I'm coming to the realization that I've lived a sheltered life in terms of the scope of my reading habits. I had no idea there were so many books that plunged into the darker recesses of the human psyche. I think it's educational and maybe even cathartic to branch out a bit. Great analysis as always!!
Thank you so much, Joe! Yes, even I am surprised at how many disturbing books this series has dug up, and how deep a mark they have left on readers. I am always curious to know how far this list will go.
Flowers for Algernon is one of those books that I didn't love when I read first, but every time I think about it now, I do so with fondness. Loving these videos!!
i don’t even really read but i came across your channel on a whim and the way you talk about the things you read is just so compelling, you’re extremely well spoken and soothing to listen to. it’s making me want to start reading again !!
Thank you so much!!! 😭 It is my aim to at least spread the wonder and amazement that reading provokes. I hope you do end up at least giving some of these titles a shot!
That is the worst feeling in the world! Especially for me since going to a bookstore involves at least a two-hour drive. Hope my video was able to lift the mood a bit!
@@PlaguedbyVisions if you are ever in Oklahoma, there is a sweeeeet book store called GARDNERS and they have the largest used book collection I’ve ever seen. It’s like the size of a Barnes and Noble but the books don’t cost 22 dollars each. Lol.
I def wanna recommend THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL by Edoardo Albinati. It’s an extremely long (1300 pages) piece of autofiction that touches on everything from social theory to memoir to history, but its main focus is a very in-depth analysis of a gang rape and murder that occurred in Rome during Albinati’s adolescence. It’s an amazing and very disturbing work if you’re willing to dedicate the time to it. Been watching your channel for a year now Juan and this is my first time commenting. Keep up the awesome work my friend
Thank you so much, Anthony! And it’s always amazing to hear about long-time viewers for the first time, like getting acquainted with a demon that has been haunting me (not the best analogy). This sounds incredibly draining and most definitely up my alley!
I found your channel when I was going through a bit of a rabbit hole about banned books, I just want to say thanks for tripling my readlist with books that I know are going to fascinate me, cause I'm a glutton for punishment when it comes to extreme content in books
Loving the long vids and all these fascinating suggestions from viewers. No way would I stumble upon even a third of these books on my own, and there are also some reminders (I forgot all about Wetlands after the initial controversy).
I feel the same way! You only ever really hear about the usual suspects when it comes to disturbing books (American Psycho, etc.), so I feel incredibly grateful that you all are digging up an endless amount of equally off-putting works!
I just discovered your channel and I love it! I had the day off work, so I've just binged the entire disturbing books series, lol. I'm a bit desensitized after reading these types of books for years, but I have to recommend a couple of favorites. One of which is Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana, which I was thrilled to finally see recommended by a booktuber in Part 7. I just read this one this year, and it instantly became one of my favorite books. It's haunting, and I absolutely love it. The world-building is sublime. My other recommendation is my all time favorite book, which hasn't come up yet in this series. And that is Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite. This book ruined books for me for awhile; I loved it so much that when I tried to read another book, I was just disappointed that it wasn't Exquisite Corpse. It's set in the 80s during the AIDS crisis, and follows 4 characters, two of whom are serial killers, and all of whom are gay, and is important in shining a light on how the crisis ravaged the gay community and the fear it brought. And of course it's riddled with graphic depictions of sex and violence. But my favorite thing about it is the writing style. I'm a sucker for flowery prose, and this delivers. It's so beautifully written, and I just can't get enough. Some of these graphic murders take on an almost romantic feel thanks to the prose, and I was instantly sucked in.
Thank you so much for your comment, and I’m glad you’ve enjoyed this series! I have indeed read Exquisite Corpse, which I covered on a video I made on LGBTQ horror, but you’re right, it has never been mentioned in this list, and it definitely should be!
Absolutely amazing work as always! Cannot wait till next disturbing books upload! I'm completely enthralled whenever I watch your videos. Thank you for all you do! You help me through a lot of shit with your videos!
Thank you so much, and this makes me so fucking happy to read. You all have helped me through so much as well. It’s a symbiotic disturbing form of therapy!
So excited to watch this, and hear your thoughts and insights on more disturbing books! I’ve unfortunately been having a very rough time since mid-February. I’m getting back into my old hobbies again, so I’m sure this video will give me some options of books to look into. Thank you for the awesome content!
Hey, no problem. I’ve been struggling myself since the year started, but I’ve been slowly digging myself out of that hole. It’s the reason why it has taken me this long to reply to messages, for instance, so my apologies. I hope you are doing better with every day, and hope my videos can continue providing some entertainment!
I notice you have what looks to be everything Kafka wrote on your bookshelf (I'm fascinated by the incredible uniqueness of his writing) so I'm sure you've read The Castle, but I thought I'd leave a comment to recommend for others. I have a recurring nightmare that follows almost the same skeleton of the journey of K. in his attempts to access the impenetrable, titular castle. Reading it was one of the most disturbing experiences of my life as it was like someone had written down a version of my most affecting nightmare; and if read as a written nightmare, the fact that it is unfinished can be perceived as the dreamer waking up, cutting off the nightmare at a random point. Also, a masterful Sisyphus allegory, as most of his writing tends to touch on. I love your videos, man, keep up the good work.
Thank you so much for the compliments! And yes, Kafka was one of my favorite authors during my adolescence (I do think that’s prime time to read his work-it just has the airs of absurdity and chaos that resonate more during puberty). I did talk about the Trial in another video, and I recommended it for much the same reasons: It is a confounding experience that feels suffocating and ensnaring. That’s a nice comparison you made to waking from a dream-makes me think of Coleridge’s work.
