only acknowledge your strength and perseverence to endure. A trauma like that rarely goes unpunished. What goes around comes around.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Piper (21)Gerald’s Game Where her skin is peeled off like a glove is an image in my mind forever.
Dan (91) Sounds like fun!
September 30th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I just finished reading Pet Sematery by Stephen King (Yeah, it’s a little late) and I have to admit that it’s pretty disturbing. Not just the resurrections of the cat and the main character’s family, but the situation with Rachel Creed’s sister, Zelda. The way in which Zelda’s spinal menengitis is described horrified me.
September 30th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Dr D….I would love to have a House of Leaves talk with you – and hopefully inspire you to pick it up again? Are you on yahoo? Or gmail?
One other book that had everything going for it and just TOTALLY BOTCHED the ending was “Shadow of the Wind”. There should be a book list of amazing, life changing, fantastic books that just totally RUINED IT with a stupid ending *cough Stephen King*
September 30th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Good list and comments, but I’m surprised at what some posters consider “disturbing” novels, especially after reading the list. I mean, people mentioned Steinbeck, Morrison’s “Beloved,” and Kafka on here. These books are so tame that they’re read in public high schools across the US, where stuffy parents and administrators almost always keep any “objectionable” content out of the classroom. These belong in a completely different league, and I hope that whoever offered those suggestions reads some of the books on this list.
September 30th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I was waiting for a Chuck Palahniuk novel on this list and was pleased to see Haunted at #1. Probably one of the most disturbing books by this author and the first story is agreeably the worst.
September 30th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Becca: thanks for pointing that out – it was 18 – I left off the ‘1′ accidentally
It is now corrected.
September 30th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
I am not sure the author of this list read all 10 of these books. If he does,I wonder if his mind is working normally… Just kidding.
September 30th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Amyss (140) I have said it before but it bears repeating. S. King is one of my all time fave authors hands down and away. He is also the best at blowing the ending. He builds these incredible stories then just drops the ball. He should have a contest. Who can rewrite a better ending to one of his stories. Now that could be good reading!
September 30th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Amyss: I have no yahoo or gmail. Does that make me a doofus?
“Shadow of the Wind” eh? I may have heard that title or skimmed across it somewheres.
See, I suppose I am not interested in re-reading Leaves of Grass, as so much as, being able to pick it up where I left off, more or less, under the same sense of mindset. The person who described it to me had done so in such a way that sparked my imagination enough to allow for the onset of what occured in the begining to take hold. Maybe some things are best left unfinished, but i still wonder if possibilities are beyond my own measure of experience told and if 10 years pause could not be restarted like an old reliable truck.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
The only one I’ve read of these is Haunted, which I own and love. I picked it up in a airport for a 8 hour plane ride with no idea what it was about. Don’t think i’ve ever been that surprised before. I got halfway through Guts before I had to put it down and compose myself. I spent the rest of the trip keeping the book almost closed so no one else could read it over my shoulder. I think the nightmare box and the hot potting stories were the most disturbing, I was honestly afraid of water for a while there.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Excellent List Jamie. All worthy inclusions. And more to add to my book list.
I agree with the mention of Pet Semetary, one of the few books I have had to put down. As soon as I could forsee the kid gettin’ smucked, I bailed. Someone mentioned that it may just have something to do with maternal instinct.
Apt Pupil scared the crap out of me. I could understand how obsession could turn to emulation too easily. Very disturbing.
Whoever mentioned the Michael Slade books is correct. They are extremely graphic, disembowelment by suction is one of the scenes that sticks in my head. They are actually very well researched, the stories are great, but they suffer from some of the worst editing I have ever seen. Far too much repetition of phrase and some very tortured syntax. Whoever publishes these should hire me to edit them.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
I think Stephen King’s “Needful Things” should be on here, even though “Misery”’s already there. It’s about a sort of demon who opens a shop in a small town that drives people mad with greed and desire for the objects he sells. Plenty of people die in horrific ways, and there’s a good chunk of animal and child killing thrown in there too.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Two previous commenters mentioned “120 Days of Sodom” (by the Marquis de Sade). I’ve never read his “Justine” which is in this list, but I read “120 Days of Sodom” over 20 years ago and it was pretty nauseating, though I finished it.
If I remember correctly, it was really an unfinished book – only the first 30 days of debauchery were completed, and the remaining 90 days were each outlined in a paragraph or two. Thus the condensed list of all the escalating sex, violence, mutilation and murder was that much more disgusting, being rattled off as a brief list. I’m not sure whether we’re better off or not that the Marquis never finished the book….
September 30th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Good list, although Chuck Palahniuk is among the most overrated living writers.
The most disturbing books I’ve read are probably those by Hubert Selby Jr. Two of his books have been made into films: ‘Last Exit to Brooklyn’ and ‘Requiem for a Dream’. These are his two LEAST disturbing novels. The rest of his books are essentially unfilmable due to their content. And unlike Ellis or Palahniuk, he doesn’t rely on violence and gore for his shocks.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I hate “Haunted”. It’s far from disturbing, in my opinion. It’s just a collection of bad ideas that try too hard to be gross. Other than that, great list. I’ll have to check out the ones I haven’t read. I wanted to mention “The Lottery”. I know it’s a short story, but it’s the only story that’s ever legitimately creeped me out.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
I love this list! I’ve read “Misery” and “Geek Love” and now i want to read the rest. I suggest Harlan Ellison’s “Deathbird Stories” and “Way Past Cool” by Jess Mowry
October 1st, 2008 at 12:53 am
Haven’t seen any comment on Poppy Z. Brite’s “Exquisite Corpse”. Lent it to a friend who then – purposefully – left it on a train somewhere between Cape Town and Jozi due to it being (in his own words) the most depraved and filthy book he’s ever attempted to read. Bloody marvelous!
October 1st, 2008 at 2:07 am
The 120 days of sodom, which is not so much a story as a torture/perversion/pornographic orgie. Really disturbing.
150. Kevin: yes but he left that bit with the pregnant lady and her fetus. I skipped pages….
October 1st, 2008 at 2:29 am
First time commenter. Good list but I thought I would add a couple of writers, James Herbert,my choice to read would be the rats or spear, and anything by Shaun Hutson
October 1st, 2008 at 3:02 am
I am thoroughly pleased that Haunted made it onto this list. I am a huge Chuck Palahnuik fan… and this book actually made me throw up AND pass out. It is seriously THAT intense. Also probably one of the most creative books I’ve ever read.
Kudos on the rest of the list as well.
October 1st, 2008 at 5:02 am
This is a great list and i have only not read two of them. The only other books i can think of that truly disturbed me were “The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things” and “Sarah” by J.T. Leroy. The former they made a movie of not too long ago, but though it was well acted, they butchered the story into being mediocre. There is also a LOT of controversy about the author thats interesting to check out. Also let not forget almost everything E.A. Poe ever wrote for disturbing.
October 1st, 2008 at 6:27 am
“The Consumer” by Michael Gira is disturbing – bordering on absolutely grotesque. I’m sure some of you folks would love it.
October 1st, 2008 at 6:47 am
Random acts of Hatred is by far the most disturbing book i’ve ever read. It is a collection of short stories dealing with the most gruesome and disturbing situations you could ever imagine. It’s sickening just to think about it.
October 1st, 2008 at 6:58 am
I’d put forward ‘Mysterious Skin’ by Scott Heim. For me it doesn’t get much more disturbing than sexual abuse of 8 year olds – and one of them loving it.
October 1st, 2008 at 7:54 am
Oh, geez. Is number 1 in Haunted “Guts”?
I read Fight Club and thought it was pretty good, and heard about Guts, so read it online.
I literally thought I was going to throw up.
I couldn’t stop thinking about it and kept feeling woozy throughout the next couple days.
It sickened and disturbed me so much that I was shaking and was totally out of it.
