‘I can’t even look at the cover’: the most disturbing books
We asked you to tell us about the books that have most shocked or disturbed you, and the winning book u2013 if that’s possible u2013 was Dostoyevsky’s The Silence of the Lambs.
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis: ‘I found myself suddenly inexplicably weeping’
“I nearly passed out reading one of the scenes,” says Banks of American Psycho. “It was utterly surreal and yetu2026 brilliant,” says Campagnolo of Iain Banks’ work. “Read that book when you’re dying, it’s really good,” he says of Banks’ work.
The authors you suggested most often were John Fowles, Iain Banks and Stephen King
“I read Pet Sematary as a teen while on a horror kick,” Leonie Drury says. “Gerald’s Game is the only book I’ve ever put down, thrown in the recycling bin, and buried,” says TheIcewoman.
‘Simultaneously heartbreaking and terrifying’: dystopian fiction
PeppyOoze says, “The Road’s basement scene is one of the scariest things I’ve read and also seen in the film,” while Cubit271 says, “On the Beach by Nevil Shute is the most disturbing thing I have ever read.”
‘I fainted on the train’: Guts and gore.
“I find Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle to be the most upsetting thing I’ve ever read.” “The most unsettling book I’ve ever read has to be The Room by Hubert Selby Jr.” Shirley Jackson, in 1951. Last Exit to Brooklyn – Tra La La survives gang rape/torture.
‘No novel has ever unsettled me more’: the most haunting fiction
“No novel has ever unsettled me more,” says Brad DJ Aural Latendresse of William Blatty’s The Exorcist, while Mark Danielewski’s House of Leaves stayed with me for weeks on end. “A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara is the worst book I have ever read,” says Brian Trevelyan of Shane Stadler’s Exoskeleton, which makes torture in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four seem like a
‘This book destroyed me for weeks’: non-fiction and novels about real history
Nothing is more disturbing than personal testimony from those who have witnessed the worst that humans can do to one another. Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich has stayed with me, demonstrating the ‘banality of evil.’
What is considered the scariest book ever written?
The 20 Most Terrifying Books You’ll Ever Read
- Stephen King’s The Shining (1977)
- Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw (1898)
- Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House (1959)
- Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black (1983)
- Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot (1975)
- Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts (2015)
What makes a book disturbing?
An engaging novel is disturbing because it presents chaos and upheavalu2014either within the characters’ minds or in their livesu2014and these clashing interactions and relationships between people are at its core.
What is the most gory book?
Here are nine of the most violent books that are also widely regarded as literary masterpieces.
- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
- Piercing by Ryu Murakami
- American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
- 2666 by Roberto Bolao
- The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
- The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe
- The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
Which is the most scariest thing in the world?
13 of the World’s Most Terrifying Locations
- Aokigahara u2013 Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan.
- Chernobyl u2013 Chernobyl, Ukraine.
- The Stanley Hotel u2013 Colorado, United States.
- Capuchin Catacombs u2013 Palermo, Sicily, Italy.
- Bran Castle u2013 Bran, Romania.
How do you write disturbing?
These horror writing tips, on the other hand, will assist you in discovering your own unique way of instilling fear in the world:
- Use your own fear.
- Get inside your narrator’s head.
- Don’t worry about appearing “legitimate”
- Take your nonsense seriously.
- The scariest thing is feeling out of control.
How do you write a good horror?
8 Guidelines for Writing a Fantastic Horror Story
- Establish the familiar.
- Use subtle foreshadowing.
- Think about pacing.
- Tap into your reader’s imagination.
- Suffocate with tight spaces.
- Think like a child.
- Disorient reality.
How do you write a disturbing scene?
What is the best way to write a scary scene?
- The reader/viewer must know more than the character and be forced to wait for the Big Scare.
- The reader/viewer must be completely focused on the scene, with introspection limited to reaction to the surroundings.
- The reader must be unaware of when the Big Scare will occur.
Is Blood Meridian violent?
The violence in Blood Meridian must be understood in the context of the characters; the relationship between “The Kid” and Judge Holden is both violent and complex, and “The Kid” pales in comparison to Judge Holden.
What Cormac McCarthy book should I read first?
McCarthy’s first book, The Orchard Keeper (1965), was followed by Outer Dark and Child of God.
How disturbing is American Psycho?
Despite its premise, American Psycho is surprisingly un-bloody, with most of the violence occurring off screen or just outside the camera’s frame. But what makes the film so terrifying is how much we feel like we know who Patrick Bateman is.