Girl Next Door is based on the real life story of Sylvia Likens. Her parents were carnival works who arranged for Sylvia and her sister to stay with a complete stranger, Gertrude Banicheski. The Likens promised to send money to Gertrude, but when some of their payments were either a bit late or not enough, Gertrude took it out on Sylvia and her sister. Over time, Sylvia began to be the main target and was eventually tortured to death.
I Immediately thought of this when he mentioned Girl next door (I saw the movie...didn't care for it) but I saw a documentary about this case....very sad indeed
I was thinking of reading this until you gave away the ending - but that’s my bad, I should never read the comments thread for these recommendation videos 🤷🏻♀️ 🙂
@@lorie76yt I don't think that knowing the ending of a real life tragedy is a spoiler. Because real life tragedies are not entertainment. Also, there are a couple of very similar cases where mothers torture and kill one of their children by manipulating their other kids into actually doing the torturing and killing. The book seems to be inspired by this cases bc there are many discrepancies between the review and what I have heard from the three different cases that I know of.
Glad you mentioned "The Girl next door". Easily the most disturbing book I've ever read. I've read this about 12 years ago and it is still burned into my memory. It's an experience that stays with you for sure.
"Penpal" by Dathan Auerbach is probably the scariest and most troubling book I've ever read. I was already middle-aged when I read it, but it made me afraid to go into my basement at night. It took me a long time to recover from that book.
I wouldn’t say it was that scary, but it was definitely good. I’ve listened to people narrate the whole story at least 4 times. I think he’s particularly good at making you feel nostalgic for a past you never experienced. If that makes sense.
0:48 the troop by nick cutter 2:19 the wasp factory by iain banks 3:30 gone girl 4:50 cows by matthew stokoe 6:34 blindness by saramago (sounds to me like bird box) 8:10 pretty girls by karin slaughter 10:01 the ruins by scott smith 11:33 blood meridian by cormac mccarthy 12:55 american psycho 14:40 the girl next door
Nothing about his description of blindness sounds like bird box. Blindness came out more than ten years before bird box. Blindness is amazing, bird box is amazingly stupid.
How do you think you would handle that in real life? Also my grandma hasn’t read any king Since 03 and I let her borrow that book. She liked it very much.
@@ashenone921 I had Pet Cemetery and our dog completely ate it when he was a puppy. That's not ironic at all but it's something. I will buy it when I see it at a t thrift store or used book store, but that one is surprisingly hard to find. I bet it won't be scary but will be sad instead. That's ,my guess. Thrilling though! I love King! I love horror movies too but they don't scare me. I think once you read enough of the news and see enough dark things in real life it makes fictional stories interesting rather than disturbing. CHina's harvesting human organs in a concentration camp populated by Muslims because their organs are halaal. Did you see Fauci's animal experiments and this guy is the leader of humanity now? So much darkness in the world that stephen King is kind of reassuring almost. I'm reading Salem's Lot right now. A page turner so far. One of the big differences between the Shining movie and the book is that in sth book you get to know Jack more and it becomes a warmer story. Kubrick made it a scary movie but tasing the war hearted stuff out. King has Capra level sentimental moments in the shining /dr. sleep story. I love his books but they aren't disturbing. People always say he's twisted but read someone like Clive Barker and he's trying to disturb at least. Kind is smart and writes for what the audience wants, (he says). Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle is more disturbing than any Stephen King novel.
Highly recommend Natsuo Kirino’s “Out” and her other book “Grotesque”. Also recommend Kanae Minato’s Confessions and “Penance”!! Women writing dark stuff makes my heart swoon
I was sucked in by Out but the last act was a bit of a letdown, wasn’t able to match the energy of the buildup. This was the second japanese author I read after Ryu Murakami (In the Miso Soup)
@@whateverworksmate.721 This was 5 years ago so I don’t remember much except it describes so many profanities with the japanese equivalent. I don’t really follow this genre though, I prefer the other murakami.
Thanks for the recommendations. Toni Morrison’s Beloved was so disturbing that I had to sometimes put it down to settle my emotions before continuing to read, but so powerfully good in the best way too.
ok so glad someone mentioned Beloved here. One of the most depressing books I've read. The story is told in such a non linear, unspecific way, that you put the pieces of the puzzle together yourself. And when you finally get the full picture- it's absolutely heartbreaking.
Yes! I found it incredibly disturbing & even though I read it 20yrs ago I still remember doing the thing that you did. Having to put it down to collect my thoughts & emotions. It’s a truly wonderful book but extremely heartbreaking & not an easy read.
The most disturbing two books in the whole of English Literature are ‘Jude the Obscure’ by Thomas Hardy and ‘A Fine Balance’ by Rohinton Mistry. I was disturbed and depressed for a week after reading each of them. Masterful works, but be warned!
Books of blood by Clive Barker is very disturbing too, but I love most of the stories. The balance between disturbing and good writing is very important.
@@jameskim9103 it's a piece of art. I wish I could visit Barker's brain. I can picture in my mind many scenes from this series until this days, a wonderful job with the descriptions
@@ravpicc Exaclty !! He’s so vividly and brutally honest with his descriptions and how he portrays human thought …the stories still till this day practically feel like vivid memories to me 😯
Barker is a genius. His language is so beautiful and metaphoric but at the same there are happening so many brutal things. His imagination seems infinite. It's so long ago that I read him though, gotta reread his stuff 😅 Wish he would finish the Books of Art soon😬
You should read Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica! Really chilling while reading, has some good twists and turns, and it’s definitely one that will leave you thinking about it for a long time. I read it almost a year ago and I still reflect on it.
@thedumbdog1964 I know I'm a year late but it absolutely had a point to it that you missed. It spoke volumes about how we view life as a society. I read it three years ago and still think about it. The book was profound, whether you see that or not.
Blood Meridian, Wasp Factory, and American Psycho - also House of Leaves (I notice it on your shelf there) - are some of my favorite books. Most things don't bother me, but I did recently read Ian Reid's I'm Thinking of Ending Things, which (apart from being super depressing) did creep me out and unsettle me in certain parts. Also Guts by Palahniuk made my insides clench up as well.
Blood Meridian is so unrelenting. House of Leaves is so good and disturbing in ways that aren't as obvious I think. Also--the movie adaptation of I'm Thinking of Ending Things was really odd but very good.
@@TheBrokenCradle House of Leaves had me pretty disturbed in the beginning, but I honestly got tangled up in the mysteries, the code-breaking etc, so it became more of a sad story than a horror story at the end
Great list! I would definitely recommend Tender Is The Flesh, the completely gross feeling you get because of how things are so matter of factly described is uncomfortable. Also, The House on Abigail Lane by Kealan Patrick Burke, or even Sour Candy or Jack and Jill. All of those by him are short stories that I felt were unsettling for one reason or another. Particularly The House on Abigail Lane, I think it’s because I could so completely visualize what was being described, and that was just freaky.
You're like the 10th person to recommend tender is the flesh. I gotta get to that one asap. I have Kin by Kealan Patrick Burke but I haven't read it yet. Thanks for the recommendations.
You forgot "Haunted" by Chuck Palahniuk. The story "Guts" is so stomach turning that I couldnt finish the book. And yes, every book by Karin Slaughter is rather gory.
Read that story recently. Made it to the last page and then passed out in bed before I could finish it. Woke up a couple seconds later and my body was convulsing..
@@chadvonswan that's really interesting. I don't really get disturbed by books. When I read it I thought it was a little bit funny because it was so grotesque of a thought and sent the story to some people. one person told me she cried after reading it. I didn't expect such a reaction. I thought it would be "oh grotesque! ha ha!"
@@MicahMicahel dark material doesn’t usually bother me, but this particularly story is so gross and I don’t handle bodily mutilation well. The way it’s written, it puts you right in the story, I felt everything; I panicked as the character found himself in that horrible situation. The panic became so intense that I passed out. I was so shocked that a short story had affected me that way…
@@chadvonswan It definitely has an impact... I just don't have the same reaction. I think it might be because I worked in mental health for years and experienced vey disgusting things in real life.
Just seeing this reminds me of Caroline. Read the book, watch the movie, and beat the Wii game. It's the nerdiest thing I've accomplished! That's for your time great videos!
I was looking for a gripping novel to read in October, and you more than delivered in this video. I put 'Blindness' and 'Gone Girl' on my TBR list. I'm starting with a real chunker of a book, ' The Terror' by Dan Simmons. Never heard of any of these books before so, thanks for a great video including trigger warnings. I know what to stay away from!
It's such a cliche, but the Exorcist novel is still a one of the most scary books I ever. read Yes the movie is great, but the book has a way more claustrophobic atmosphere.