And I couldn’t eat or talk to people, or even think about reading anything.
It took me a really long time to get through it because I kept stopping, and taking deep breaths as to not faint or something.
That was my first experience with disturbing literature, and I was 15 (it was only a few months ago).
Eugh. I hate that story.
October 1st, 2008 at 8:13 am
I also have yet to finish reading American Psycho. It is not the fact of how violent and cold blooded the main character is, but the difficulty in reading all of the meticulous and often times mundane descriptions of the environment and everything from clothes to food, etc. Ellis is a very descriptive writer indeed. I am about half way through the book and since I am now on the look out for something else to read I may just pick it back up and finish it finally.
October 1st, 2008 at 8:50 am
Since you said “only fiction” the following doesn’t count but I found it deeply disturbing, it’s a true story. The book is called “Someone Else’s Daughter” It’s about the murder of Anita Cobby. What they did to that poor girl is so horrifying that the area where it happened (and where I happen to live) has held it’s reputation as a dangerous place to be since it happened back in 1986.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Cobby
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Someone_Else%27s_Daughter
http://www.thecrimeweb.com/murder_of_anita_cobby.htm
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Someone-Elses-Daughter-Death-Anita/dp/0732909163
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/cobby/1.html
October 1st, 2008 at 9:35 am
rtr: I had to actually go back and find your comment to reread it.
MY GOD! You mentioned such a horrid fact in such a casual way that I totally overlooked it the first time through.
Vera Lynn’s comment made me go back and check. I know I can trust her judgment, so it wasn’t a question of it being too hard, I knew you had been through something horrible. I knew you needed to know you are valued by people here, even if we don’t know the physical rtr, we value the “real” rtr, the inner rtr.
I have my own childhood demon. It was also disguised as a mother. My therapist, my Psychologist, has allowed me to see that I have been, in truth, in reality, for all time, a motherless child.
It’s acceptance was very freeing for me.
ringtailroxy, if you aren’t seeing a Psychologist already, please do see one. Find one who will allow you to let go of ownership of that relationship.
You are too smart, too wonderful, too full of life to carry this burden and think, for one nanosecond, that you own any share of blame.
Please.
October 1st, 2008 at 9:58 am
Haunted isn’t that bad at all, I’ve read most of it and I’m fairly sensitive.
You know what really gets to me? When the kid and the baby get locked up in the cupboard by the mother and the baby dies in ‘Goodnight Mr. Tom’.
I can look at every shock image in the book and read about suffering like never believeable, but I can’t read Goodnight Mr. Tom to the end.
October 1st, 2008 at 11:20 am
164. paulyt – The story of Anita Cobby is horrible. I don’t even have the words for how it makes me feel.
130. Amyss – I love that you mentioned House of Leaves! It is one of my two favorite books (the other is Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey by our dear Chuck P)
Everyone who mentioned Stephen King – I completely agree that he has writting some remarkably distrubing stuff. I’m surprised that nobody mentioned Lisey’s Story. It is the only work of fiction has bothered me enough to force me to take a break from it before picking it up again.
October 1st, 2008 at 11:38 am
A Clockwork Orange deserves an honorable mention, so does The Hellbound Heart.
October 1st, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Hellbound Heart? I’ve always found the Hellraiser series, both in book and film, rather, well, goofy.
Still, that ceno that could shoot CDs from his head in HR3 was amazing.
October 1st, 2008 at 2:54 pm
87. DK
apt pupil is a novella
October 1st, 2008 at 3:18 pm
No “The World According to Garp”? I thought that would surely make the list due to its gruesome scenes of rape, oral castration, and manual removal of the bowels! But hey, I guess I haven’t read anything yet if that’s the worst I’ve read!
October 1st, 2008 at 3:39 pm
So many are mentioning Pet Semetary…I may have to go re-read that one at some point. I read it many years ago, within a year or so of reading Misery, and Misery definitely stands out more in my mind than Pet Semetary did.
Also, since Fight Club has been brought up a few times in the comments, I’d like to ask people’s opinions on the book as compared to the movie…I know it’s generally accepted that the book will be better, but how does the movie match up in this case? I’m interested in reading the book, but I as I have 30 books on my Amazon Wishlist, Fight Club gets lower priority since I’ve seen the movie, however if the book is drastically different, it may have slightly higher priority…if that makes sense. I suppose the same question goes for American Psycho.
Craig: Novella! that’s the word I couldn’t think of…is it even quite long enough to be one of those? I”m still curious to see the movie, although I hear it’s somewhat of an abomination.
October 1st, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Sound,s like my kind of reading material.
October 1st, 2008 at 4:56 pm
I am not a big fiction reader at all, but one of the most disturbing books I have ever read was The Torture Garden by Octave Mirbeau
All time scorcher.
October 1st, 2008 at 5:04 pm
DK – I read Apt Pupil twice before seeing the movie just around two weeks ago. I thought the movie itself was okay, but it didn’t exactly follow the novella as much as I was hoping. But you should still watch the movie because it is interesting enough.
I have an entire new booklist thanks to this list and all the reccomendations in the comments.. YAY.
October 1st, 2008 at 5:05 pm
I’m surprised to have the only one I’ve read on the list be number 1…
am I messed up for somehow liking it? O_o
October 1st, 2008 at 5:40 pm
I ABSOLUTELY LOVED HAUNTED.
I would recommend that book to anyone. If you can’t read the whole book, at least read guts… you will never eat calamari again.
October 1st, 2008 at 6:38 pm
I know it’s not a novel but Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum is the first thing the comes to mind when I think of distrubing stories.
October 1st, 2008 at 6:59 pm
This list is incomplete without The Collector. Definitely worse than Misery.
October 1st, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Brans – how good! I have only known one other person to finish Danielewski’s “House of Leaves” …I am dying to talk to some others who made it thru – and loved it. What a BOOK, right? I trust your judgment – any other suggestions? Another must read with a disturbing end reveal is “The Sparrow” by Mary Doria Russel – one of my all time favorites (and that is saying something).
October 1st, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Whoah! I actually read the Wasp Factory!
But to tell you the truth I didn’t find it completely disturbing…
Even the scene where he recounts how he killed his cousin by making her hold a large kite or parachute thingo and then letting her get dragged out to sea and never knowing of her fate brought a little smile to my face because it was a WTH moment that he was so blaze about.
This is mild by all accounts compared to American Psycho!
October 1st, 2008 at 9:16 pm
segue (165) Thank you for the kind words. And for the advice for roxy. I think shes dealt with it. But you never know what lies in the heart of people.
BTW I keep bragging to people that you made it to level 53. No one can believe it. You go girl!!
October 1st, 2008 at 9:28 pm
I have read Misery, American Psycho and Haunted, and by all means all three are more than worthy of this list. I more or less forced myself to read all of Haunted, and then when I lent it to a guy I know, he handed it back to me a short time later saying he couldn’t read it, it bugged him too much. Wow did I feel like some sort of sick ticket! One book that I have read that didn’t make the list but certainly could is Flesh Gothic, by Edward Lee. Oh, and Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle could fill the bill too.
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:53 am
172. DK
the movies ending is drasticaly different everyonee todd lives!!!!
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:27 am
Oh yeah. Haunted is definitely the most disturbing ever. But I think Perfume should be in the top three. I haven’t read the book, but the movie was so depressing that it pushed me into a near suicidal state.
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:19 am
Great list! Only read half, but will get to the rest now that I have amazon links. In my humble opinion you forgot some, though: Johnny Get Your Gun (that might not be right; it’s been years). The book that the movie that the video of MetallicA’s One was based on. Bothered me for years.
Naked Lunch. Whoa.
And it’s a short story, but Survivor Type by Stephen (THE MAN) King. Made me wonder, ‘How far would you be willing to go?’