@@PlaguedbyVisions I'd agree with most of that, although I read him when I moved to Australia on my own, so perhaps the alienation aspect of his stories was what resonated with me. I was much the same with The Trial, but then I found a book in an old bookshop, twice as long as The Trial, that deconstructed it, sentence by sentence, character by character, and scene by scene. It lost a lot of the magic that surrounds it due to its impenetrability after that, and I started to see that Kafka was incredibly opinionated and liked to take the piss out of people and institutions he found ridiculous. I still love him, though xD I haven't read any Coleridge that I can remember, but I'll check him out! Every book I've ever read, I've read for pleasure rather than for education, and I mostly go off of recommendations, so I have enormous abysses where whole genres and important authors should be, which gets frustrating lol. Like, I've read most of Flaubert's works (disgusting individual), and half of Sartre (much the same), but have never read any Steinbeck or Twain. Anyway, I really enjoy watching your videos, and I appreciate how incredibly well-read you are, and how mellifluous your voice and parlance are in tandem with one another. It really is aural liquid gold. Keep up the exceptional work, my good man! Hope to talk to you again in the future.
Thanks for the content. I have yet to see everything you've covered, have you read 'Exquisite corpse'? It's fairly tame, but quite a good read. Good on ya for covering 'Filth'!
Another awesome installment! I’ve only read The Vegetarian from this list but I really liked it. There is the exploration of obsession and mental health issues throughout and the expectations of family and society. I thought it was fantastic. I need to read more by the author for sure.
Love your show! Your takes are always poignant and erudite. May I humbly suggest, A Fairly Honourable Defeat by Iris Murdoch. It's a dark comedy about a puppet master, who may be evil itself, and the community he "plays" with.
Hi there Juan, I've been binge watching all of this series after discovering your channel through the Peter Sotos/Pure analysis video and I have to say I've become quite a fan. I love transgressive fiction and this type of thing deeply fascinates me, so I love hearing about more media I can add to the backlog of things I'd like to experience. I'm admittedly not much of a reader at all; I'm more of a video game, music, and film type of guy. But I adore all narrative media, and really the only reason I don't read more books is simply a lack of time. I'll definitely be checking out several of the books you and your commenters have suggested, and if there are any particular reads you think would make a great starting point, I'd love to hear them. That being said, I'd like to share some potentially disturbing "books" from my corner of the media world. First up, Silent Hill 2. A video game widely considered to be the single greatest piece of interactive horror ever created, and I would agree with that sentiment. The reason I bring this up is because there is actually a novelization of the game, and a surprisingly good and faithful one at that. You are missing out a bit on things like the visual design (particularly the symbolism of the enemies' appearances) but if you're into books but not games, I still highly recommend it. It's an absolutely devastating and surprisingly beautiful tale of loss, regret, trauma, and abuse and seeing the different ways people come to terms with their horrific pasts, both those caused through no fault of their own and those who have themselves committed unspeakable atrocities. Secondly, I'd like to introduce you to some visual novels I think are worth a read. The Zero Escape trilogy and the AI: The Somnium Files duology are both masterpieces, especially 999. They definitely don't go too far into disturbing territory as they're far more focused on suspense and mystery, but they certainly have their moments. 999 in particular has a notably gruesome opening that sets a very sinister tone right away, and the first AI has a few scenes that might gross you out if eye gore is too much for you. That being said, none of these are particularly extreme or disturbing--they're just REALLY good. But they do have their moments, and I think they warrant a mention for that. Finally, The Song of Saya, or Saya no Uta in Japanese. I can't comment much on this one as I haven't actually read past the introduction (not due to being disturbed, I simply haven't had the time) but what I have seen is certainly out there. I very frequently hear people name this one as, by far, the most disturbing visual novel ever created, and I can't wholly confirm that just yet, but if the opening is anything to go off of, I think people have a good reason for saying that.
Hello, and thank you so much for your lovely comment! I’m always happy when people find my channel relatable and engaging. I always recommend Story of the Eye as a starting point for transgressive fiction! What I will say about Silent Hill: I tried playing the one for the PS4 (7?), and I couldn’t… It was way too scary! 😂 Video games are the media that still gets to me.
Well this is fun!! Do you have a playlist of all these videos? Also, Ecstasy by Irvine Welsh is one of the most f*ckd up books I have read. It is three short stories and one of them involves a lot of dead body banging...the ending is a riot. I am more into messed up books and not so much disturbing books, but am SUPER into this series and will try to check out some of the books that you recommend.
Thank you so much for watching! I’m glad you’re finding the recommendations (or sometimes apprehensions lol) intriguing! And yes, you can find the playlist in my channel. :) I’ve read Trainspotting, Marabou Stork Nightmares, and Filth by Welsh, so I have no doubt Ecstasy will be equally irreverent and vile. I’ll totally give it a read!
A book of clutter. that's an interesting description. I def want read more horror so will check out some of these books. I haven't posted yet but I recently read Stolen Tongues. Scared me
Thank you so much for watching! A lot of the books in this list are not necessarily horror, but definitely horrific. I now realize I really need to cover more straight-up horror on my channel!
Thank you Juan for the ever expanding TBR future list. I love when you have a new video. I have really gotten into reading extreme horror lately after reading horror since the 80s. I have watched all 8 volumes and I have a feeling that there will be others. Keep them coming!!! Take care. 😁
Thank you so much, Kevin! I hope that you enjoy whatever you pick from this massive series! You’ll have to recommend me some good 80s and 90s horror books!
"The Monk" by Matthew Lewis is an interesting Gothic novel. I know you love Antonin Artaud and he translated "The Monk" into French he loved it so much. Lewis wrote it when he was 19 which is incredible and it also kind of shows up in the flatness of some of the story. I'm 69 years old and I've read a lot of random stuff over the years.