It's interesting what disturbs people. Supernatural horror just does nothing for me. Suspension of disbelief is just too high of a bar for horror via magic forces for me.
I like both. The book did have some extra inappropriate parts that it was better to not include in the film. The cross scene was enough. Especially for a little girl.
I couldn't disagree more. I really enjoyed the book, but did not find it scary at all. It was mostly just little girl tied to a bed screaming obscenities which I found more funny than scary.
thank you so much for this video!!! i’m really getting into horror/thrillers/any kind of book like that that keeps me on the edge of my toes. i read blindness in high school and it still is with me.....added so much to my tbr from this list!
Excellent list. I was never able to finish Girl Next Door, because depictions of torture are just nauseating to me with no entertainment value, but Ketchum is such a damn good writer, and his prose is so beautiful, that I made it further into it than I probably would have otherwise.
I made it to the end but first I watched the movie. It must have been an independent production and it was so well done and that made it really hard to watch. I've watched some really disturbing films before and after, the kinds of infamous "Serbian Movie" or "Martyrs", but this one was for me even worse. Mostly the fact how well all that was acted with real teenagers doing unspeakable things on the screen made it so difficult to endure as a viewer. The book is very good, the movie adaptation is excellent, but I don't think I will ever read and watch them again.
I've heard of most of these but the book that stirred me up recently was Tender Is The Flesh. Very strange and disturbing and leaved an impression when your finished. Great video too.
"Last Exit to Brooklyn" by Hubert Selby Jr. would score high in that regard. It's a strong book, not exploitative, but the subject matter is explored in such a harsh, unvarnished way that it tends to freak people out. I can't imagine what folks made of it in 1964. I liked your list because most, if not all, of the books you mentioned have real literary merit. There are plenty of disturbing books that aren't worth knowing about.
I've read all of these, and I have a few recommendations: "Song of Kali" by Dan Simmons, and "By Reason of Insanity" by Shane Stevens. I won't give any spoilers at all, it's best you go into these two books completely blind.
I clicked on this video to see if you mentioned House of Leaves. Hands down for me, it felt like I descended into madness while reading it. I’m curious to read it again, but can’t bring myself to go there twice.
A list of 10 most disturbing books with House of Leaves on your back and not touching it is pretty weird in itself. Besides I was really surprised to see Saramago among them. Glad you liked it. Pretty good list in total.
Sickening, and disturbing. We know it doesn't happen, but I still wished someone (like her sister) would save her. Or at least report what was happening.
The girl next door book is based on a true story, the film which is An American Crime I think is banned, it's just horrible, probably not as graphic as the book, but still, it's so god damn sad. :/
Please read all of McCarthy's work. When you start to see the philosophical thread running through each novel you will realize he's not simply brilliant, he's a genius. The Border Trilogy is phenomenal if you're looking for a place to start after _Blood Meridian_ or if you want to start smaller, but massive on a philosophical scale, _Outer Dark_. Greatest American novelist since Hemingway.
Check out Last Days by Brian Evenson, a detective novel whereby the protagonist investigates a cult that worships dismemberment, leaves you feeling quite unsettled. Also. 'The Unblemished' by Conrad Williams, I thought I was reading a standard serial killer novel, but this one really disturbed me.
Behind you, I think I see one of my favorites novels ever. Read many years ago and not so long ago. Swan Song just stays with me and I recommend it to anyone looking for a longer satisfying story!! Horrible yet instills hope. I remember in the story about the evil opening his mouth and the flies swarm out and away to spy. The girl in the pub, she hasn't had protein in a while and that plump green fly was sustenance and she doesn't realize how heroic she was by eating it because the knowledge was kept from getting back to the evil. That scene blew me away!! It's the little things that help make big things happen!!
Great video dude. If you enjoyed Saramago's "Blindess", you should check out his book "Death with Interruptions". It's about a country where death basically quits its job: people stop dying on new years eve. It then goes on about how that country's society (people, government, the church, insurance companies, the press, etc) dealt with the end of death. It's probably my favourite book by Saramago.
Agree. Blindness is one of my favorites. Could be the edition I read, but the lack of paragraphs should have been addressed by the English language editor.
The first book you mentioned reminded me of “The Laws of the Sky” by Gregoire Courtouis, it’s also pretty graphic and involving kids! “Winnie-the-Pooh meets The Blair Witch Project”, and although it’s disturbing it is also pretty great!
Great video man. I recently read The Collector by John Fowles, and found it very disturbing. It stayed with me for days. It has a bleak and nihilistic vision of humanity. I also remember finding some scenes in the novel It by Stephen King disturbing too.
I am in the MIddle of Reading "It' right now. I am enjoying the book, but it is a little long for me. I don't think I will ever read War and Peace or any Book- or at least any Novel that is over 1000 pages again. My feeling is that the monster is really symbolic of the Terrors and Traumas of Childhood-Bullying, abusive Parents, etc, etc.
I've read a crap-load of horror, grimdark, dystopia, true crime and dark fiction in my time, but rarely find myself really actually disturbed. However Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, (Translated by Sarah Moses) seriously did it for me. Not an easy read - brutal & relentless. Highly recommend!
the wasp factory is one of my favorite books tbh, mostly because of the main character's disturbed and complex way of thinking. i didn't expect it to be a critic about genre... truly amazing.
I was coming here to recommend The Deep as well. I liked The Troop, but I think this one is better. Claustrophobic is the perfect word to describe this book. And the bees. My god. I will never be able to forget the the bees.
Suffer the Children is the debut novel by author John Saul, first published by Dell Publishing in 1977. The novel follows the story of a child abductor, who after murdering a young girl one hundred years earlier, returns and begins taking out more children one by one. 1977, This is The Most Terroristic Book I ever read, I actually had nightmares, in 1977 I was in a State Mental Hospital . So it hit me Double Whammy.
That’s a strong list - I’ve read about half of them (Wasp Factory, Girl Next Door, Gone Girl, American Psycho, The Ruins, The Road (even though you didn’t actually include that one!) and agree with your assessment. By authors you mentioned I’d add Sharp Objects (Flynn), Less Than Zero (Ellis) and A Simple Plan (Smith). Another one you might like is The Painted Bird by Jerzy Konsinski which is really troubling.
Thank you for these recommendations! Recently got back into reading and would like to try something like this, just finished the book the silent patient time to step it up a notch haha. Not sure which one tho, thinking the girl next door or the troop.
If you liked Gone Girl, you should read Gillian Flynn's other novel, Sharp Objects. I couldn't put that book down. It takes so many turns you do not expect and there are so many disturbing moments in the book. I keep going back to that book and finding new details that make my jaw drop. The miniseries was very good too, one of the best book to screen adaptations I have ever seen honestly.
The most disturbing book I have ever read ( and it must be over twenty years ago ) still haunts me . Is Shaun Hutson deadhead . It’s about the London underworld and children who go missing.. Shaun Hudson is a brilliant British writer, but he is not for the faint of heart.
you probably dont care but if you are bored like me atm you can stream pretty much all the new movies and series on instaflixxer. I've been streaming with my gf for the last few days =)
The only really disturbing books are the books based on real events that show the depths of the depravity of human kind. Try The Girl next door. Knowing that what you are reading was real and probably far worse than what even the best writters can describe is what makes them disturbing.
"The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston is not quite in the "evil that men do" category but its description of haemorrhagic fever has stayed with for longer than the events of "the Wasp Factory. "
The last book is based on a girl called Sylvia Likens. I read about it on wikipedia many years ago while reading about "torture murder" cases, I instantly wondered if it was based on it by the way you described the events. Just the wikipedia article on it left me feeling disturbed the whole day after I read it.
@@nl3064 it’s disturbing on the 1st or 2nd ‘level’ of the book. The concept that it’s fake, that everything could be a lie.. but going deeper than that, it’s a story about regret, repression and sad delusions - to me at least
I just discovered your channel. Great reviews! The Girl Next Door is about Sylvia Likens...... I used to be obsessed with finding information about her because I found the horrific things done to her were unbelievable.....
Hey, Jason. I came across this video as I was looking around for some horror books to read over the month of October and I instantly recognized your face. We went to high school, and I believe middle school together back in the places I wont mention here due to privacy. In case you remember me, I'm one of the Brandons. I ended up leaving our high school early, but later saw your band play as we ran in similar circles. Anyway, it's awesome to come across a blast from the past on youtube, I haven't even watched this video yet, but I will be looking through it to find some recommendations. If I were to add to a disturbing conversation, I've been reading Ryu Murakami in the last year or so and that's some dark shit, sometimes he doesn't even have any formal narratives, just a series of increasingly horrific moments in people's lives. Like a slice of life for people who don't mind complete degeneracy.