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:44 am
has anyone read pale view of hills?? by kazou ishiguro
had to read it three times before i understood most of the metaphors. i found that quite disturbing
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:28 am
A Boy Called It can’t be on this list by the defining rules at the top of the list. A Boy Called It is NOT a work of fiction. It is nonfiction through and through.
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:30 am
please do a list on Nice (Boring) books this list is tooo creepy for I can’t read any of these books I can’t ever finish Stephen King’s IT and the movie JAWS freaks me out
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:08 am
In case you were not aware, everything that happens in American Psycho is only in the mind of the character. His life is superficial and frivolous and he enterntains himself with these fantasies. That is why he never gets caught or ever has any issues with disposing the bodies and other stuff.
The author has declared in may occasions that this is what he meant and that is the way the reader is supposed to undersand it.
It is gruesome nonetheless…
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:13 am
The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe. Very disturbing.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:22 am
I would add Cruddy by Lynda Barry.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:13 am
Amyss – I’ve read House of Leaves at least a dozen times because I can never get around how amazingly brilliant and just plain weird it is! And I’ve never met anyone else who’s even heard of it. Glad to know I’m not alone!
For anyone interested in disturbing with out blood, guts, and gore, I recommend Fall on Your Knees. I found it to be definately disturbing, but in a whole other way.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:41 am
I’d have to add Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates. Utterly disturbing.
Am I warped for not finding Geek Love very disturbing? I loved that book, but wouldn’t have thought to include it on a list like this.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:56 am
story of o.
crazy shit.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:20 am
haven’t read any of these..guess i have to update my to read list…saw perfume movie though and thought it was good..freaked the bf out a little though
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:29 am
I think that the most disturbing part of the film (american psycho) was the gentleness he treated his secretary with, sending her away instead of killing her. but the most confusing was…was it all a dream after all?
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:46 am
190. Lore
thats what i thought after watching the film thanks for confirming it
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I tried to read Haunted but it was so gross I could not finish it. Misery is a great read, but as far as disturbing, I thought Hannibal was really bad. I plan to pickup the Painted Bird and read that next.
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I think Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews should be on this list.
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:13 pm
182. Vera Lynn
segueBTW I keep bragging to people that you made it to level 53. No one can believe it. You go girl!!
****
Well, I may soon be able to do better. Last night I had another overnight sleep study (I have an extremely complex sleep apnea. 85% of which is central, the other 15% is divided between hypopnea and obstructive sleep apnea), the lab tech had me on a brand new machine, one that varies its pressure settings all night, rather than a standard setting. He also had me wear a “full-face” mask, that is one which covers both nose and mouth, rather than the “nose only” mask I am used to wearing.
I usually get sleep in one or two hour chunks. Last night, I slept almost undisturbed through the night.
More sleep = a brighter segue.
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Vera Lynn, BTW, the obstructive portion is a mystery to all of my doctors because I do not fit the profile, being tall and slim.
I’m just weird.
Add this to my major disease and I’m a walking disaster!
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:17 pm
segue Keep me posted. I am anxiously waiting to hear. How ling do you spend on each word? Do you have to think about it, or do you know?
Tony (186) I loved loved loved Survivor Type!!
asl (192) I read Cruddy. It is pretty disturbing. My friend recommended itand I devoured it. Good one to include.
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:17 pm
segue “long”
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Brans or Amyss:
Pieces of Echo.
Climbing out the window
with the video camera to show
the end of the closet does not continue on the outside like it does on the inside.
The family inside is being documented
The growing darkness inside the closet is drawing the husband/father further in .
Echo is the connection to the underworld
Then theres the research of the dead guy that the punk kid finds(is that right?) The obsession that is about the family in the house with the Dark Vastness.
What can you tell me to pick it up again?
Gee, and what can I discuss without having read it entire?
I didn’t leave it out of boredom. I had to renew it a couple of times from the library and then someone else had it on hold and then I cant remember but stuff happens and now here I am back again.
so I take back my previous comment, and am interested in rereading it. I just thought, “why not add an extra way of re-establishing it within my current interests” .
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:28 pm
203. Vera Lynn…How ling do you spend on each word? Do you have to think about it, or do you know?
****
Mostly I just know. When I don’t, I figure out what it’s root word is, from there it’s fairly easy. Sometimes I’m just plain stumped…fortunately, not too often.
**All of the most disturbing books I’ve ever read are non-fiction, usually having to do with viruses or bacteria. Those will give you nightmares that the scariest fiction can’t begin to touch!
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Nice list. I read Haunted about a year ago after a room mate of mine told me about it. It was disturbing but funny(?) at some points…..
Or maybe Im also disturbed….
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:34 pm
loved perfume and american psycho
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Rivka-lol I also thought Flowers in the Attic (along with its twisted sequels and prequel) was disturbing. The movie was kinda creepy too although most people thought it was stupid and laughable. Can’t say anything else by V.C. Andrews has grabbed me.
I am a HUGE Stephen King fan and find most of his work freaky, especially his earlier stuff. Salem’s Lot is probably my fave but not necessairly the most disturbing. That award would have to go to Pet Sematary, which scares me even more now since I have two young children. The novellas he has written as Richard Bachman (Rage, The Running Man, Road Work) and Apt Pupil (written in another book of novellas as Stephen King) really got to me in a confining, uncomfortable sort of way. Gerald’s Game is a total mind fuck! And those of you who love S.K. should know that he has a son, Joe Hill, who has published a couple of good books-20th Century Ghosts and Heart Shaped Box.
One book I’ve read recently that could get a honorable mention nod would be Willing, by Scott Spencer (yes the same guy that brought you Endless Love).
I’m not a big fan of Palahniuk. He’s a little too out there for me!
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:44 am
Doctor Diogones
Maybe it’s the ADD that keeps me in love with the book. The disruptive writing style, with the main narrative being constantly interrupted in the footnotes by the editors, Zambino, and Johnny could appeal to me because that’s how my brain works anyway.
Also, the layout of the text itself is fantastic. The further you get into the book, the more twisted the story becomes, and the more bizarre the layout becomes as well; it mimics the story.
Finally, I love that the word ‘house’ is always in blue. I don’t know the reasons for it but I like it.
Best of all, you’ll find something new every time you read it
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:52 am
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
by Harlan Ellison
wiki article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_No_Mouth,_and_I_Must_Scream
October 3rd, 2008 at 9:30 pm
after reading the first story of Haunted, i nearly threw up and just could not bring myself to read the rest. I love all his other bookds though
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:59 pm
120 days of Sodom. I don’t see it anywhere on the list!!!
October 4th, 2008 at 12:32 am
Talkin about disturbing books, i totally recommend “on the use of torture” by piers anthony, a horrific scifi short story. Pls Read It At The Peril Of Your Peace. You’ve Been Warned!
October 4th, 2008 at 4:50 am
Billy – W.Strieber?
October 4th, 2008 at 9:18 am
I second (or third) the nomination for Cruddy by Lynda Barry.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:06 am
I didn’t think “Haunted” was too bad. You should add “Gerald’s Game” by Stephen King to the list. The description of the herione cutting her thumb off made me physically ill.
October 4th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
chuck palahnuik has serious issues
October 5th, 2008 at 12:26 am
I bought “Geek Love” today.
Noice.
October 5th, 2008 at 8:36 am
First of all, to ringtailroxy, I agree with Segue and Vera Lynn, but well done for getting through it all. I was abused as a child, and overcoming it all can make you stronger! (theres abit of cheesiness for you
)
I thought flowers in the attic was kinda bad. I liek disturbing books (is that disturbing in itself…?) but aslong as it doesnt involve harming children, and aslong as the book is FICTION. Jfrater, thanks for not adding any non fiction books as you explained, I guess its just sensible not to.