I love The Monk! I read it in college to impress a guy I had a crush on who really liked gothic literature. Nothing came of it, but I did develop a strong love for gothic lit. I have a review of Edward Lee’s The Bighead where I compare it to The Monk haha.
I think one of your earlier episodes mentioned The Monstrumologist and I’m partway through it. It’s not at the caliber of most of these books but I definitely wasn’t expecting a detailed description of a 5-year-old splattered throughout an entire room in a YA novel…
GOOSE! GOOSABERT! I’ve missed you. 🥺 I had a similar reaction to The Golden Compass. Not disturbing by the standards of this list, but some of its implications, and that gory polar bear fight were disconcerting.
@@PlaguedbyVisions I haven’t read that yet but I’ve heard it’s a sort of an anti-Narnia. Aslan is a not so subtle Jesus figure while the Golden Compass has anti-religion themes (at least according to angry parents).
I came across your channel a couple weeks ago and have been working through them since. I've had trouble finding "horror" UA-camrs with similar taste to me (and with an equal love of southern gothic
So glad to have another installment of this! Another great sounding list. Wonderful Wonderful Times does sound a lot like a Clockwork Orange, and sounds really interesting. Penance sounds incredibly intense 😳
Thank you so much, Dave! I don’t know why I feel like… I’ve missed you a lot. 😂 Maybe we need another UA-cam collab so I can keep tabs on everyone again. I think you would “enjoy” both of those titles. Jelinek’s prose is difficult to get into, but once you kindle to what she’s saying, it is harrowing, exhausting, but in a weirdly rewarding way.
Hey Juan, thanks for another list of disturbing books! I would highly recommend reading Confessions by Kanae Minato. It’s about a teacher and single mother who takes revenge on the people who killed her young daughter. It’s not so much horror as it is a psychological thriller that spirals downwards into shock and despair, but it’s always stuck with me a a truly disturbing piece of fiction.
I’ve read this book, and it was magnificent! I talked about it in a video I made titled “Top 5 Saddest Horror Novels” if you’re interested in my thoughts!
Huge fan of the videos!! I wanted to recommend The Laws of The Skies by Gregoire Courtois if you haven’t already read it. One of the parts near the end of this book really dug itself deep into my brain.
Thank you for another amazing video! Got some great recommendations. I would love to recommend a non-fiction work called "The Good Old Days: The Holocaust as Seen by its Perpetrators and Bystanders". I think the title says what is so disturbing about it, but I think what really disturbs me is the parallels to American racism today and how the idea of the past as some sort of utopia really persists with people who still perpetuate racist ideals. Anyways, looking forward to your next video!
Thank you so much for all of your kind words and for your recommendation in this comment! I’ll be sure to mention it in the next installment. Indeed, I think people need to be more aware of these alarming parallels.
Flowers for Algernon is my 5th favorite book of all time! 😍 Yeah I'm not sure I'd call it disturbing, but it sure changed me. Made me appreciate my fully functional brain, which I had unknowingly taken for granted. That's one of the few books I think *everyone* needs to read.
After monts that felt longer than we all expected, Juan is finally back with yet another round of what we all love and want, more disturbing books. Thank you for another great installment and for making my TBR list even longer. Today I come with just one recommendation but I hope you find it disturbing enough: The Necrophiliac by Gabrielle Wittkop: Originally categorized as an erotic novel (WTF, I know), it's written as a necrophiliac's journal, so we follow him day by day who digs out people and has... you know, different expiriences with corpses, and... ummm I should really warn that is somewhat disturbing the way it narrates those experiences (specially the first one cause is a litlle girl's corpse) but it also kinda feels almost poetic (?), I don't know, just read it, it's fucked up.
I really loved this novel! I’ve talked about it before. I did a video review of it, and it was one of my entries in my “Most Disgusting Books” video, since I felt disgust was more accurate a description for what it provoked in me. Still, it was magnificent. Thank you, and don’t worry! I will mention one of your previous comments in my next installment!
"Eden Express" by Mark Vonnegut is a disturbing real-life first person description of what it's like to lose your mind. Read it in college for a "Madness in Literature" course.
Whether or not one regards Flowers for Algernon disturbing, my mother was a special education teacher as well, and I also found the novel (novella?) quite impactful. Although not impactful in the same sense, for me Algernon inhabits the same mental bookshelf as a book like The Bell Jar.
Hi Juan. I have finally finished part 8 and have added a bunch more impactful suggestions to my read list. I have only just finished reading No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy and found the ruthless hitman Chigurh to be very disturbing. However, I found Blood Meridian, and The Road to be much better, the latter of the two being my favourite. There are a couple of intense scenes in The Road that are very disturbing, that shook me, but I don't want to spoil them for anyone who hasn't read the book. Also, if anyone is into taboo dark romance novels, that involve kinks like bdsm then I recommend best-selling author K. Webster.
Glad you have enjoyed this series! McCarthy is truly a genius when it comes to brutality. And K. Webster sounds… not for me, but I’m sure they have their audience. 😂
Clive Barker has a way of setting disturbing visuals that also encompasses such beauty. Joyride by Jack Ketchum Johnny got his gun by Dalton Trumbo Come closer by Sara Gran I have no mouth and I must scream by Harlen Ellison The collector by John Fowles Summer I died by Ryan c. Thomas The troop by Nick Cutter And as I mentioned below, Exquisite corpse by Poppy z. Bright If you're into photography, I'd suggest Joel peter-witkin. He has several collected works- books.
Yo brother man thanks for your recommendations, I don't know Jelinek she sounds like the real thing, I gotta have a read, well my bro have you had a read of Blake Butler? His "Scorch Atlas" is a novel that is a kind of series of prose poem apocalypses, numbing bleakness wrapped in word music.