I just had The Ruins in my hand today and I almost bought it, but the copy was in really bad condition, but that one keeps popping up and I want to check it out. I cheated a little because I've already seen the movie, but I expect that the book will be much better. The movie really wasn't bad from what I remember, but I know that reading it could change my mind on that.
Some of the most disturbing novel(la)s I've read are: The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum The Visible Filth by Nathan Ballingrud Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca The Tent by Kealan Patrick Burke
I have read "The Troop" and although I enjoyed it (I'm a big fan of disease/dystopian type books), it was real hard for me to digest the animal cruelty parts. I think I actually skimmed over those parts lol. I also read "Blindness" and I agree, it was a wonderful book and a must-read. It was heart-wrenching in some sections.
Blindness is really good - I wish I could say the same for the movie which really does not do it justice. The Road is a great adaptation of pure bleakness.
The girl that the girl next-door is based on was called Sylvia likens and she and her younger sister stayed with a woman who is daughters met these two girls randomly one day… Sylvia and her sister… Had two older siblings and two younger siblings or one younger sibling and their parents went around the country as carnival workers and long story short Sylvia and her younger sister end up staying with this woman whose daughter is they are friends with and well it’s bad. The woman hates Sylvia and she gets the gang of neighborhood kids to do things like beat up Sylvia and tell her down on the ground and make her eat gross things and starve her and beat her up and just it escalates to really terrible things that I won’t put here because it’s really bad anyway it happened in Indiana in 1965
I'd definitely have to mention "120 Days of Sodom" by Marquis de Sade...I'm not recommending it because (aside from the disturbing contents) I found it very repetitive and it got boring pretty quickly, at least for me. But, on the other hand, I do recommend "The Necrophiliac" by Gabrielle Wittkop. It's a short read but so so well written.
@@shashatarot9084 Is it a good book though? I’ve been thinking about reading it but after 120 Days of Sodom I’m scared it’ll be boring and repetitive too and I don’t wanna waste my time haha 😬😬
I will vaguely, halfway, sort-of under-the-table-ly recommend A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, just because it is so gut-wrenchingly horrible and disturbingly sad, also because it consists of what can only be considered so much torture porn. It is such a beautiful beautiful book, but it’s tragic, tragic, tragic. And that is what made it so disturbing. How real it was. I finished it over a year ago and I am still broken from it.
I totally agree! When he mentioned the mom making the kid eat rotten food my first thought was a Child Called It whose mom did something similar with a diaper. Sooo heartbreaking!
I just happened to come by your channel. I subscribed. I own a used book store and the subject you discussed here helps me in knowing a little about the books so I can pass on to my customers as to whether they will like it...or they should stay away from a certain title. Thank you!!!
I think One of the most disturbing books I've Read isn't horror either. The worst part is that It's not really fictional either. It's "A boy called 'it'". It's well written but very very very dark and heartbreaking
To each their own. People find different things disturbing for different reasons. Being in my early 20s when I read it with my first child being about 6 months old the idea of taking drugs to purposely deform your kids was pretty disturbing.
The Ruins is one of my all time favorites. The Troop was amazing. I think American Psycho had some of the goriest bits in a novel (i.e. intestines) with surreal settings similar to a Palahniuk novel. If you want real life tragedy/horror, I recommend Alive. Absolutely powerful story & they detail the necessary cannibalism in quite a lot of detail.
I was even impressed with the movie they made of, The Ruin. I would like to read the book.The same goes for, The Road. Robert Bloch did some very disturbing short stories. Whoever wrote The Lighthouse and the rats. scared the crap out of me.Likewise the torture by rat story. Even Arthur C Clark wrote a real skin crawler in his short story anthology. On Mars at night, and not alone. I think it was called, The Dark. Harlen Ellison's early short fiction could be very graphic.
The Mud Ballad!! Circus freaks and voodoo and necromancy and body horror abound! Also a heavy slice of dark dark humor over the whole thing. VERY recommended.
One disturbing book I remember from my literature degree was 'Sheepshagger' by Niall Griffiths, about a troubled young man who ends up murdering two tourists. The first chapter, a flashback to his childhood where he accidentally kills a lamb in gruesome fashion, sets the tone for the rest of the book. Caused a bit of a stir among my coursemates, many of whom wished they'd been told what to expect beforehand!
I read a book recently that was pretty disturbing to me, it's Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica. It about what if humans can longer eat animals and have to resort to other humans for their meat source.
Oh god, you're reminding me of the book 'Earthlings' by Sayaka Murata. I remember reading it and crunching down on an apple, eyes wide with an increasing sense of horror, thinking 'well...THAT got dark really quickly'.
I just finished reading this book as well. I hated it lol. And it also frustrated me because the premise is interesting but I can’t fathom a society that would willingly resort to eating humans in place of meat rather than just go vegetarian ffs? And SPOILER ALERT......... the animal cruelty was unnecessary and disgusting.
@@vegangurly Thanks for this comment. I'm sensing that the author of 'Tender is The Flesh' handled the topic in an intellectually immature and emotionally juvenile way...just poorly integrated. Rich kids with academic backgrounds tackling socio-political topics in literature always inspire narrowing of the eyes on instinct and I publicly admit to this vague form of prejudice on my part. It would be great to be wrong about the author and the novel so I'll check it out myself. After enduring how Despentes finally ended the Vernon Subutex drama I do acknowledge that terrible cobblers comes from all corners of society. 😵
I read Let’s go Play at The Adams when I was in my late teens. Very disturbing book. I found the paperback at a garage sale and bought it but have been too afraid to get into that book again.
I’m glad you mentioned the animal cruelty in the Troop- that was by far the most disturbing part for me. I don’t mind the gore/worms etc. but the psychopathy and animal cruelty was far worse for me!
One book that was pretty disturbing to me, was Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. The movie is even worse, it's a mental torture (both are still pretty good though). To sum it up into keywords: WO I, quadruple amputee, dream & reality, expression through thoughts
Haven't read the book, but i saw the movie adaptation of The Girl Next Door years ago. The movie was hard enough to get through so I can imagine the book would be a seriously disturbing read. The Sylvia Likens case that inspired the book, has haunted me ever since i first heard about it, and I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that so many of the neighbourhood kids willingly aided Gertrude in poor Sylvia's murder. Also I might have to go back & try to read American Psycho all the way through, the movie adaptation is great, but boy is it tame compared to the book from the little I've read of it. The one time I tried reading American Psycho I only got up to the part involving the homeless guy before I had to stop reading as the description of that moment in the book is so much more graphic & upsetting then how the murders are portrayed in the movie that I just couldn't keep reading any further.
Yeah I watched the movie too, and yes the book is more disturbing. American Psycho gets progressively more brutal as it goes on. There are scenes towards the end that are not in the movie (for good reason) that will keep you up at night. It's not for everyone. Thanks for watching.
What’s worse is that some of those people were barely punished and the leader Gertrude got 20 years I think. Sylvia was my friend’s cousin. My friend’s grandmother was the sister of Sylvia’s grandmother 😞
@@jessicafeeney3996 -My heart goes out to your friend, i can't even imagine how they must have felt when they found out what happened to their cousin. And you're right that the people responsible did not get the punishment that they deserved, it makes me feel sick to my stomach that they got off so lightly just because most of them were children at the time when their actions resulted in Sylvia's life being taken from her before she'd even had a chance to live it.
@@kirstyfairly4371 probably one of the worst ones I’ve ever heard of. My friend was born in 76 so he never knew Sylvia since she was murdered in the 60s but still an absolutely awful thing knowing your relative was killed this way. I’ve never been able to watch the movie or read this book or any of non fiction books about her. Torture stuff is hard to hear 😞 I wish none of them had ever gotten out of jail.
"Johnny got his gun," both the movie and the book, which were the internal monologue of a WW 1 soldier who loses his arms, legs, and entire face, thereby losing the ability to see, hear, smell or taste. He was as disabled as a person can be, but his mind was still fully functional. Very disturbing.
Great video and great list! The Troop was great. So was The Ruins (though the movie didn’t do it justice). You’re the second person I’ve heard talk about Cows. I’ve actually never heard of Blindness... I think I’m actually going to pick that up based your recommendation. Thanks!
Any fans of The Girl Next Door should check out Let's Go Play at the Adams'. Published in 1974, it is very similar, but the only adult in it is the victim. The perps are all children. It's pretty unique!