I really enjoy Karin Slaughters books, Id recommend her fisrt “Blindsighted” (they are in a series) its pretty graphic. One scene thats pretty much disturbed me, was when a woman is stabbed in the stomach while on the toilet, then has her wound raped :/
Many people have mentioned Cormac McCarthys books, I tihnk hes way overrated. Ive read, The road, Suttree, No country for old men and Outer dark, non of which are disturbing or well written (dont get at me for saying that, its just an opinion) I mean, he doesnt even use speech marks for crying out loud! Instead he uses the word “and” about 10million times….
But great list anyway, I now want to read most of these!!
October 5th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Does anyone know where I could find a physical copy of Justine offline in the UK? I’ve tried both bookshops and second hand bookshops and cannot seem to find it. I read 120 Days of Sodom several years back and thoroughly enjoyed it. Hoping I can enjoy Justine as well!
October 5th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I think that if you would have finished American Psycho you would have ranked it in at least the top four. I have read most of the books on this list and I have to say that nothing got to me worse than Patrick Bateman mutilating women.
October 5th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
I posted that Stephen King’s Running Man was disturbing and what I meant was The Long Walk. My bad.
October 5th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Hitler’s Mein Kampf ?
Clockwork Orange ?
October 6th, 2008 at 12:06 am
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. It was a story about a town in which there was an annual lottery and who ever won was stoned to death for some reason. (I want to say it was overpopulation, but my mind is fuzzy).
The Giver, though I can’t recall who wrote it. A child discovers the truth behind the term of being ‘Released’ from the Utopian society in which he lives: they are killed if disabled at birth.
October 6th, 2008 at 1:37 am
@ LooLoo: I read A Clockwork Orange a few years ago, and I didn’t find it disturbing in the least. I’d say it was more interesting in a hypothetical “this-is-what-could-happen” sort of way.
October 6th, 2008 at 5:16 am
The 120 Days of Sodom?
October 6th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
looloo: mein kampf aint really disturbing compared to the others on this list
i just bought american psycho because of this list
October 6th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
I just bought Haunted and Perfume because of this list. I just finished reading Haunted, it is pretty damn sick and depraved but I absolutely loved it! While it as a whole is very disturbing the only part in the novel that really made me squirm were the scenes about the people boiling in the hot springs at the national park; too realistic and detailed. Also the details in the scenes of decomposition made me a bit queasy.
October 6th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I got The Painted Bird and Misery from my library the other day and the lady was like “these look like intense books. You reading them for school?” and when I said no, she looked shoked. Man did I feel like a freak.
October 6th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Skatterbrain-
Shirley Jackson’s work is very weird. She wrote a book called Just An Ordinary Day that is a collection of short stories. These were published after her death, apparently her kids found them as a pile of manuscripts while going through her belongings. Another quick but very creepy read is her book We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Try The Damnation Game by Clive Barker. It’s bad maybe too sick for this list.
October 8th, 2008 at 2:59 am
I have just sent off for four of the books mentioned, not just in the list but from the comments, looking forward to reading Haunted first… Wish me luck!!
October 9th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
OFF SEASON, by Jack Ketchum (author of Girl Next Door – this was written when he was much younger)… just brought back into print after a decade of banishment. A ton of gory (cannibalism and incest), but a non-stop freakfest that will scorch your soul. One of those you put down and say, “now make THAT a movie.”
October 13th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
I just started reading Misery in my Novels class today. Seeing it first thing on this list hasn’t made me want to read it any more than I already did(n’t).
And yes, I’m reading it for a *high school* class.
My school doesn’t censor literature much.
October 13th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
235. nova_caine : That’s okay, nova, Stephen King is high school level material at best, anyway.
October 16th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I’m so glad you mentioned Glamorama. There is one scene from that book that I can literally SEE and FEEL still. It’s truly horrific and yet, it’s one of my favorite books of all time. I’m looking forward to reading Haunted now. Thanks for the great list!
October 16th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Haunted was incredibly disturbing… the first story is insane… I can never forget it.
October 16th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
You almost forgot about Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates.
Haunted kicks ass. Swimming pools will never hold the youthful stigma they once had.
October 16th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
i think the road by cormac maccarthy is a worthy mention. not as grotesque as some on here but i never thought a book could envision the love between a father and son so amazingly, yet entail the world on fire and baby eating. a bloody good book.
October 16th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
I loved perfume also.
October 16th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Lolita isn’t disturbing?
October 16th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
i’m so glad haunted was number 1. palahniuk is my favorite author and haunted was a fantastic book. if you like disturbing stories then go search out more of his books.
October 16th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
The Dumb House by John Burnside is a hideously uncomfortable read. It might rely on gratuitous sex and violence a little too much, but it’s subject matter is very interesting.
October 16th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Have you read House of Leaves?
October 16th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Angelhead by Greg Bottoms.
It’s the true story of Bottoms, who writes about his violently scizophrenic brother Michael and the trauma his illness inflicts on the family.
It’s incredibly dark and sad. Don’t know if it applies, as it’s a memoir, but still…
October 16th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
great list, will definitely have to drop buy b&n with list in hand. i think you shouldve mentioned house of leaves. it can be a challenging read with multiple narrative changings and very unconventional writing style at times, but it gets in your head.
October 16th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
248.) Weren’t you in ‘Carrie’?
October 16th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
And so little by little you become corrupted until nothing shocks you anymore, until you even greedily seek out the things that feed your new addiction to the “disturbing”. These things are not good for your soul or your mental health. Do yourself a favor and turn away from them, and put the energy and money you expend on them into practices that preserve your love of life, not destroys it.
But go ahead and laugh at my suggestion, if it pleases you. I was talking to your soul here, and you can be sure it heard me.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Try Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite. Gay sadist necrophilia FTW
October 17th, 2008 at 1:34 am
Let me just say that I have just read Exquiste Corpse, I am halfway through Haunted and both of them did absolutely nothing in terms of scaring me or making me feel like they were disturbing. I am also reading The Wasp Factory and that isnt any different either. I was lead to believe the the short story within Haunted, entitled ‘Guts’ was the worst… WHAT, it didnt even register as something that would freak me out. I read it and went to bed and didnt have any nightmares.
I dont think that I immune to frightening or disturbibg things because I can be jumpy with the best of them but these books were bogus. Maybe, I just set my expectations to high. I am going to buy some of James Rollins books instead… They are fantastic to read but maybe not as ‘disturbing’ as these books. If someone can recommend me something truly disturbing, I would be happy to buy, read and leave some feedback..
Ciao!!
October 17th, 2008 at 1:37 am
Helloooo? Lolita is, by far, the most horrifically fucked up novel ever written. Any novel that can take a cold hearted pedophile and actually make him into a sympathetic character deserves the title of “most desturbing novel ever written”. While i love Palaniuk’s work, it pales in comparison to the empathetic subtleties Nobokov portrays.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:39 am
nd fucking blood meridian, by cormac macarthy/ The Judge is, trully, the epitomy of evil.
October 17th, 2008 at 6:03 am
The Butcher Boy.
October 17th, 2008 at 6:54 am
I loved Geek Love. It was as touching as it was disturbing. It’s a fine book for diving into what may or may not be lives of circus freaks.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
You should have included “Helter Skelter”, re: the Manson murders. That was the scariest book I have ever read, I couldn’t read it at night.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
perfume was an amazing book I absolutely lOVED it~
October 17th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Brothers of the Head is really very disturbing but it’s pretty obscure…
October 17th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
I just read guts online, and I have to say…not very impressed. Yeah, it was a little gross, and mildly sexually warped but I don’t really care for his writing style, and I have read much worse.
I do however LOVE house of leaves. Although it doesn’t really fit this category, it is very well written!
October 17th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Try reading Safe Area Goražde, by Joe Sacco. It is a journalistic comic book/graphic novel about the Bosnian War. Not only is the subject matter disturbing but the illustrations are gut wrenching.