I think you would really enjoy Jelinek! She is poetic and brutal and can sometimes even make you laugh. I’ve heard the names Blake Butler and Scorch Atlas before, but now I’m very much intrigued, so thank you! It’s always nice to hear from you!
Holy crap! Thank you for reading my comment! I hope ya don’t mind, I thought I’d share my introduction in the genre because I’d say it’s equally as bizarre and disturbing as the genre myself. At 12, I was stumbled upon My Little Pony grimdark fanfiction specifically one called ‘Cupcakes’. If you know, ya know, but the plot essentially involves pink pastel horse preforming torture and organ harvesting on blue horse. As a weird disturbed child, this mesh of children’s characters and extreme horror really fascinated me. I still love such stories to this day to the point where I’m writing my own horror reinterpretation of mlp. If I could give a recommendation of such fiction I’d recommend ‘Step Right In and Start Again’ by shortskirtsandexplosions. The story centers around a character, after messing with time magic to disastrous effects, awaits punishment from her mentor. I’m not gonna say more than that. I also recommend ‘Somno Captis’ which is about a character desperately trying not to fall asleep. I understand the very nature of My Little Pony horror stories alone might make people uncomfortable but I feel this is representative of the extreme horror genre itself. It shows us a concept that we might not be comfortable with but will exist regardless of our opinions on it. Links to stories provided below Step Right In and Start Again: www.fimfiction.net/stories?q=Step+right+in+ Somno Captis: www.fimfiction.net/story/391057/somno-captis
Thank YOU so much for your suggestion! Believe it or not I have actually heard of this Cupcakes fanfic, along with the Gravity Falls Taco Bell one. I really need to see what all of this is about. 😂 I really appreciate the links!
Yay, you mentioned Flowers For Algernon! I was somewhat able to relate to the main character at times, what with me being autistic and unable to feel like I fit in. From what I’ve heard, the ending is bittersweet, but surprisingly hopeful.
Woah... is this your biggest MDB video yet?? There was a scene in The Library Policeman that I found really disturbing and had to skim over... so King absolutely deserves to be here lol (That sucks that you lost the footage man)
This is only the third longest installment. 😂 I used to worry that my videos were too long, but now I’m just vibing. King really has left a mark on many readers with his absolutely unhinged ideas. I think the book of his that disturbed me the most was The Long Walk.
I think I heard about this book in the comments of another video about books - but… the book “the groomer” by Jon Athan 2020..seems to really push the envelope of disturbing. It’s about kidnapped children, exploitation and one dad’s journey for justice and revenge.. to the extreme. I have not read it - and probably won’t . But it seems well written based on what I’ve seen.
One book that I felt was only disturbing to me was Heart of a Dog by Bulgakov. It's a satire of Bolshevism, and pretty funny at that (it's not meant to be disturbing at all as far as I know), but there was one scene where the dog is undergoing an operation, and that was described with such detail that I felt physically ill while reading it. I had to power through those 6 pages without stopping, or else I wouldn't pick it up again. It is a very good, short and funny read, and I definitely recommend it if you haven't read it yet! (Also, a small note: during The Maimed you were talking about the main character having Asperger's. People with autism have not liked that term, since Hans Asperger was a nazi who tortured and murdered a number of autistic people/children, and 'his' version of autism was seen as the superior one compared to the other versions of autism, in the eugenics/übermensch sense. It is seen as an outdated/offensive term, and people now just use ASD, for autism spectrum disorder. No offense of course, but I just wanted to let you know. Keep up the good work, your videos are amazing!)
Thank you so much for this comment and the valuable information! Of course, no offense taken at all-on the contrary, I always appreciate being informed of these things, especially because I know confronting people about it is not easy. I am happy to have this word leave my vocabulary!
Perfume is one of my favorite books, but its really not the scariest thing I've come across. For some reason, every time I read it I just feel sooo relaxed, but I have no idea why. It is a solitary novel but it doesnt make me feel lonely. It's kinda weird for me to relate to the main character of Perfume since he is a serial killer, but..... um, I don't know. Something about wanting to be isolated from society, all alone with your own thoughts and dedicate your entire life to your only passion makes me feel some sort of way. Reading Perfume hits almost like meditation. It is a book about murder and tragedy, but there's also something very neurodivergent about it, if it makes sense. Like it's an entire saga about one guy with ASPD dedicating his entire life to his special interest, which so happens to be smells, odors and fragrances.
I talked a bit about Essex House on the Discord server but I thought I’d drop a couple of suggestions here. As I wrote, Essex House was an imprint of an LA porn book publisher. Most of the Essex House books were borderline sci-if and the writing was definitely interesting (though they are very late 60s) and fairly literary. They published the first edition of Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski. Sci-fi author Philip Jose Farmer wrote three books for Essex House and they remain the easiest to find - they’ve been reprinted many times unlike most of the others. My suggestion as a starting point is Image of the Beast (Essex House - 1968). Stay with me here… the book is about a detective who finds a snuff movie where his partner is killed/castrated by a female “vampire” with false metal teeth. Did I mention that a snake-like thing with the miniature head of historical child murderer Gilles de Rais lives in the vagina of said vampire? The sequel to the novel, Blown (Essex House - 1969) is nowhere near as interesting but does use Famous Monsters of Filmland editor Forrest J Ackerman as a major character. Farmer’s third book for the is A Feast Unknown (Essex House - 1969) a perpetually horny Tarzan battles it out with an equally horny Dic Savage. I could go on and on about Essex House but I’ll leave it to you and your viewers to dig deeper. Have fun!