JG Ballard’s Crash and William Burroughs’ Naked Lunch are incredibly disturbing to me. The first being so perverse and hollow that it felt like looking thru the eyes of a depressive sex maniac. It contains descriptions of the most intimate bodily experiences, most of which are foul and inherently unsexy. Fittingly, you get very intimate with the speaker and see how they experience the world and then everything mechanical begins to feel sexual in an alienating and disturbing way. Naked Lunch on the other hand contains some of the most bizarre and horrifying passages I’ve ever had the misfortune to imagine. I can remember it feeling like the literary equivalent of being thrown in a tumble dryer. There is no logic to any of the prose and what you can make sense of is a pure nightmare. Funnily enough both were adapted by David Cronenberg into very interesting films. Crash as a film was far better than the book, a very good film that I can’t say was fun to watch but actually managed to keep that voyeuristic distance which I needed from the book. When you’re contemplating a man’s sexual arousal of bits of brain being splattered across a dashboard, I’d imagine you’d want all the distance you can get. Naked Lunch was more entertaining in a trippy sense, but ultimately, despite the bug-shaped typewriters that have arseholes for mouths, it gets a little boring. Still, both are astonishing films. Another one that disturbed me, when I think about it is Anne Frank’s Diary. To think she came to the conclusion that she didn’t want to be around anyone. That those are the last words in her diary before she walked to her death? Man that’s heavy stuff. Side note: Why We Sleep is a very disturbing non-fiction book
I maintain that the film adaptation of American Psycho was watered down from the source material by about 99%! I covered that in my pilot episode. Please feel free to check it out!
Oh yeah, for sure. Some of the stuff that happened in that book would never make it into a film. I do love the movie though, it captured the spirit even if it didnt have all the really depraved stuff. Thanks.
I just watched this video and I loved it. Some of these books seem really interesting. I recently read the girl next store and yes you did feel like you were participating in the torture of that poor girl. I did feel sort of bad for the main character because he was so young and I think it seemed like he wanted to stop it and tell someone but seemed powerless to do so. Great review and I'll see what else you've got here!
I came here for the title. Got very excited to see the Strike series behind you! I love that series. I've read about half of these books, I think. I loved "The Troop" so was really glad to see that listed. I like "The Ruins" a lot, too. I cant bring myself to read "The Girl Next Door" bc the movie was horrible enough. Im a horror lover but some things just get in my head and I can't let it go. The true story behind this book is one of them. *shudders* I'll now go nosey through your other videos as I believe we've a similar reading tastes!
The most disturbing novel that I read last year was Tender is the Flesh, a novel about state-sanctioned cannibalism after a disease that makes animal meat toxic. It's a short read but packs a punch, I keep thinking about it even though it's been a few months.
The most disturbing book I have ever read was American Psycho, and alongside that, though it wasn't really disturbing, some aspects were some may argue, it was just very detailed, Fifty Shades and Fifty Shades Darker.
The only book that truly disturbed me was Helter Skelter. American Psycho grossed me out but it was more ridiculous than disturbing. But Helter Skelter was about real events and, when I read it the first time, all those involved were still alive. It scared me to the point where I slept with a knife under my pillow---at least on one occasion that I can recall. It goes into deeper details than the made-for-tv movie from the 70's. It also explores the mentality of his followers and how he exploited the hostility and distrust they have towards the established society that didn't understand them. In Charles Manson they found an evil guru and he molded them to be his unfeeling monsters to exact revenge on them. It is genuinely chilling and offers a lot of insight into cults. It gets tedious in the last quarter when they go on trial and then a section on their lives in prison. Anyone interested in true crime stories and the psychology of cults this is a must-read.
The Bible. Plagerism, horrible editing, lousy plot, too much sex and violence, and the ending just over the top sucks. Earlier editions have sections which are now denied. It's right up there with Dianetics for faked numbers sold.
* Me going to search one of the disturbing books *
* Sees the price *
" No thanks that's disturbing enough "
😂😂
😂😂
Lol that's why I go with used book stores, thrift stores, library and sales
Libby, Thriftbooks, Friends of The Library and if all else fails 🏴☠️
Girl Next Door is based on the real life story of Sylvia Likens. Her parents were carnival works who arranged for Sylvia and her sister to stay with a complete stranger, Gertrude Banicheski. The Likens promised to send money to Gertrude, but when some of their payments were either a bit late or not enough, Gertrude took it out on Sylvia and her sister. Over time, Sylvia began to be the main target and was eventually tortured to death.
I Immediately thought of this when he mentioned Girl next door (I saw the movie...didn't care for it) but I saw a documentary about this case....very sad indeed
I came here to see if someone commented this!
I was thinking of reading this until you gave away the ending - but that’s my bad, I should never read the comments thread for these recommendation videos 🤷🏻♀️ 🙂
@@lorie76yt I don't think that knowing the ending of a real life tragedy is a spoiler. Because real life tragedies are not entertainment. Also, there are a couple of very similar cases where mothers torture and kill one of their children by manipulating their other kids into actually doing the torturing and killing. The book seems to be inspired by this cases bc there are many discrepancies between the review and what I have heard from the three different cases that I know of.
Definitely a disturbing book
Glad you mentioned "The Girl next door". Easily the most disturbing book I've ever read. I've read this about 12 years ago and it is still burned into my memory. It's an experience that stays with you for sure.
"Penpal" by Dathan Auerbach is probably the scariest and most troubling book I've ever read. I was already middle-aged when I read it, but it made me afraid to go into my basement at night. It took me a long time to recover from that book.
Scary how badly it's written and how farcical the ending is, sure.
@@frenchbaguetteoui I didn't like the ending.
Are you the author?
@@kryzs_kornhell No, I'm not.
I wouldn’t say it was that scary, but it was definitely good. I’ve listened to people narrate the whole story at least 4 times. I think he’s particularly good at making you feel nostalgic for a past you never experienced. If that makes sense.
0:48 the troop by nick cutter
2:19 the wasp factory by iain banks
3:30 gone girl
4:50 cows by matthew stokoe
6:34 blindness by saramago
(sounds to me like bird box)
8:10 pretty girls by karin slaughter
10:01 the ruins by scott smith
11:33 blood meridian by cormac mccarthy
12:55 american psycho
14:40 the girl next door
Nothing about his description of blindness sounds like bird box. Blindness came out more than ten years before bird box. Blindness is amazing, bird box is amazingly stupid.
"Revival" by Stephen King is one that I found disturbing. The ending is very unsettling. It's a slow burn, but it's worth it.
Spiders.. oof..
How do you think you would handle that in real life?
Also my grandma hasn’t read any king Since 03 and I let her borrow that book. She liked it very much.
I always see people say Stephen King novels are disturbing but I find him mostly a friendly writer at his core. I never find him disturbing.
@@MicahMicahel you should try Pet Sematary
@@ashenone921 I had Pet Cemetery and our dog completely ate it when he was a puppy. That's not ironic at all but it's something. I will buy it when I see it at a t thrift store or used book store, but that one is surprisingly hard to find. I bet it won't be scary but will be sad instead. That's ,my guess. Thrilling though! I love King! I love horror movies too but they don't scare me. I think once you read enough of the news and see enough dark things in real life it makes fictional stories interesting rather than disturbing. CHina's harvesting human organs in a concentration camp populated by Muslims because their organs are halaal. Did you see Fauci's animal experiments and this guy is the leader of humanity now? So much darkness in the world that stephen King is kind of reassuring almost.
I'm reading Salem's Lot right now. A page turner so far.
One of the big differences between the Shining movie and the book is that in sth book you get to know Jack more and it becomes a warmer story. Kubrick made it a scary movie but tasing the war hearted stuff out. King has Capra level sentimental moments in the shining /dr. sleep story. I love his books but they aren't disturbing.
People always say he's twisted but read someone like Clive Barker and he's trying to disturb at least. Kind is smart and writes for what the audience wants, (he says).
Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle is more disturbing than any Stephen King novel.
Highly recommend Natsuo Kirino’s “Out” and her other book “Grotesque”. Also recommend Kanae Minato’s Confessions and “Penance”!! Women writing dark stuff makes my heart swoon
"Out" was great, I second that rec.
I was sucked in by Out but the last act was a bit of a letdown, wasn’t able to match the energy of the buildup. This was the second japanese author I read after Ryu Murakami (In the Miso Soup)
@@joonotfins Did you think Miso Soup was worth the read? I've heard mixed reviews
@@joonotfins I won’t disagree about the ending, just really enjoyed the writing! In the Miso Soup has been on my tbr for awhile… maybe I’ll bump it up
@@whateverworksmate.721 This was 5 years ago so I don’t remember much except it describes so many profanities with the japanese equivalent. I don’t really follow this genre though, I prefer the other murakami.
Thanks for the recommendations. Toni Morrison’s Beloved was so disturbing that I had to sometimes put it down to settle my emotions before continuing to read, but so powerfully good in the best way too.