October 17th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
I definitely felt the same way about that scene in American Psycho. I thought I would pass out, for sure. And Haunted is one of the most delicious books I’ve ever read. This list makes me desire the reading of these books
October 17th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Sad to see that House of Leaves by Mark J. Danielewski didn’t make your cut. If you haven’t read it and enjoy having your mind toyed with, I suggest it.
Props for American Psycho, but you should finish it. There’s more to the book than his numbness to violence. It’s actually a sharp social satire that has little to do (when all is said and done) with violence. There were some parts that almost made me sick though (i.e. rats and cheese is all I will say).
October 17th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
What are these things guys are talking about? are they those things with with paper with scribbles all over them glued together on one side?
October 17th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
I’ve actually read #1. And it has some extremely disturbing scenes but it’s the style of writing that’s truly fascinating. The way each character told a story. But 1984, A Clockwork, 120 Days of Sodom, and Pet Cemetery all disturbed me and would have my list but this is a good one and I’ll be sure to check out most of these.
October 18th, 2008 at 5:31 am
No Roald Dahl books were included. He introduced me to disturbing writing. The childrens book always had that hint of darkness but the story of the young vegetarian man lovingly brought up by his grandmother only to stumble upon a “restaurant” slaughter house and be slaughtered himself was almost too much for my 13yo mind. Bloody good writer though!!!!
October 18th, 2008 at 5:35 am
Lolita also springs to mind. A very wrong concept and evil but such exquisite writing. Although worthy of note (according to me) is 1984, V for Vendetta (original graphic novel) and anything by the author of “Empire of the Sun” (james……). The Kindness of Women was his second novel and at the time (15) I found it stomach turning.
October 18th, 2008 at 6:00 am
“The White Hotel,” by D.M. Thomas. The erotic fantasies of a woman who is a patient of Dr. Sigmund Freud, beginning with a poem and ending with a graphic narrative of the horrors of Babi Yar.
October 18th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Damn, I wanted to be the first one to mention Zombie by J.C. Oates. Oh well, how about Where Serpents Lie by T. Jefferson Parker? That stuck with me for a while. Gotta read it til the last page, though. It’ll surprise you.
October 18th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
…and Lord of The Flies. Duh! Did no one mention it? Come on!
October 18th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
I can’t BELIEVE I forgot Lord of the Flies. One of the most brilliant books ever. And way up there on the disturbing scale.
October 18th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
no lord of the flies is not brilliant nor is it creepy
October 18th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Probably in context, it’s not crepy or disturbing (compared to what else has been discussed here), however it scared me because I think (and this is only my opinion)it could so eaasily happen. What got me was the savage and primitive deterioration of civilisation from “English” schoolboys. It was as if thousands of years of civilisation was nothing more than a veneer. The whole might is right ethos disturbed me particularly at the age I was when I read it (11yo). I liked Golding’s writing style. I thought he conveyed the situation well. Particularly poor old Piggy and the savage end he met. Did the quick assimilation into superstition and fear give anyone else pause?
October 19th, 2008 at 8:50 am
I came to this list thinking, I’ll add a comment when they don’t include Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk. But you did! And I cheered. That book made me realize that every Palahniuk book is more twisted the the one that preceded it, and sometime soon he may need to get professional help.
Awesome list, I’m certainly going to check out those books soon.
October 19th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Well, I may be a feeble person, but boy, these sound like good books to avoid. Thanks for the warning!
October 19th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I read a lot of those actually. I loved em!
October 20th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Somebody mentioned Gerald’s Game. Great book. But if you want a disturbing book, I recommend Off Season by Jack Ketchum or The Girl Next Door, also by Jack Ketchum. I was surprised to not see any of his work on this list.
Stephen King himself has had wonderful thing to say about Jack Ketchum.
October 27th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Hmmm…not so sure on Misery. Read that when I was 14 and don’t recall it was that scary. I think The Shining would have been a better one to include. Ultimately one of the most terrifying and powerful books I have ever read.
October 29th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
grubthrower, I agree about Hogg by Delaney. That book made me want to scrub my mind with a brillo pad.
October 30th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
I just finished American Psycho and… wow. This book is relentless. I would even go so far as to say it crossed the line, the second half of the book being the literary equivalent of a snuff film. I do understand that that’s exactly what the author was trying to convey but I think the story suffered, the violence becoming ridiculous, even cartoonish thus damaging the whole point of the novel. It was also too long. Whole chapters (especially the ones dedicated to Genesis, Whitney Houston, and Huey Louis) should have been omitted. Could have saved the novel. The novel peaked about two-thirds of the way in, then flailed pointlessly after Bateman’s lunch with Bethany. I do understand there is a theme at work here, but the story could have worked itself out better than it did. I don’t know, I just couldn’t stay emotionally invested after a certain point. But hey, I finished it. Ellis is a unique writer, no doubt. His focus is inspiring. I look forward to checking out some of his other stuff. Anyone else have thoughts on this book?
November 1st, 2008 at 7:56 am
Three books I would add:
1. Pet Sematary by Stephen King (as a parent, I cannot reread it, though I’ve reread most of King’s books numerous times)
2. Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite–like Ellis’ American Psycho, I actually CRINGED while reading it!
3. House of Leaves by . . . I forget his name. Totally messed up book.
November 1st, 2008 at 7:58 am
I disagree that the chapters on the musicians should have been omitted–they were the funniest things in the book!
SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That said, after reading the book, you realize that Pat Bateman isn’t the evil person the book describes, since he committed NONE of the murders described–it was all just a twisted fantasy of his. Good stuff!
November 3rd, 2008 at 4:57 pm
haunted gave me nightmares about swimming pools and parsnips
November 4th, 2008 at 7:27 am
Oh! And how could I forget my favorite author, Edward Gorey???
Specifically, his book, _The Loathesome Couple_. The dust jacket flap reads, “This book may well prove to be its author’s most unpleasant ever.” It contains the hilariously immortal words, “And they spent the better part of the night murdering the child in various ways.
And then there is _The Curious Sofa_, written under his pseudonym, Ogdred Weary, and has the following quotes: “. . . and many were the giggles and barks that came from the bushes,” and “And still later Gerald did something terrible to Elsie with a saucepan.”
Great stuff!
November 4th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Haunted…..*shudder* Haunted the hell outta me, but couldn’t stop reading it T_T
November 4th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
283. mournblade: I have to give a nod to Gorey (what an appropriate name!), and especially liked his Alphabet Book for children…creepy, but plugs right into a kids way of thinking.
Of course, my kids are grown now, but I’m wondering about getting one for my grand-daughter.
November 4th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
The minute I came across this list I was like “Geek Love HAS to be on it” and sure enough, there it was!
I absolutely feel in love with that novel. It was heart-wrenching and touching and, although the ending could have been reworked (just timing issues in the plot) I thought it was genius. The whole time I was just wanting and wanting for things to turn out right and I just remember that rock-in-the-stomach feeling when they didn’t. It’s a book I will never forget. Fantastic!
November 23rd, 2008 at 11:15 pm
I feel sad for the “hero” in “Perfume” towards the end, my support is drawn to him perhaps. A good horror story is like a good print ad with great copy that sums up the visual. It allows the reader to visualize the images conjure by the words. Like the everyday experience of being “burnt” is multiplied by 100 times in the biblical word “hell”.
November 28th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
#1 should be the bible
December 8th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Pretty good list! I knew that American Psycho would be on there for sure! For those of you who are having a hard time reading it, just keep going. It can be kinda tough during the parts about fashion, but it’s definitely a great read.
Also try Filth by Irvine Welsh (the guy who wrote Trainspotting, another great book). It’s about a Scottish cop who is basically the most disgusting character I’ve ever read about. I was really grossed out by a lot of stuff in this book, but it’s great!