Late as all hell as always replying, but holy crap, you have no idea the way your comment made my head spin! I am now on a mission to get a hold of Image of the Beast. Thank you so much for this contribution. It will be duly praised in the next installment. ❤️
YES love this series! Woohoo! Devil all the Time is better than Heavenly Table in my humble opinion - not a popular one haha! And The Vegetarian keeps popping up for me so I think I must need to read that soon ......Awesome job Juan!
Is that not a popular opinion? Well, I’ll have to read it and see if I can join you in populating it. I found Heavenly Table a bit meandering and indulgent in useless detail-but it didn’t make it a bad book! I just didn’t like it as much as I thought I would.
I’ve sort-of mentioned it, but the knowledge that it’s directly parroting real-life tragedy always leaves me feeling a bit weirded out. It’s an ethics thing that I haven’t had the time or patience to work out for myself. I don’t judge others for enjoying it though, of course. I’d be a hypocrite. 😂
Thank you for reading my comment on “O.” To me, the most disturbing part of the story was the grooming of Nathalie by O for Sir Stephen. Too many think of Nathalie as an older teen, but she was portrayed in the book as 12-13. Grooming an older teen is bad enough, but the implication that a child of 12 can give consent is horrifying.
Yes, it certainly is an extremely harrowing journey when the erotic disposition is stripped down. I think many tales of erotica are like that. Anais Nin also comes to mind.
I don't see many people talk about this novel, so I have one suggestion. "Tideland" by Mitch Cullin is a (coming of age? childhood trauma? it's many things) novel about a young girl being left behind by her deceased heroin-addicted parents in the middle of nowhere. The experience of reading it is upsetting, to say the least. I'm not easily disturbed, but one of its scenes left me nauseous and wanting to put the book down. One other detail I want to note is that the novel is from the perspective of the little girl, so a lot of the tragedy that happens around her she doesn't understand and instead makes up fantasies as she goes on. It was also adapted into a movie by Terry Gilliam. As you can imagine, it's incredibly controversial and not many people defend it. The original novel is also part of a trilogy of individual stories all set in Texas and all about neglect and adolescent suffering in some shape or form. I don't know if anyone else agrees about the novel, but to me, it reads like a more fucked up "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls. It's not a real memoir, and it's fictional, however, it's like the protagonist is looking back at her depressing childhood and the depressing summer she had through the same lens she had when she was a child. It makes me wish that we continued to see more of her after the novel ended, but unfortunately, I'll probably never get a confirmation on if she turned out okay. As a big fan of the novel, I definitely recommend it.
I have seen this film, and had no idea it was originally a novel! I’m going to have to seek it out whenever I can buy books again. Thank you so much for the recommendation! I’ll be sure to mention it in the next installment.
Glad to see some Stephen King on the list! Revival by King is my favorite book, I think it's his most disturbing work, but in a way that's hard to explain without ruining the book. I love harmony korine's movies, I've never read his books, seems right up my alley. If you haven't seen the videos already, look up his appearances on letterman that got him banned 😂
I love Korine on Letterman. You can find a Letterman appearance here on UA-cam where he talks about this very book I mentioned, and his explanations are hilarious. Well, looks like I’ll have to jump into newer King eventually! Thanks, Toby!
"What a red flag of a guy" 😂 @josephritchie here Juan, Hello! I really hope you pick up a copy of 'Confessions of a Prison Bitch' by 'Henry Bellows' when your book buying ban is over. It's the autobiography of a convicted criminal (can't leave specifics on YT comments...) and 'Bellows' is of course a pseudonym. It's an autobiographical telling of his horrifying childhood, up to and including his incarceration, which mainly focuses on the taboo of men being "forced to do things" while in prison, and his theory that you just need to learn to be excited about it otherwise you will be consumed by the fear... Very strong stuff, complete with a commentary by the brilliant Mikita Brottman, and (drum roll please) Peter Sotos obviously.
Oh hey! I never realized this was you. 😂 As always, I appreciate your constant recommendations that make me curse this book buying ban endlessly. This sounds like it’ll be an instant buy for me. I’ll definitely share this info in the next installment!
Tina the Sloth is 100% on it! She fell from the shelf the other day seemingly on her own. It’s being ruled as accidental, but I think the books might have been too much for her…
I'll admit, I'm not all the way through part 8 of this series but in the last 48hrs I've been binging. If it's been mentioned I'd be surprised but I recommend Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons. People know of this book and it's not hidden but I feel its left unread because of its disturbing size(my copy is 756 pages but with text size id say it's easily a 1100+ page book if the text size wasn't bible size). This book has all the triggers. Explicit violence, rape both physical and mental. The holocaust, mass murders..I kid you not this book disturbed me. Its depiction of violence in our world and the clever conspiracy behind it all as Simmons depicts in this gigantic Novel is graphic. its done in a way that even behind the narration of the worst characters you find yourself understand but not liking their decisions.Some of it was hard to read, everyone gets there due here and usually without their basic animalistic survival instincts to help them..its like a escalator ending at a meat grinder. Again it's what I'd say a well known book by a well known writer but man...it got me.I'd put it with the "Not what most people would consider disturbing" books. Also the Stephen King part of the video was awesome "He is the doorway" if I could also recomend 2 random disturbing King works...The Long Walk and The Outsider. One old one newer both fucked up.
I have indeed read Carrion Comfort, a few years ago, and I remember it being fantastic! It has definitely not been mentioned on this series yet, however, so I’ll be sure to include your comment in the next installment!