YES!! Toni Morrison gets GRIM. Bluest Eye was the horrorshow for me. Every chapter is another real world nightmare.
ok so glad someone mentioned Beloved here. One of the most depressing books I've read. The story is told in such a non linear, unspecific way, that you put the pieces of the puzzle together yourself. And when you finally get the full picture- it's absolutely heartbreaking.
Yes! I found it incredibly disturbing & even though I read it 20yrs ago I still remember doing the thing that you did. Having to put it down to collect my thoughts & emotions.
It’s a truly wonderful book but extremely heartbreaking & not an easy read.
I agree, I thought Gone Girl was a waste of time, I hated the gone girl by the end
The most disturbing two books in the whole of English Literature are ‘Jude the Obscure’ by Thomas Hardy and ‘A Fine Balance’ by Rohinton Mistry. I was disturbed and depressed for a week after reading each of them. Masterful works, but be warned!
Books of blood by Clive Barker is very disturbing too, but I love most of the stories. The balance between disturbing and good writing is very important.
My all time favorite series !!! Wish I knew more ppl in real life to vibe and chat about it 🥺😇
@@jameskim9103 it's a piece of art. I wish I could visit Barker's brain. I can picture in my mind many scenes from this series until this days, a wonderful job with the descriptions
@@ravpicc Exaclty !! He’s so vividly and brutally honest with his descriptions and how he portrays human thought …the stories still till this day practically feel like vivid memories to me 😯
@@jameskim9103 I'll try to read more Barker this year. I really miss his style when I'm reading horror
Barker is a genius. His language is so beautiful and metaphoric but at the same there are happening so many brutal things. His imagination seems infinite. It's so long ago that I read him though, gotta reread his stuff 😅 Wish he would finish the Books of Art soon😬
You should read Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica! Really chilling while reading, has some good twists and turns, and it’s definitely one that will leave you thinking about it for a long time. I read it almost a year ago and I still reflect on it.
Thought it sucked. There was no real point to it and the ending is insufficient and unsatisfying
@thedumbdog1964 I know I'm a year late but it absolutely had a point to it that you missed. It spoke volumes about how we view life as a society. I read it three years ago and still think about it. The book was profound, whether you see that or not.
Blood Meridian, Wasp Factory, and American Psycho - also House of Leaves (I notice it on your shelf there) - are some of my favorite books. Most things don't bother me, but I did recently read Ian Reid's I'm Thinking of Ending Things, which (apart from being super depressing) did creep me out and unsettle me in certain parts. Also Guts by Palahniuk made my insides clench up as well.
I was trying to remember wasp factory. I'm remembering why it was good to forget.rough stuff. I remember something of author..died of cancer?
@@johnscott6481 yup, Iain Banks died of cancer in 2013.
Blood Meridian is so unrelenting. House of Leaves is so good and disturbing in ways that aren't as obvious I think. Also--the movie adaptation of I'm Thinking of Ending Things was really odd but very good.
@@TheBrokenCradle House of Leaves had me pretty disturbed in the beginning, but I honestly got tangled up in the mysteries, the code-breaking etc, so it became more of a sad story than a horror story at the end
@@regolithia definitely agree!
Great list! I would definitely recommend Tender Is The Flesh, the completely gross feeling you get because of how things are so matter of factly described is uncomfortable. Also, The House on Abigail Lane by Kealan Patrick Burke, or even Sour Candy or Jack and Jill. All of those by him are short stories that I felt were unsettling for one reason or another. Particularly The House on Abigail Lane, I think it’s because I could so completely visualize what was being described, and that was just freaky.
You're like the 10th person to recommend tender is the flesh. I gotta get to that one asap. I have Kin by Kealan Patrick Burke but I haven't read it yet. Thanks for the recommendations.
You forgot "Haunted" by Chuck Palahniuk. The story "Guts" is so stomach turning that I couldnt finish the book. And yes, every book by Karin Slaughter is rather gory.
Read that story recently. Made it to the last page and then passed out in bed before I could finish it. Woke up a couple seconds later and my body was convulsing..
@@chadvonswan that's really interesting. I don't really get disturbed by books. When I read it I thought it was a little bit funny because it was so grotesque of a thought and sent the story to some people. one person told me she cried after reading it. I didn't expect such a reaction. I thought it would be "oh grotesque! ha ha!"
@@MicahMicahel dark material doesn’t usually bother me, but this particularly story is so gross and I don’t handle bodily mutilation well. The way it’s written, it puts you right in the story, I felt everything; I panicked as the character found himself in that horrible situation. The panic became so intense that I passed out. I was so shocked that a short story had affected me that way…
@@chadvonswan It definitely has an impact... I just don't have the same reaction. I think it might be because I worked in mental health for years and experienced vey disgusting things in real life.
Im confused too when he did not include "Haunted"
Blood Meridian is an American classic. It is sheer poetry, in a style that some tried to emulate but none succeeded.
Gone Girl the book and movie were SO GOOD. It definitely sticks with you for a long, long time.
Great surprise finding you here, man!. ✌️
Just seeing this reminds me of Caroline. Read the book, watch the movie, and beat the Wii game. It's the nerdiest thing I've accomplished! That's for your time great videos!
Hhhh why u r here bro?
Never seen the movie. The book was a lot better than I thought it would be.
The goat ♥️🐐
I was looking for a gripping novel to read in October, and you more than delivered in this video. I put 'Blindness' and 'Gone Girl' on my TBR list. I'm starting with a real chunker of a book, ' The Terror' by Dan Simmons. Never heard of any of these books before so, thanks for a great video including trigger warnings. I know what to stay away from!
It's such a cliche, but the Exorcist novel is still a one of the most scary books I ever. read Yes the movie is great, but the book has a way more claustrophobic atmosphere.
Agreed!
Agreed! I listened to the audio book on UA-cam and it was excellent
It's interesting what disturbs people. Supernatural horror just does nothing for me. Suspension of disbelief is just too high of a bar for horror via magic forces for me.
I like both. The book did have some extra inappropriate parts that it was better to not include in the film. The cross scene was enough. Especially for a little girl.
I couldn't disagree more. I really enjoyed the book, but did not find it scary at all. It was mostly just little girl tied to a bed screaming obscenities which I found more funny than scary.
thank you so much for this video!!! i’m really getting into horror/thrillers/any kind of book like that that keeps me on the edge of my toes. i read blindness in high school and it still is with me.....added so much to my tbr from this list!
Excellent list. I was never able to finish Girl Next Door, because depictions of torture are just nauseating to me with no entertainment value, but Ketchum is such a damn good writer, and his prose is so beautiful, that I made it further into it than I probably would have otherwise.
I made it to the end but first I watched the movie. It must have been an independent production and it was so well done and that made it really hard to watch. I've watched some really disturbing films before and after, the kinds of infamous "Serbian Movie" or "Martyrs", but this one was for me even worse. Mostly the fact how well all that was acted with real teenagers doing unspeakable things on the screen made it so difficult to endure as a viewer.
The book is very good, the movie adaptation is excellent, but I don't think I will ever read and watch them again.
That was hands down the most disturbing book I've read yet. Sad it's a true story too!!
@@emilyaitch8143 I totally agree.
I've heard of most of these but the book that stirred me up recently was Tender Is The Flesh. Very strange and disturbing and leaved an impression when your finished. Great video too.
Yeah i've heard that book is pretty good. Thanks for the recommendation.
"Last Exit to Brooklyn" by Hubert Selby Jr. would score high in that regard. It's a strong book, not exploitative, but the subject matter is explored in such a harsh, unvarnished way that it tends to freak people out. I can't imagine what folks made of it in 1964. I liked your list because most, if not all, of the books you mentioned have real literary merit. There are plenty of disturbing books that aren't worth knowing about.
I read half of last exit and had to start…it’s still one of the most memorable book I’ve ever read as the grotesque nature just sticks with you
Brahhh I read that shit in middle school early high school and I still think about it ..nothing is more depressing than the harsh truths of reality
try the room by selby its much worse that exit
The movie did no justice for that book ,I had to take a longer shower after that book followed by sitting in the corner hugging my knees weaping
His "requiem for a dream" is pretty strong too…
Considering your review of Cow, I’d love to hear your take on Tender Is The Flesh
Blindness was really one of those books that stay with you. Very disturbing, and very thought provoking.
I've read all of these, and I have a few recommendations: "Song of Kali" by Dan Simmons, and "By Reason of Insanity" by Shane Stevens. I won't give any spoilers at all, it's best you go into these two books completely blind.
I clicked on this video to see if you mentioned House of Leaves. Hands down for me, it felt like I descended into madness while reading it.
I’m curious to read it again, but can’t bring myself to go there twice.
It’s worth it, even better the second time around!