December 10th, 2008 at 2:42 am
jfrater: I am so SO glad that “We Need to Talk About Kevin” was on your list! The book was beautifully written and I still find myself going back to think about it a year after I’ve read it. I try to tell people about it but you are the first I know that has actually read it!
And since there are about a hundred people who tell me I should read “Haunted”, that will be one of my next books.
Thanks for the awesome list!
December 12th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
The Room by Hubert Selby Jr.
While reading this book in the library, I became so disgusted that I threw the book on the floor and went outside for a walk. Picking it up again felt wrong. I still have mixed feelings about it. I promise you that reading the middle of this book is a horrifying experience for anyone.
December 30th, 2008 at 9:07 am
“The Girl Next Door” by Jack Ketchum.
A girl is tortured throughout the whole novel (iron to her privates, urinated on, raped) while the protagonist does NOTHING to help as she endures this day after day. By the time he does, it’s too late.
Very disturbing.
December 30th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Ew… I think my gag reflex is too weak for this stuff.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Edward Lee’s thoroughly disgusting tour-de-force “Pig” is not on this list and should be. Not sure why SK’s “Misery” is there…list is a little too mainstream in my opinion. Pretty much anything by Ketchum could be included as well as the classic The Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille. Perfume is so insanely original and fascinating that I really don’t think it belongs on this list either. Kozinski’s “Painted Bird” and “American Psycho are really the only 2 that I would put on this sort of list.
January 12th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
how can misery be on the list… i agree to mainstream! what about lolita i think its pretty disturbing the way he describes a man falling in love with an 12 year old girl!
January 15th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
There are several comments saying The Road by Cormac McCarthy is disturbing, but wasn’t it one of Oprah’s book club choices? How disturbing can it be if Oprah wanted all of our moms to read it?
January 16th, 2009 at 2:45 am
I’ve been reading We need to talk about Kevin and find it more sad than disturbing. Then again, I’ve only made a small dent in the book so I suppose the disturbing comes later?
How about Devil in the White City? Or a title similar to that… I haven’t read it yet but it’s highly recommended by a friend so it’s next on my to-read list. It’s a story inspired by a man who set up a hotel/secret-torture-funhouse next to the 1904 World’s Fair.
February 13th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
You’re supposed to be disturbed by rape, murder or child abuse.I think the stories that disturb you must be read.
They force you to think about things that you would rather a.ignore
b.turn into a joke
c.romanticize
When we do that, we don’t see the act for what it is: a cancerous and deadly ugliness that offends the soul. So go ahead and be disturbed. That’s what the author intends.
I recommend A Child Called It by Dave Petzer and Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates.
February 20th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
I just finished Let’s Go Play At the Adams’ by Mendal W. Johnson and though it may not be as graphically violent as other novels mentioned here it is definitely one the most disturbing novels I’ve ever read. It’s just amazing how the children’s “game” escalates into such unimaginable horror- done so with such logical baby steps. You will painfully root for the protagonist throughout this story, I promise. Why do I love books that make me so damn angry?
February 20th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
… and why are people so infatuated with Cormac McCarthy? I couldn’t finish The Road because it’s so boring and I read No Country For Old Men and, I don’t know, I gues it was okay. It’s really annoying the way he rights dialogue with no quotation marks. I just don’t see the brilliance.
February 25th, 2009 at 5:01 am
I’ve read Perfume, Misery and Haunted.
I think that Misery isn’t that disturbing but i guess it would be if you were put in the same situation as the character!
Perfume is beautiful, i loved it
And Haunted is just plain… distubring *shudders about guts*
February 28th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
well the list is pretty good but 120 Days of Sodom by Marquis De Sade is WAAAYY more intense and 1,000,000,000,000 times more disturbing than all of these books put together.
Plus some of these books are not disturbing. Many if them are gory and thats just it. Some of these books don’t have the power to make the reader fell helpless like a disturbing book should be like. I read some of these books and they are just disgusting, but not disturbing.
well there is my criticism but the list is great either way.
March 1st, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Anything by Clive Barker seems disturbing to me although i guess these days theres more gore than horror in novels as the movies have gone too. Also Douglas Clegg tends to drone on about sexual graphics instead of scaring me so hes disturbing or perhaps just annoying not sure
March 7th, 2009 at 4:53 am
Palahniuk is terrible and with the exception of the Kosinski and maybe Dunn, most of these aren’t that disturbing. If you want disturbing you should check out Hogg by Samuel R. Delaney.
March 7th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
SO glad Haunted is on this list. I fell in love with it a while ago, and haven’t looked at swimming the same way since.
March 9th, 2009 at 12:43 am
I could never finish AMERICAN PSYCHO either!!! I cringed and cringed through more than half until finally I felt the book would permanently scar my psyche and I never picked it up again!
March 9th, 2009 at 12:43 am
I hated the book Haunted. I just didn’t enjoy reading it at all and was glad when I was finally done.
March 9th, 2009 at 12:57 am
306. dustofstars : Wow, both you and Jamie couldn’t get through this but I actually found it a quite enjoyable – if a bit strange – read. I guess that says a lot about me, doesn’t it?
March 9th, 2009 at 1:00 am
Ever since seeing the movie and knowing the end, I’ve always wanted to go back and read it. Maybe I will one of these days since you say it was enjoyable…
March 9th, 2009 at 1:07 am
308. Mark : Woah, don’t do anything on my recommendation that it’s not screwed up/violent/generally bad. I have VERY left field music, literary and cinematic tastes. Half the stuff I listen to, read or watch would probably make half of all of the LV readers sick. I’m not saying it’s a bad idea – because I still think it’s one of the best books I’ve read – but maybe get a second opinion first.
The movie isn’t much compared to the book graphically was it? I would have liked to see it stick a bit closer to the book, but it’s still one of my favourite films.
March 9th, 2009 at 1:08 am
Whoops I replied to myself, that was meant for you dust
March 9th, 2009 at 1:11 am
Thanks for the warning! I think I gave my copy away so I probably won’t read it after all. ( :
March 9th, 2009 at 1:14 am
312. dustofstars : I must say that that is a shame, but probably wise. When Jamie said in the list that it will change you, you was right. I probably wish I hadn’t even picked it up, but once I did I couldn’t put it down.
Now here I am writing songs called “Ranga Holocaust”, even I think that’s a bit screwed up….
March 9th, 2009 at 1:18 am
Ha…that’s funny. I feel guilty but I am really intrigued to read every book on this list! Human nature I guess. I looked at the site Rotten.com after it was put in a list here and I have TOTALLY regretted that one…so disgusting.
March 9th, 2009 at 1:41 am
314. dustofstars : Rofl, one of my fave sites. By the way, what’s funny? The song name?
March 9th, 2009 at 1:44 am
Just that it changed you and now you’re writing songs such as that…it was funny ( :
March 9th, 2009 at 2:16 am
316. dustofstars : Funny for some, but I’ve sort of alienated a girl I used to be friends with in doing it. I think it’s hilarious, but I guess I’ve got to be careful with who I tell…
March 9th, 2009 at 2:18 am
well…u gotta b yourself…can’t please everyone
March 9th, 2009 at 2:36 am
318. dustofstars : Damn straight, I’m gonna be pleasing myself with drugs, booze and sex in an underground metal club one day. Well, that might be true if they existed in Australia, not to mention that I’m going to have to wait at least 2 years before I’m allowed to drink
March 9th, 2009 at 2:39 am
so comical…don’t be too ready for all that stuff…you have plenty of time to do that the rest of your life…enjoy being young!! one day you will miss your twenties
March 9th, 2009 at 2:46 am
320. dustofstars : I know I will, but I can’t wait to get out of my teens. I’ve been too close – to doing stupid things – too many times lately. At least if I’m playing music and putting bad stuff into my body I’ll die happily from that crap
March 9th, 2009 at 2:49 am
just be careful and realize you really are going to be old one day…and booze and all that stuff will be so boring and old to you and you will wish you were in your teens again…just live in the moment and make the best of it ( :
March 9th, 2009 at 2:56 am
Guys, I have it set up so that I get an email when there is a reply to the topic. I’m sure many others do too. So far I’ve received about 16 emails just from you two in the course of about 3 hours. Any chance you can take your flirting and discussion of felonious acts into an email or instant message? I’m not trying to be miserable or anything but there’s going to be a lot of people waking up to 20 messages from you guys on a Monday morning.