@Plagued Nearly forgot to ask if you'd ever read (or heard anything regarding) Joseph Heller's second novel "Something Happened"? I my experience, "Catch-22" tends to be the lone novel of his that gets any attention at all, which is a real shame, imo. I found Catch to be quite overrated all around, with the singular joke quickly being run into the ground, especially considering the length of novel. That said, I found his second, and yes, even longer, book to be fantastic and one that continues to stick with me even now, years later. Anyone that has read it and I have discussed it with have agreed, and I dare say that if someone can finish it without feeling as if they were gut punched, I would have to assume that something is very, very wrong with them. Highly rec'd to you, good sir.
This is fascinating! Indeed, I’ve only read Catch-22, and indeed, I hated it, but this gives me hope for Mr. Heller. I’ll be sure to mention him in the next installment. Thank you so much!
when pee wee gaskin was put to death matt and myself were having sushi dinner and discussing the case in loud voices. Pee wee being the #1 south carolina serial killer. from the next table a woman spoke up. " don't believe anything Pee wee says he is a damn liar" . turns out she was pee wee's lawyer's wife. " i had a pair of Pee wee's tiny shoes in the trunk of my car forever".
@@PlaguedbyVisions he was very short and could hold grudges for a long time. his usual tactic was to get drunk with his victim then take them out on a drive then get out of the car to get them to look at something and hit them from behind with a claw hammer. He also took lots of his victims to the same place and did not even bother to bury the bodies .
The vegetarian is not super disturbing but it is really well written and has some very interesting dream sequences. I'd say it's more artistically disturbing rather than outright disturbing if that makes sense... I would definitely recommend it anyways for its literary merit!!!
Artistically disturbing is right up my alley! I don’t necessarily seek explicit gore or taboo subject matter in disturbing book. The quiet, uncertainty, and off nature of something can be just as upsetting!
Ah yes, Wetlands. I have a list of "most disturbing movies" and when entering the content information for Wetlands, it fell right under the sweaty butt-cheeks of the "downright gross" category. As far as horror, my latest reading hasn't been disturbing per se. The Troop, by Nick Cutter, is good so far, although I've heard most of his other novels thus far haven't reached the same level of quality. In progress as well is Don't Turn Out the Lights: A Tribute to Alvin Schwartz. I've only read a couple of the stories and thus far I'm a bit disappointed. I don't know if it's because tributes to Schwartz are a tall order or if the illustrations (though pretty), don't hold a candle to Stephen Gammell's work, but I'll keep reading nonetheless.
I’ve been having a similar streak! I picked up a Tom Piccirilli novel that was just mediocre, and I was promised disturbing. Likewise so far with a Kristopher Triana novel. Times are hard for lovers of the disturbing.
Hi really love what you're doing here and I am urging you to check out the worksof Thomas Ligotti apologies Juan realise that you have mentioned earlier that they weren't for you I guess despite sharing so many similar tastes we are not going to agree but what i would say is Jeff Vandemeer is correct in my view in his intro to the penguin edition that Ligotti is actually an experimental writer in the mold of Beckett, Kafka, Bruno Schultz, Djuna Barnes, Flann O'Brien and EM Cioran so that the prose and forms themselves are larger than the surface content ie horror his non fiction work the conspiracy against the human race fails because it is trying to be explicit whereas the fiction in my humble opinion is such great prose it reveals what he is trying to get at in that book a despair that is so total that it is beyond even the nihilism of tibetan buddhism, despait about conciousness, existence and nature itself and it is often very very funny much like those other writers mentioned above forgot to mention Sartre of la Nausee too
Well, this is certainly the most compelling argument for Ligotti I’ve read in my comments! I admit, when I first tried Ligotti, I don’t think I was at the same level of appreciation for dark fiction that I am now thanks to this channel, so that, paired with your wonderful words, makes me want to give him another shot for sure!
@@PlaguedbyVisions thanks for reply Juan appreciate the time you take BTW have tried to prescribe Ligotti many times over many years with little success but I believe I am right in saying he is the only living author to have been published under the Penguin Modern Classics imprint
Im famous! You are very right on your points sir, it's hard for the "literary sledgehammer" to sculpt Caravaggio level stuff, he's probably just the guy who lops the arms off the busts. Apparently he wrote The Resurrectionist in a very short period of time using his blunt style to draft the first few chapters quickly which he decided to stick with after people liked it. Yes it meanders, yes it deflates, but i have to give it to Wrath, his ideas are twisted. Rape murder is just one of the worst things one human being can do to another and the way he creates this story where a man can do it hundreds of times to women he's stalking and act like it's no biggy cause of his ability, in conjunction with the surprising restraint at times from Wrath throughout that allows an amount of ambiguity at what or how much has transpired... the scenes where it's working made it worth it for me. I think you might like some of his short story stuff, just fun, ridiculous ideas. Peace mane
I think you’re exactly right: His ideas have an obscene and daring flavor to them that truly captivate, even if the execution leaves a lot to be desired. It’s the “concept” of the Resurrecionist that I appreciated the most, because White really does think outside of the box that most extreme authors confine themselves to.
🥰 Wow! Thanks for reading my ridiculously-long textual diarrhea 😅 I get easily excited. So honoured, I feel like Mike Wazowski when he says to Sully: "I was on TV!!!" XD Thanks again for sharing my recommendations and sharing your wonderful persona with everyone of us, my friend! Everything great that we all say about you is true 😎
@@PlaguedbyVisions many of the great prose writers have a melodic (not pop-like, you know what I mean dude) tone to their work. That's what I hear when you get grooved into a review. I'd love for you to share some of your work sometime with us!
I'm coming to the realization that I've lived a sheltered life in terms of the scope of my reading habits. I had no idea there were so many books that plunged into the darker recesses of the human psyche. I think it's educational and maybe even cathartic to branch out a bit. Great analysis as always!!
Thank you so much, Joe! Yes, even I am surprised at how many disturbing books this series has dug up, and how deep a mark they have left on readers. I am always curious to know how far this list will go.
