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
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.
I read ''The Girl Next Door'' last week and cried for two hours and still afterwards because that book was highly disturbing, whereas while reading ''American Psycho'' I didn't even feel disgusted by the dog-bum scene.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
haunted! i LOVED it! short stories woven into one LONG freak fest……
Sadly I have only read Misery and Justine. i found Pet Semetary to be more disturbing than Misery though.
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.
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
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 ***** right there.
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.
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
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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*
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.
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.
Becca: thanks for pointing that out – it was 18 – I left off the ’1′ accidentally
It is now corrected.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 *****, 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….
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.
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.
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
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!
The 120 days of sodom, which is not so much a story as a torture/perversion/*****ographic orgie. Really disturbing.
150. Kevin: yes but he left that bit with the pregnant lady and her fetus. I skipped pages….
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
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.
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.
“The Consumer” by Michael Gira is disturbing – bordering on absolutely grotesque. I’m sure some of you folks would love it.
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.
I’d put forward ‘Mysterious Skin’ by Scott Heim. For me it doesn’t get much more disturbing than *****ual abuse of 8 year olds – and one of them loving it.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
A Clockwork Orange deserves an honorable mention, so does The Hellbound Heart.
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.
87. DK
apt pupil is a novella
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!
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.
Sound,s like my kind of reading material.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
This list is incomplete without The Collector. Definitely worse than Misery.
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).