March 9th, 2009 at 2:57 am
322. dustofstars : If I have it my way I’ll be out of here by 40, no point in a metal musician growing old and withering to death. Especially, as you mentioned, after I’ve been on the booze for a good couple of years.
March 9th, 2009 at 2:59 am
good luck to you Mark…i hope you have many good safe fun memorable times ahead of you…night night…time for bed for me it’s 3am here
March 9th, 2009 at 3:00 am
323. Mike : Well I apologize to them, with no sarcasm or jest, I do.
But as a great man once said : “But for me at least, the friendships are more important than the topics.”
See if you can guess who…
March 9th, 2009 at 3:03 am
325. dustofstars : I’m sure I’ll have more than enough eventually, thanks. I stayed up until 5am on Sunday morning commenting on LV, then had school on Monday, I know how annoying it is.
Educational film voice-over:
“LV , it may seem like a cool thing to do because your friends are all doing it. But one day you might regret it.”
Good night/morning man
March 9th, 2009 at 3:03 am
Whoops…I’m sorry too…kind of new to commenting here…kind of funny though…but am truly sorry
March 9th, 2009 at 3:08 am
328. dustofstars : Don’t worry about it too much. Despite my comment count – check the homepage – I haven’t been here for too long. But if there’s one thing Anon’s ancient ass has taught me, it’s that LV is a great place for discussion, don’t worry about going off topic
March 9th, 2009 at 3:13 am
thanks…won’t worry too much…and fyi to everyone…you can control if you get notified by clicking the link at the bottom of the very FIRST email you get about the comments…you can opt out…night Mark…nice chatting with you (:
March 9th, 2009 at 3:21 am
330. dustofstars : Likewise, when you get up tomorrow check out the Creationism topic, or the Atlantic Ocean Liners list. Good spots to talk if you’re interested.
March 9th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Thanks Mark!! Won’t be home all day today but I’ll look them up tomorrow! Hope you slept well. : )
March 15th, 2009 at 8:34 am
I love the list! I don’t know if anyone has read Joyce Carol Oates but her books are truly disturbing. She delves into the depths of the human mind that no one should go into. Her books “Haunted: Tales of the Grotesque” and “The Female of the Species” are especially twisted.
March 15th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Joyce Carol Oates has the rare disturbing book or story, but Shirley Jackson is nothing but disturbing tales. Jackson’s world is our world if some small thing had gone horribly, horribly awry. Her short stories are a feast of amazing mindsets; who could think like that?!
She doesn’t slap you in the face with horror, she quietly brings you along with the characters…wait! there’s *something* wrong…wait! there’s *someone* wrong…and then, at the end, the surprise. You’ve been scared all along, but probably of the wrong thing.
She’s a genius.
March 29th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
wow, a nice list for the coming year, lovely to read books more disturbing that I write.
April 1st, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Good list.
Glamorama and Wasp Factory are two of my favourite books.
But there are way more disturbing books out there. “The Girl Next Door” by Jake Ketchum is an obvious choice.
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:25 pm
I’ve read 1, 5, 9, and 10. This a really great list, I very much enjoyed each of the books that I read from it.
April 6th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Dan your right lets go play at the Adams was pretty disturbing. Also Wikipedia (source of all truth) says its based on r real event.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Likens
April 12th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
I love Chuck Palahniuk’s books. I was expecting to find one of his books on here. I have not yet finished reading Haunted, but I have read the first story, Guts. I started feeling sick when I read it. Apparently it’s based on a true story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_(novel)#.22Guts.22
April 21st, 2009 at 3:26 am
i totally totally agree with #10! It took me 2 months before i was able to finish the book. Stephen King’s really a master in his craft.
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:04 am
Your list could do with some more classics. Although not graphically violent ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ by Thomas Hardy was emotionally harrowing and disturbing as well as ‘I’m Watching You’ by Karen Rose.
May 1st, 2009 at 4:43 pm
haunted definitely belongs at #1 my mom got me that when i was about 14 because she knows i like h.p. lovecraft and stuff like that and i guess she thought haunted was going to be like that
the whole thing about the kid in the pool was gross enough but ugh it just gets worse like when the guy cuts off his penis and the other guy eats it
or when the kid gets the candle wax stuck in his pee hole
what is wrong with the characters in that book
May 13th, 2009 at 10:40 am
I agree with The Long Walk. I found it profoundly disturbing, especially the way the boys form a bond.
Naked Lunch? Nah, after the first twenty pages, I yawned, and thought the rest a drug hazed rant.
May 13th, 2009 at 10:48 am
The Green mile was a good novel but the movie was even better. Stephen King really knows how to write some best-sellers
May 13th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Annie chopped off the protagonist’s foot with the axe in the book Misery. he didn’t do it himself.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Haunted was phenomenal. Can’t find cows by matthew stokoe anywhere. I’m looking for a book that is truly disturbing. Haven’t found one yet. Although girl next door came close. Great book.
June 5th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
What about Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra? I love reading ygrisly, disturbing books (yet can’t watch grisly, disturbing movies…oddly enough) and Sleepers has never left me. Its chilling.
June 9th, 2009 at 4:16 am
“The Painted Bird” horrified me so, that a few years later when I heard Kosinski had killed himself, I was GLAD.
June 9th, 2009 at 8:37 am
Tramp and dog scene in American Psycho: Tip. Of. The. Iceberg… Good luck if you’re still to read it
Great list
June 25th, 2009 at 2:02 am
Ah, god, Misery is my favorite book. xDD
June 25th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
The only one I’ve read on this list so far is Haunted, and it was thoroughly awesome. I recommend it highly. Now I’m off to read the others…
June 28th, 2009 at 7:10 am
The books ‘Blood Meridian’, ‘Child of God’, ‘The Road’; all by Cormac McCarthy are all highly disturbing, brilliant and unforgetable. As is horror books by Richard Laymon, and ‘One flew over the cuckoo’s nest’ too.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:59 am
On the grounds of being disturbed by a novel “lolita” by Nabakov is pretty extreme when you consider just what you are actually reading about.
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:37 pm
I’m totally surprised Haunted made the list, and number one to boot! I guess I was surprised because it’s one of my favorite novels and it doesn’t disturb me at all. The only thing to do, I suppose, is to read the other books on the list. Preferably American Psycho, it’s been on my “Books to Read” list for a while now.
July 7th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
I figured Haunted would be on the list. As well as American Psycho and Misery. Haven’t read any of the other ones, but I’d especially like to read Wasp Factory and Glamorama
July 15th, 2009 at 9:26 am
I prefer Physics books and Harry potter
July 16th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
I’m fifteen and have read every one of the books on this list, except Perfume, and I’m getting to it, but some of the spots are kinda iffy for me. Let’s Go Play At the Adams’ was one of the more alarming things I’ve read and belongs on here. Justine bored me to tears – a better choice would have been Philosophy in the Bedroom which was, when you read between the lines of the graphic and often bizarre sex, beautiful and full of a certain fortitude. Still disgusting though. The talk of anuses got grating after awhile and the end scene caused me empathy pains. Geek Love does not belong on this list…a fantastic read, but if you find it disturbing in the conventional way, and not in the “oh-my-god-normality-is-all-relative” way you obviously didn’t read hard enough. Misery was not disturbing, not compared to some of the other things out there.