Flowers for Algernon is one of those books that I didn't love when I read first, but every time I think about it now, I do so with fondness. Loving these videos!!
I really have to read that book now. Thank you so much for watching!
You always have such interesting things to say about books whether I've read them or not. I enjoyed this video.
Thank you so much as always, Priscilla! Hope you got some good, disturbing things in your TBR!
i don’t even really read but i came across your channel on a whim and the way you talk about the things you read is just so compelling, you’re extremely well spoken and soothing to listen to. it’s making me want to start reading again !!
Thank you so much!!! 😭 It is my aim to at least spread the wonder and amazement that reading provokes. I hope you do end up at least giving some of these titles a shot!
Yes today is the best... went to the bookstore earlier and couldnt really find what I wanted... thanks for the suggestions!
That is the worst feeling in the world! Especially for me since going to a bookstore involves at least a two-hour drive. Hope my video was able to lift the mood a bit!
@@PlaguedbyVisions if you are ever in Oklahoma, there is a sweeeeet book store called GARDNERS and they have the largest used book collection I’ve ever seen. It’s like the size of a Barnes and Noble but the books don’t cost 22 dollars each. Lol.
Flowers for Algernon is in my top 10 of all time. I bawled my eyes out at the end of it, which almost never happens.
I’ve been reassured time and time again that I absolutely must read it!
It's on my shelf! I'm just waiting to be in a good headspace before I tackle it.
"Witchwood Forest" by the controversial author "Devil-James" made me cry..... but it also left me in a altered state for a week straight
I def wanna recommend THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL by Edoardo Albinati. It’s an extremely long (1300 pages) piece of autofiction that touches on everything from social theory to memoir to history, but its main focus is a very in-depth analysis of a gang rape and murder that occurred in Rome during Albinati’s adolescence. It’s an amazing and very disturbing work if you’re willing to dedicate the time to it.
Been watching your channel for a year now Juan and this is my first time commenting. Keep up the awesome work my friend
Thank you so much, Anthony! And it’s always amazing to hear about long-time viewers for the first time, like getting acquainted with a demon that has been haunting me (not the best analogy). This sounds incredibly draining and most definitely up my alley!
I found your channel when I was going through a bit of a rabbit hole about banned books, I just want to say thanks for tripling my readlist with books that I know are going to fascinate me, cause I'm a glutton for punishment when it comes to extreme content in books
Thank you so much, Will! So happy you found your way to the channel! Read all of those messed up books!
Loving the long vids and all these fascinating suggestions from viewers. No way would I stumble upon even a third of these books on my own, and there are also some reminders (I forgot all about Wetlands after the initial controversy).
I feel the same way! You only ever really hear about the usual suspects when it comes to disturbing books (American Psycho, etc.), so I feel incredibly grateful that you all are digging up an endless amount of equally off-putting works!
I just discovered your channel and I love it! I had the day off work, so I've just binged the entire disturbing books series, lol. I'm a bit desensitized after reading these types of books for years, but I have to recommend a couple of favorites. One of which is Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana, which I was thrilled to finally see recommended by a booktuber in Part 7. I just read this one this year, and it instantly became one of my favorite books. It's haunting, and I absolutely love it. The world-building is sublime.
My other recommendation is my all time favorite book, which hasn't come up yet in this series. And that is Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite. This book ruined books for me for awhile; I loved it so much that when I tried to read another book, I was just disappointed that it wasn't Exquisite Corpse. It's set in the 80s during the AIDS crisis, and follows 4 characters, two of whom are serial killers, and all of whom are gay, and is important in shining a light on how the crisis ravaged the gay community and the fear it brought. And of course it's riddled with graphic depictions of sex and violence. But my favorite thing about it is the writing style. I'm a sucker for flowery prose, and this delivers. It's so beautifully written, and I just can't get enough. Some of these graphic murders take on an almost romantic feel thanks to the prose, and I was instantly sucked in.
Thank you so much for your comment, and I’m glad you’ve enjoyed this series! I have indeed read Exquisite Corpse, which I covered on a video I made on LGBTQ horror, but you’re right, it has never been mentioned in this list, and it definitely should be!
Absolutely amazing work as always! Cannot wait till next disturbing books upload! I'm completely enthralled whenever I watch your videos. Thank you for all you do! You help me through a lot of shit with your videos!
Thank you so much, and this makes me so fucking happy to read. You all have helped me through so much as well. It’s a symbiotic disturbing form of therapy!
Perfume is so good!!! One of my favorite books. You're so right in your description - beautiful composition about nasty things.
It truly is incredible, isn’t it? Decadence and lyricism work so well together, even if it’s about nasty stuff!
Thanks so much for your recommendations and shoutout! as a horror writer/screenwriter, these kinds os interactions are gold. Much love from Brazil 🖤🇧🇷
Thank YOU so much for your continued support! I’m always happy to interact with you all. That’s the whole point of this!
So excited to watch this, and hear your thoughts and insights on more disturbing books! I’ve unfortunately been having a very rough time since mid-February. I’m getting back into my old hobbies again, so I’m sure this video will give me some options of books to look into. Thank you for the awesome content!
Hey, no problem. I’ve been struggling myself since the year started, but I’ve been slowly digging myself out of that hole. It’s the reason why it has taken me this long to reply to messages, for instance, so my apologies. I hope you are doing better with every day, and hope my videos can continue providing some entertainment!