A list of 10 most disturbing books with House of Leaves on your back and not touching it is pretty weird in itself. Besides I was really surprised to see Saramago among them. Glad you liked it. Pretty good list in total.
For those wanting to know, The Girl Next Door is a true story of the murder of Sylvia Likens. Truly horrifying
Sickening, and disturbing. We know it doesn't happen, but I still wished someone (like her sister) would save her. Or at least report what was happening.
You gotta check out Democracy Jones: 7/13, unhinged and off the rails, but so smart
"The Exorcist" by William Peter Blatty scared me half to death in my honest opinion.
A classic.
Have you read "The Entity" by Frank De Felitta?
@@dmreddragon6 Not yet, but I will eventually
The girl next door book is based on a true story, the film which is An American Crime I think is banned, it's just horrible, probably not as graphic as the book, but still, it's so god damn sad. :/
So glad to see Blood Meridian on here. Best book I've ever read, only one to ever give me nightmares.
Please read all of McCarthy's work. When you start to see the philosophical thread running through each novel you will realize he's not simply brilliant, he's a genius. The Border Trilogy is phenomenal if you're looking for a place to start after _Blood Meridian_ or if you want to start smaller, but massive on a philosophical scale, _Outer Dark_. Greatest American novelist since Hemingway.
Check out Last Days by Brian Evenson, a detective novel whereby the protagonist investigates a cult that worships dismemberment, leaves you feeling quite unsettled. Also. 'The Unblemished' by Conrad Williams, I thought I was reading a standard serial killer novel, but this one really disturbed me.
Behind you, I think I see one of my favorites novels ever. Read many years ago and not so long ago. Swan Song just stays with me and I recommend it to anyone looking for a longer satisfying story!! Horrible yet instills hope. I remember in the story about the evil opening his mouth and the flies swarm out and away to spy. The girl in the pub, she hasn't had protein in a while and that plump green fly was sustenance and she doesn't realize how heroic she was by eating it because the knowledge was kept from getting back to the evil. That scene blew me away!! It's the little things that help make big things happen!!
I love that book. Its been a while now since i've read it, but i still think about it.
@Theresa R. yes, they are!! I loved them all!!
I can't read about any animal abuse. Seriously, I can read terrible things but someone's cat goes missing and I'm a wreck for days.
Thanks mate, I'll be definitely checking these books out.
Great video dude. If you enjoyed Saramago's "Blindess", you should check out his book "Death with Interruptions". It's about a country where death basically quits its job: people stop dying on new years eve. It then goes on about how that country's society (people, government, the church, insurance companies, the press, etc) dealt with the end of death. It's probably my favourite book by Saramago.
Dang dude, that sounds awesome. I will have to check it out. Thanks.
Blindness is an amazing book, a true masterpiece! Glad someone form US mentioned it, first time I see it getting mentioned!
written by a Nobel Prize winner :D
Agree. Blindness is one of my favorites. Could be the edition I read, but the lack of paragraphs should have been addressed by the English language editor.
José Saramago, proud to be portuguese
🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹
Blindness is awesome, read it for a college class and always pick up Saramago books when I see them now.
@@rkrawec1 That's Saramago writing style. I'm sure they kept it so not to deviate from the original.
Glad you gave the road an honorable mention. That book haunts me.
1984. It took me two readings years apart to get through it.
Yeah, not gory or your typical horror...but I'm never reading that book again. It took a piece of my soul.
Now we are living in it.
Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby Jr. Darren Aronofsky's film adaptation is excellent too but no substitute for the novel imo.
The first book you mentioned reminded me of “The Laws of the Sky” by Gregoire Courtouis, it’s also pretty graphic and involving kids! “Winnie-the-Pooh meets The Blair Witch Project”, and although it’s disturbing it is also pretty great!
Great video man. I recently read The Collector by John Fowles, and found it very disturbing. It stayed with me for days. It has a bleak and nihilistic vision of humanity. I also remember finding some scenes in the novel It by Stephen King disturbing too.
Love The Collector. The movie is excellent too.
I am in the MIddle of Reading "It' right now. I am enjoying the book, but it is a little long for me. I don't think I will ever read War and Peace or any Book- or at least any Novel that is over 1000 pages again. My feeling is that the monster is really symbolic of the Terrors and Traumas of Childhood-Bullying, abusive Parents, etc, etc.
I honestly think the scariest character out of that book is Patrick Hockstetter
I've read a crap-load of horror, grimdark, dystopia, true crime and dark fiction in my time, but rarely find myself really actually disturbed. However Tender Is the Flesh
by Agustina Bazterrica, (Translated by Sarah Moses) seriously did it for me. Not an easy read - brutal & relentless. Highly recommend!
I agree this book will stay with me forever
the wasp factory is one of my favorite books tbh, mostly because of the main character's disturbed and complex way of thinking. i didn't expect it to be a critic about genre... truly amazing.
Nick Cutter’s “The Deep” really got to me too. I didn’t know a book could be claustrophobic...
I was coming here to recommend The Deep as well. I liked The Troop, but I think this one is better. Claustrophobic is the perfect word to describe this book. And the bees. My god. I will never be able to forget the the bees.
It's on the list. I hopefully will get to it by the end of the year but we will see. The list is long.
Suffer the Children is the debut novel by author John Saul, first published by Dell Publishing in 1977. The novel follows the story of a child abductor, who after murdering a young girl one hundred years earlier, returns and begins taking out more children one by one. 1977, This is The Most Terroristic Book I ever read, I actually had nightmares, in 1977 I was in a State Mental Hospital . So it hit me Double Whammy.
Highly impressive. You know what to deliver unlike other "booktubers". Thanks!
Yes, another great channel is 'Better Than Food'.
@@ciganyweaverandherperiwink6293 Thanks for the suggestion.
That’s a strong list - I’ve read about half of them (Wasp Factory, Girl Next Door, Gone Girl, American Psycho, The Ruins, The Road (even though you didn’t actually include that one!) and agree with your assessment. By authors you mentioned I’d add Sharp Objects (Flynn), Less Than Zero (Ellis) and A Simple Plan (Smith). Another one you might like is The Painted Bird by Jerzy Konsinski which is really troubling.
What do you think of cows?
@@anthonydutrow786 I’ve not read that one but I am tempted to give it a try after your description of it
i was hoping you'd say the girl next door. i read it a few years ago, and it definitely stayed with me. great list!
By Jack Ketchum?
I read 1 book by Clive Barker and it creeped me out so bad, I have never read another book by him. I don't need nightmares. No thank you.
I loved that Robert Galbraith's Cormoren Strike novels collection of yours 🧡
Thank you for these recommendations! Recently got back into reading and would like to try something like this, just finished the book the silent patient time to step it up a notch haha. Not sure which one tho, thinking the girl next door or the troop.
The most disturbing book I read to date wasn't horror, it was postmodernism: Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.
If you liked Gone Girl, you should read Gillian Flynn's other novel, Sharp Objects. I couldn't put that book down. It takes so many turns you do not expect and there are so many disturbing moments in the book. I keep going back to that book and finding new details that make my jaw drop. The miniseries was very good too, one of the best book to screen adaptations I have ever seen honestly.
It’s on his shelf 👍🏻
One of my fave authors, dark places was absolutely brilliant too
The most disturbing book I have ever read ( and it must be over twenty years ago ) still haunts me . Is Shaun Hutson deadhead . It’s about the London underworld and children who go missing.. Shaun Hudson is a brilliant British writer, but he is not for the faint of heart.
you probably dont care but if you are bored like me atm you can stream pretty much all the new movies and series on instaflixxer. I've been streaming with my gf for the last few days =)
@Kingston Roland Yea, been watching on instaflixxer for since november myself =)
Lol you call that disturbing?... Enhance yourself woman!
The only really disturbing books are the books based on real events that show the depths of the depravity of human kind. Try The Girl next door. Knowing that what you are reading was real and probably far worse than what even the best writters can describe is what makes them disturbing.
"The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston is not quite in the "evil that men do" category but its description of haemorrhagic fever has stayed with for longer than the events of "the Wasp Factory. "
The last book is based on a girl called Sylvia Likens. I read about it on wikipedia many years ago while reading about "torture murder" cases, I instantly wondered if it was based on it by the way you described the events. Just the wikipedia article on it left me feeling disturbed the whole day after I read it.
Saw House of Leaves sitting right behind you and wondered if it would make it on the list.
How is House of Leaves disturbing?
@@nl3064 it’s disturbing on the 1st or 2nd ‘level’ of the book. The concept that it’s fake, that everything could be a lie.. but going deeper than that, it’s a story about regret, repression and sad delusions - to me at least
@@regolithia Ok. Still don't get how that makes it 'disturbing'. Guess people have different things that bother them.