A book that was hands-down the most disturbing thing I’ve ever read and that I haven’t been able to find back in North America is Intangible by Arturo Vicenté. Little girls delivering innocent naive rape dialogue to their babydolls, sensual euthanasia-type cannibalism in a nursing home, a mother having orgasms while breastfeeding her daughter, among other things I have blocked from my mind. I think the blatant horror of it came from the absolute vulnerabily of these monstrous characters. You were forced to empathize with them and that was the hardest part to accept while reading, that you might actually be like those people. The most disgusting thing I’ve ever read…..I don’t know. Anything involving rape turns my stomach. Oh…Guts from Haunted by Palahniuk made me physically sick. I guess it qualifies. But yeah. Your list is okay, but extremely incomplete.
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:15 am
Haunted is my favorite book!
and i havnt read Perfume but the movie is very disturbing.
By the way I read the section of Haunted where the kids guts get pulled out of his ass out loud in my college class and it made some kid puke, my teacher loved it though. lol
July 27th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Great list. I loved Misery. And the day before I checked out this list I got Haunted at the store not even knowing about this list! I am SO happy that it’s on here. OK that sounds a little weird, but I’m really into all the horror stuff. I really want to read American Psycho and the Wasp Factory. Thanks for the book recommendations!
July 27th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I just gotta say that Misery SUCKS! I know that ’sucks’ is a stupid word word but Misery is a stupid novel and deserves no better. Stephen King hasn’t written a novel worth reading since Cujo. He should start drinking again. Whattsamatta with you people? Snap out of it!
July 28th, 2009 at 8:53 am
I kinda figured one of Stephen King’s books would be on here. I’ve never read Misery, but I just finished Pet Sematary three weeks ago, then watched the movie (the book was great, but I thought the movie was terribly acted).
The only book that I’ve read by Chuck Palahniuk was Invisible Monsters, which was not disturbing, just screwed up. And kind of confusing. Has anyone else on here read it? I was planning on reading Fight Club, too, but my English teacher ruined the ending for me. >:(
I’ll have to check some of the books on this list out.
July 30th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
Invisible monsters was meant that way. Basically the main character gives her life to her brother “brandy Alexander”. The genius of chuck palahniuk is that he lets you “choose” your own ending.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:42 am
For some reason I expected “a clockwork orange” to be there.
Well, I haven’t read the book…. or seen the movie….
but still! it should be there!
August 2nd, 2009 at 10:55 am
I just finished reading haunted it’s on my top 5 list for sure great book!!
August 4th, 2009 at 2:57 am
Ive Just finished reading “Infected” by Scott Sigler..imagine having an uncontrollable itch that blooms (literally) into a dark blue triangular mass underneath your skin, consuming you from within. Then you hear the voices..
I had to put it down a few times; the murder, disfiguration descriptions and self mutilation scenes where really graphic especially near the end..
its a wonderfully sick read >:]
August 20th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
What about Life of Pi?
August 30th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Surely, in the context of disturbing literature Stephen Kings ‘IT’ is more than worthy of a mention. What more disturbing, yet, at the same time an attention grabber than a child killing dualistic entity that has been around for millions of years that prefers the stage name ‘Pennywise’?
September 5th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Iv bookmarked this page, miserys not that disturbing at all, try European authors like Marques De Sade’s 120 days of Sodom it has been acclaimed as the most disturbing novel ever wrote and it dates back to the 18th century its about libertines, and it has detailed scenes of debauchary, pedophilia, kidknapping, murder, necrophilia, bestiality, scatology, vomit sex, amputee sex, s&m, incest, forced incest, rape, you name it, its there. Its sick but its compelling. And how about Ryu Murakami’s Audition, its a pulp horror novel, whats so interesting about this is that it could happen. William S Burroughs Naked Lunch, infact anything by William S Burroughs without him Bret Easton Ellis would not be in the writing chair, Chuck Palahniuks novels are not that disturbing they do delve, but they do delve into the darker side of the human psyche but not so much as the above mentioned, but having said all that, your list is good, not great but good.
September 15th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
I saw this list and was definitely curious, so I clicked on it. <3 I am so happy I did.
I read Misery at the age of 13 [I'm not much older than that, now, either] and was disappointed. Yeah, he was basically kept hostage and had a few parts of his body cut off. Kind of dull, in my personal opinion. I read it carefully, and was not disturbed. Just bored… So now I am on the hunt for literature that actually DOES scare me. <3
I am only a female teenager, so maybe I shouldn't read some of those… I don't want to be considered that much of a freak, reading about rape and torture. Haha…
September 16th, 2009 at 12:25 am
OH..and my friend recommended Perfume to me, saying, “It seems like something you’d really like… Your kind of story.”
Haha…I wonder what she meant by that? ^^’
September 16th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
I really can’t believe after reading little blurps about the other books that “Haunted” can be the most disturbing book on your list, granted it is weird, especially when they (spoiler!) start taking parts of the girl’s leg, only to find she is still alive.. That is one of my most favorite books of all time
September 17th, 2009 at 11:59 am
When I saw the name of this list, I expected to see Chuck Palahniuk and I wasn’t disappointed. Great list! I do have a fascination with the macabre but unfortunately, this is coupled with an extremely weak stomach which will probably prevent me from reading any book on this list
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:07 pm
I just knew that the first book would be haunted. I was going dowN the list thinking to my self it would be something if haunted ended up being number one…and then i scroll down and there it is…READ THE STORY ‘GUTS’
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:15 pm
This seems more like a “books you should read” list. All these books seem very interesting to me! I’m going to see if my schools library has them or not. If this is disturbing then I guess I like disturbing ;]
Then again, everything described as disturbing on this website isn’t worthy of that word in my opinion
October 8th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
I’m so glad for the “House of Leaves” mentions. To me, disturbing doesn’t mean gore and sexual deviance, it means disturbing. Like, I can’t wrap my mind around this. I’ve read “House of Leaves” three times now (I pick it up every 2 years or so) and every time I read it I get unsettled. Brilliant, brilliant book. I am also a graphic artist with a love for typography, so it really stimulates my creative side as well. Someone mentioned how the layout gets more chaotic with the story, and it’s so true. It’s baffling to me, and truly screws with my mind.
Blood, guts, sex…I can get that in the movies.
Do yourself a favor and devote some time to “House of Leaves”. And don’t skip the footnotes for an easier read, they are what really get you into a twisted state of mind.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:18 pm
I’ve pulled the evil Haunted trick on more than one friend, who I convinced Guts was the best story ever written. I’ve had more than one book thrown at me for that.
Great list! Geek Love! I’ve got some new ones to look for!
October 26th, 2009 at 5:46 am
Another great book that should be on this list is And The Ass Saw The Angel by Nick Cave. Thrilling and disturbing.
November 9th, 2009 at 11:19 am
wheres the 120 days of sodom . it has a bit where a surgeon makes a women shit out of her vagina
November 9th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
No “Lolita”? Having read a few of these books I’d have to say “Lolita” deserves a place. dazza is also correct. “120 Days of Sodom” is completely messed up.
November 10th, 2009 at 10:32 am
I would have included ballard’s crash. I could barely get through chapter 2.
November 10th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
i dont think that perfume belongs on this list. perfume on a disturbing novels list is like buddy holly’s work (everyday, oh boy, etc.) being on a list of most disturbing music. some people thought buddy was disturbing, but his work was accepted by critics and his listeners as aesthetically beautiful artistic expression. perfume is no different; the subject matter is raw but the form is everything art should be: thrilling.
November 14th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
An Evil Cradling?! Can’t remember the author but a true story about a journalist held hostage in Beruit I believe. Pretty chilling stuff with a surprisingly pleasant ending!