I just discovered your channel. Great reviews! The Girl Next Door is about Sylvia Likens...... I used to be obsessed with finding information about her because I found the horrific things done to her were unbelievable.....
Hey, Jason. I came across this video as I was looking around for some horror books to read over the month of October and I instantly recognized your face. We went to high school, and I believe middle school together back in the places I wont mention here due to privacy. In case you remember me, I'm one of the Brandons. I ended up leaving our high school early, but later saw your band play as we ran in similar circles. Anyway, it's awesome to come across a blast from the past on youtube, I haven't even watched this video yet, but I will be looking through it to find some recommendations. If I were to add to a disturbing conversation, I've been reading Ryu Murakami in the last year or so and that's some dark shit, sometimes he doesn't even have any formal narratives, just a series of increasingly horrific moments in people's lives. Like a slice of life for people who don't mind complete degeneracy.
I just had The Ruins in my hand today and I almost bought it, but the copy was in really bad condition, but that one keeps popping up and I want to check it out. I cheated a little because I've already seen the movie, but I expect that the book will be much better. The movie really wasn't bad from what I remember, but I know that reading it could change my mind on that.
I’m the other Brandon!!!
Let's go Brandon!
@@oldsoul8429 - lol exceptional timing
@@oldsoul8429 k, where we going?
Some of the most disturbing novel(la)s I've read are:
The Girl Next Door
by Jack Ketchum
The Visible Filth
by Nathan Ballingrud
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
by Eric LaRocca
The Tent
by Kealan Patrick Burke
I have read "The Troop" and although I enjoyed it (I'm a big fan of disease/dystopian type books), it was real hard for me to digest the animal cruelty parts. I think I actually skimmed over those parts lol. I also read "Blindness" and I agree, it was a wonderful book and a must-read. It was heart-wrenching in some sections.
Couldn’t make it through the troop. The 4pages of kitten torture was too much for me.
Hey can you recommend good dystopian and/or disease type books? Thank you!
Yeah, same! Weirdly the scene with the chimp was worse than the ones with the people!!! 🤷♀️
Blindness is really good - I wish I could say the same for the movie which really does not do it justice. The Road is a great adaptation of pure bleakness.
Lol you wimp. It's fiction.
The girl that the girl next-door is based on was called Sylvia likens and she and her younger sister stayed with a woman who is daughters met these two girls randomly one day… Sylvia and her sister… Had two older siblings and two younger siblings or one younger sibling and their parents went around the country as carnival workers and long story short Sylvia and her younger sister end up staying with this woman whose daughter is they are friends with and well it’s bad. The woman hates Sylvia and she gets the gang of neighborhood kids to do things like beat up Sylvia and tell her down on the ground and make her eat gross things and starve her and beat her up and just it escalates to really terrible things that I won’t put here because it’s really bad anyway it happened in Indiana in 1965
I'd definitely have to mention "120 Days of Sodom" by Marquis de Sade...I'm not recommending it because (aside from the disturbing contents) I found it very repetitive and it got boring pretty quickly, at least for me. But, on the other hand, I do recommend "The Necrophiliac" by Gabrielle Wittkop. It's a short read but so so well written.
Yes I thought Justine was a far more disturbing story 🙂
@@shashatarot9084 Is it a good book though? I’ve been thinking about reading it but after 120 Days of Sodom I’m scared it’ll be boring and repetitive too and I don’t wanna waste my time haha 😬😬
I will vaguely, halfway, sort-of under-the-table-ly recommend A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, just because it is so gut-wrenchingly horrible and disturbingly sad, also because it consists of what can only be considered so much torture porn. It is such a beautiful beautiful book, but it’s tragic, tragic, tragic. And that is what made it so disturbing. How real it was. I finished it over a year ago and I am still broken from it.
One of the most disturbing and emotional books I have read is an autobiography by Dave Pelzer called " A Child Called It" - Truly unforgettable :(
I totally agree! When he mentioned the mom making the kid eat rotten food my first thought was a Child Called It whose mom did something similar with a diaper. Sooo heartbreaking!
I may be wrong but didn't most of this true story turn out to be fabricated ?.
@@Nellywetlegs not that I am aware. Dave Peltzer still gives talks about it i believe.
@@gavvo-7640 Thank you, I wasn't sure.
@@Nellywetlegs maybe you are thinking about Sybil. That one did end up being mostly false.
I just happened to come by your channel. I subscribed. I own a used book store and the subject you discussed here helps me in knowing a little about the books so I can pass on to my customers as to whether they will like it...or they should stay away from a certain title. Thank you!!!
I think One of the most disturbing books I've Read isn't horror either. The worst part is that It's not really fictional either. It's "A boy called 'it'". It's well written but very very very dark and heartbreaking
I read "A Boy Called It" in about a day of two. Its really good, though there is controversy regarding how true his account his.
If you walk into someone’s home and they have any of these on their shelf, run
Have you tried "The Pilo Family Circus" or "Geek Love"? Both very disturbing for different reasons even though they both center around a circus.
I didn't find Geek Love very disturbing at all, it was nearly impossible to take seriously imo
To each their own. People find different things disturbing for different reasons. Being in my early 20s when I read it with my first child being about 6 months old the idea of taking drugs to purposely deform your kids was pretty disturbing.
I loved Geek Love
Geek Love felt so ‘gross’ in a good way
So glad to see The Ruins on this list. One of my faves. The Troop is on my TBR for this month, interested to see how I'll digest it.
I love the ruins. his other book, A Simple Plan, is also excellent. Is scott smith ever going to write another book?
@@JeBoardCrabshorts doesn't seem so, sadly!
The Girl Next Door will stay with me forever.
Meg Loughlin is based off of the torture slaying of Sylvia Likens. She was 16.
Yeah it's brutal. Thanks for watching.
Reminds me also of the Junko Furuta case.
The Ruins is one of my all time favorites. The Troop was amazing. I think American Psycho had some of the goriest bits in a novel (i.e. intestines) with surreal settings similar to a Palahniuk novel.
If you want real life tragedy/horror, I recommend Alive. Absolutely powerful story & they detail the necessary cannibalism in quite a lot of detail.
I was even impressed with the movie they made of, The Ruin. I would like to read the book.The same goes for, The Road. Robert Bloch did some very disturbing short stories. Whoever wrote The Lighthouse and the rats. scared the crap out of me.Likewise the torture by rat story. Even Arthur C Clark wrote a real skin crawler in his short story anthology. On Mars at night, and not alone. I think it was called, The Dark. Harlen Ellison's early short fiction could be very graphic.
Great list, I’d add ‘Let’s go play at the Adams’. I read that 40 odd years ago and it still with me.
Girl Next Door!! Pinnacle of horror! Mostly because it's a real story. Good list, my TBR grows ever longer
Agreed. The TBR must grow.
I have checked "The Troop" out from the library several times...and never read it. I just can't handle the animal cruelty. I chicken out every time.
"Let's Go Play at the Adams" by Mendal Johnson is decades old now but still a punch to the stomach.
Wasn't that loosely based on the Sylvia Likens case?
@@kevincarlson4562 Probably an inspiration, has a couple of similarities but tells a different story.
Both based on the Likens case
@@fangirlalie2950 Thanks,kinda figured so.That case fucked with my head more than anything.And I'm an (early) middle aged guy-hardly a teenaged girl.
@@kevincarlson4562 yessss and what makes it worse is none of them got much time for it😔
The Mud Ballad!! Circus freaks and voodoo and necromancy and body horror abound! Also a heavy slice of dark dark humor over the whole thing. VERY recommended.
Blood Meridian by Cormac Mccarthy was incredibly unsettling. Also Outer Dark is another deeply disturbing book by him.
Love McCarthy but yes Outer Dark was disturbing
Child of God is pretty creepy.
Blood Meridian is a modern masterpiece of Literature.
The film based on The girl next door was one of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen.
The last messed up Book i read was "Tender is the flesh".
And boy.. it stayed in my mind.... for all the bad reasons
I couldn’t stop thinking about this for months. Good read if you’re looking to be uncomfortable.
One disturbing book I remember from my literature degree was 'Sheepshagger' by Niall Griffiths, about a troubled young man who ends up murdering two tourists. The first chapter, a flashback to his childhood where he accidentally kills a lamb in gruesome fashion, sets the tone for the rest of the book. Caused a bit of a stir among my coursemates, many of whom wished they'd been told what to expect beforehand!
I read a book recently that was pretty disturbing to me, it's Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica. It about what if humans can longer eat animals and have to resort to other humans for their meat source.
Oh god, you're reminding me of the book 'Earthlings' by Sayaka Murata. I remember reading it and crunching down on an apple, eyes wide with an increasing sense of horror, thinking 'well...THAT got dark really quickly'.
I just finished reading this book as well. I hated it lol. And it also frustrated me because the premise is interesting but I can’t fathom a society that would willingly resort to eating humans in place of meat rather than just go vegetarian ffs? And SPOILER ALERT......... the animal cruelty was unnecessary and disgusting.
@@vegangurly Thanks for this comment. I'm sensing that the author of 'Tender is The Flesh' handled the topic in an intellectually immature and emotionally juvenile way...just poorly integrated. Rich kids with academic backgrounds tackling socio-political topics in literature always inspire narrowing of the eyes on instinct and I publicly admit to this vague form of prejudice on my part. It would be great to be wrong about the author and the novel so I'll check it out myself. After enduring how Despentes finally ended the Vernon Subutex drama I do acknowledge that terrible cobblers comes from all corners of society. 😵
Had an insane ending!
I read Let’s go Play at The Adams when I was in my late teens. Very disturbing book. I found the paperback at a garage sale and bought it but have been too afraid to get into that book again.
I’m glad you mentioned the animal cruelty in the Troop- that was by far the most disturbing part for me. I don’t mind the gore/worms etc. but the psychopathy and animal cruelty was far worse for me!
Yep, I guess it's off my list…
I wouldn't call it cruel. They were trying to find food and they didn't know how to kill an animal. It wasn't a very long or gory scene.
@@mikepratt6481 the parts with shelly though...
@@mikepratt6481 no I vaguely recall a flashback to an animal torture scene? When they’re not on the island.
@@aed2069 that I don't recall. It's been a few months since I read the book. The only scene I remember is the food scene (trying to avoid spoilers! 😉)
One book that was pretty disturbing to me, was Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. The movie is even worse, it's a mental torture (both are still pretty good though). To sum it up into keywords: WO I, quadruple amputee, dream & reality, expression through thoughts
Haven't read the book, but i saw the movie adaptation of The Girl Next Door years ago. The movie was hard enough to get through so I can imagine the book would be a seriously disturbing read. The Sylvia Likens case that inspired the book, has haunted me ever since i first heard about it, and I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that so many of the neighbourhood kids willingly aided Gertrude in poor Sylvia's murder. Also I might have to go back & try to read American Psycho all the way through, the movie adaptation is great, but boy is it tame compared to the book from the little I've read of it. The one time I tried reading American Psycho I only got up to the part involving the homeless guy before I had to stop reading as the description of that moment in the book is so much more graphic & upsetting then how the murders are portrayed in the movie that I just couldn't keep reading any further.
Yeah I watched the movie too, and yes the book is more disturbing. American Psycho gets progressively more brutal as it goes on. There are scenes towards the end that are not in the movie (for good reason) that will keep you up at night. It's not for everyone. Thanks for watching.
What’s worse is that some of those people were barely punished and the leader Gertrude got 20 years I think. Sylvia was my friend’s cousin. My friend’s grandmother was the sister of Sylvia’s grandmother 😞
@@jessicafeeney3996 -My heart goes out to your friend, i can't even imagine how they must have felt when they found out what happened to their cousin. And you're right that the people responsible did not get the punishment that they deserved, it makes me feel sick to my stomach that they got off so lightly just because most of them were children at the time when their actions resulted in Sylvia's life being taken from her before she'd even had a chance to live it.
@@kirstyfairly4371 probably one of the worst ones I’ve ever heard of. My friend was born in 76 so he never knew Sylvia since she was murdered in the 60s but still an absolutely awful thing knowing your relative was killed this way. I’ve never been able to watch the movie or read this book or any of non fiction books about her. Torture stuff is hard to hear 😞 I wish none of them had ever gotten out of jail.
"Johnny got his gun," both the movie and the book, which were the internal monologue of a WW 1 soldier who loses his arms, legs, and entire face, thereby losing the ability to see, hear, smell or taste. He was as disabled as a person can be, but his mind was still fully functional. Very disturbing.
Great video and great list! The Troop was great. So was The Ruins (though the movie didn’t do it justice). You’re the second person I’ve heard talk about Cows. I’ve actually never heard of Blindness... I think I’m actually going to pick that up based your recommendation. Thanks!
Blindness is incredible. Enjoy.
I hadn't heard of blindness before either but it seems interesting so I might check this one out.
Any fans of The Girl Next Door should check out Let's Go Play at the Adams'. Published in 1974, it is very similar, but the only adult in it is the victim. The perps are all children. It's pretty unique!
JG Ballard’s Crash and William Burroughs’ Naked Lunch are incredibly disturbing to me. The first being so perverse and hollow that it felt like looking thru the eyes of a depressive sex maniac. It contains descriptions of the most intimate bodily experiences, most of which are foul and inherently unsexy. Fittingly, you get very intimate with the speaker and see how they experience the world and then everything mechanical begins to feel sexual in an alienating and disturbing way.
Naked Lunch on the other hand contains some of the most bizarre and horrifying passages I’ve ever had the misfortune to imagine. I can remember it feeling like the literary equivalent of being thrown in a tumble dryer. There is no logic to any of the prose and what you can make sense of is a pure nightmare.
Funnily enough both were adapted by David Cronenberg into very interesting films. Crash as a film was far better than the book, a very good film that I can’t say was fun to watch but actually managed to keep that voyeuristic distance which I needed from the book. When you’re contemplating a man’s sexual arousal of bits of brain being splattered across a dashboard, I’d imagine you’d want all the distance you can get. Naked Lunch was more entertaining in a trippy sense, but ultimately, despite the bug-shaped typewriters that have arseholes for mouths, it gets a little boring. Still, both are astonishing films.
Another one that disturbed me, when I think about it is Anne Frank’s Diary. To think she came to the conclusion that she didn’t want to be around anyone. That those are the last words in her diary before she walked to her death? Man that’s heavy stuff.
Side note: Why We Sleep is a very disturbing non-fiction book
I maintain that the film adaptation of American Psycho was watered down from the source material by about 99%! I covered that in my pilot episode. Please feel free to check it out!
It definitely is however I love the movie and the book!
Oh yeah, for sure. Some of the stuff that happened in that book would never make it into a film. I do love the movie though, it captured the spirit even if it didnt have all the really depraved stuff. Thanks.
I just watched this video and I loved it. Some of these books seem really interesting. I recently read the girl next store and yes you did feel like you were participating in the torture of that poor girl. I did feel sort of bad for the main character because he was so young and I think it seemed like he wanted to stop it and tell someone but seemed powerless to do so. Great review and I'll see what else you've got here!
This is based on the true story of Sylvia Likens
I came here for the title. Got very excited to see the Strike series behind you! I love that series. I've read about half of these books, I think. I loved "The Troop" so was really glad to see that listed. I like "The Ruins" a lot, too.
I cant bring myself to read "The Girl Next Door" bc the movie was horrible enough. Im a horror lover but some things just get in my head and I can't let it go. The true story behind this book is one of them. *shudders*
I'll now go nosey through your other videos as I believe we've a similar reading tastes!
The most disturbing novel that I read last year was Tender is the Flesh, a novel about state-sanctioned cannibalism after a disease that makes animal meat toxic. It's a short read but packs a punch, I keep thinking about it even though it's been a few months.
That one is on my TBR. I've heard it is great. Thanks for wathcing.
Who is the author?
@@tedwunderlich2741 Augustina Bazterrica
The most disturbing book I have ever read was American Psycho, and alongside that, though it wasn't really disturbing, some aspects were some may argue, it was just very detailed, Fifty Shades and Fifty Shades Darker.
I couldn’t finish reading American Psycho. The only other book besides that I couldn’t finish (due to how disturbing they were) was The Road.
The only book that truly disturbed me was Helter Skelter. American Psycho grossed me out but it was more ridiculous than disturbing. But Helter Skelter was about real events and, when I read it the first time, all those involved were still alive. It scared me to the point where I slept with a knife under my pillow---at least on one occasion that I can recall. It goes into deeper details than the made-for-tv movie from the 70's. It also explores the mentality of his followers and how he exploited the hostility and distrust they have towards the established society that didn't understand them. In Charles Manson they found an evil guru and he molded them to be his unfeeling monsters to exact revenge on them. It is genuinely chilling and offers a lot of insight into cults. It gets tedious in the last quarter when they go on trial and then a section on their lives in prison. Anyone interested in true crime stories and the psychology of cults this is a must-read.
The Bible. Plagerism, horrible editing, lousy plot, too much sex and violence, and the ending just over the top sucks. Earlier editions have sections which are now denied. It's right up there with Dianetics for faked numbers sold.