I notice you have what looks to be everything Kafka wrote on your bookshelf (I'm fascinated by the incredible uniqueness of his writing) so I'm sure you've read The Castle, but I thought I'd leave a comment to recommend for others. I have a recurring nightmare that follows almost the same skeleton of the journey of K. in his attempts to access the impenetrable, titular castle. Reading it was one of the most disturbing experiences of my life as it was like someone had written down a version of my most affecting nightmare; and if read as a written nightmare, the fact that it is unfinished can be perceived as the dreamer waking up, cutting off the nightmare at a random point. Also, a masterful Sisyphus allegory, as most of his writing tends to touch on.
I love your videos, man, keep up the good work.
Thank you so much for the compliments! And yes, Kafka was one of my favorite authors during my adolescence (I do think that’s prime time to read his work-it just has the airs of absurdity and chaos that resonate more during puberty). I did talk about the Trial in another video, and I recommended it for much the same reasons: It is a confounding experience that feels suffocating and ensnaring. That’s a nice comparison you made to waking from a dream-makes me think of Coleridge’s work.
@@PlaguedbyVisions I'd agree with most of that, although I read him when I moved to Australia on my own, so perhaps the alienation aspect of his stories was what resonated with me. I was much the same with The Trial, but then I found a book in an old bookshop, twice as long as The Trial, that deconstructed it, sentence by sentence, character by character, and scene by scene. It lost a lot of the magic that surrounds it due to its impenetrability after that, and I started to see that Kafka was incredibly opinionated and liked to take the piss out of people and institutions he found ridiculous. I still love him, though xD
I haven't read any Coleridge that I can remember, but I'll check him out! Every book I've ever read, I've read for pleasure rather than for education, and I mostly go off of recommendations, so I have enormous abysses where whole genres and important authors should be, which gets frustrating lol. Like, I've read most of Flaubert's works (disgusting individual), and half of Sartre (much the same), but have never read any Steinbeck or Twain.
Anyway, I really enjoy watching your videos, and I appreciate how incredibly well-read you are, and how mellifluous your voice and parlance are in tandem with one another. It really is aural liquid gold.
Keep up the exceptional work, my good man! Hope to talk to you again in the future.
Thanks for the content.
I have yet to see everything you've covered, have you read 'Exquisite corpse'? It's fairly tame, but quite a good read.
Good on ya for covering 'Filth'!
I’ve read Exquisite Corpse indeed! I have a video on LGBTQ horror where I cover it if you want to hear my thoughts on it!
Another awesome installment! I’ve only read The Vegetarian from this list but I really liked it. There is the exploration of obsession and mental health issues throughout and the expectations of family and society. I thought it was fantastic. I need to read more by the author for sure.
Thank you so much for watching, Crystal! I’ll definitely have to check out the Vegetarian!
Love your show! Your takes are always poignant and erudite.
May I humbly suggest, A Fairly Honourable Defeat by Iris Murdoch. It's a dark comedy about a puppet master, who may be evil itself, and the community he "plays" with.
Thank you so much for watching! I will be sure to mention this one in the next installment-I’ve never even heard of it!
Hi there Juan, I've been binge watching all of this series after discovering your channel through the Peter Sotos/Pure analysis video and I have to say I've become quite a fan. I love transgressive fiction and this type of thing deeply fascinates me, so I love hearing about more media I can add to the backlog of things I'd like to experience. I'm admittedly not much of a reader at all; I'm more of a video game, music, and film type of guy. But I adore all narrative media, and really the only reason I don't read more books is simply a lack of time. I'll definitely be checking out several of the books you and your commenters have suggested, and if there are any particular reads you think would make a great starting point, I'd love to hear them. That being said, I'd like to share some potentially disturbing "books" from my corner of the media world.
First up, Silent Hill 2. A video game widely considered to be the single greatest piece of interactive horror ever created, and I would agree with that sentiment. The reason I bring this up is because there is actually a novelization of the game, and a surprisingly good and faithful one at that. You are missing out a bit on things like the visual design (particularly the symbolism of the enemies' appearances) but if you're into books but not games, I still highly recommend it. It's an absolutely devastating and surprisingly beautiful tale of loss, regret, trauma, and abuse and seeing the different ways people come to terms with their horrific pasts, both those caused through no fault of their own and those who have themselves committed unspeakable atrocities.
Secondly, I'd like to introduce you to some visual novels I think are worth a read. The Zero Escape trilogy and the AI: The Somnium Files duology are both masterpieces, especially 999. They definitely don't go too far into disturbing territory as they're far more focused on suspense and mystery, but they certainly have their moments. 999 in particular has a notably gruesome opening that sets a very sinister tone right away, and the first AI has a few scenes that might gross you out if eye gore is too much for you. That being said, none of these are particularly extreme or disturbing--they're just REALLY good. But they do have their moments, and I think they warrant a mention for that.
Finally, The Song of Saya, or Saya no Uta in Japanese. I can't comment much on this one as I haven't actually read past the introduction (not due to being disturbed, I simply haven't had the time) but what I have seen is certainly out there. I very frequently hear people name this one as, by far, the most disturbing visual novel ever created, and I can't wholly confirm that just yet, but if the opening is anything to go off of, I think people have a good reason for saying that.
Hello, and thank you so much for your lovely comment! I’m always happy when people find my channel relatable and engaging. I always recommend Story of the Eye as a starting point for transgressive fiction!
What I will say about Silent Hill: I tried playing the one for the PS4 (7?), and I couldn’t… It was way too scary! 😂 Video games are the media that still gets to me.
i like the way you handle such heavy topics, do you have a book club?
I tried before, but the participation wasn’t the best!
@@PlaguedbyVisions i am here for it man, i am in a few book clubs but would love to read and talk on it with you.
It is great to hear about even more disturbing books! Awesome video, Juan
Thank you so much for watching, Kelsi! I’m glad you enjoy the messed up books!
Of course my reading list has grown! It always does after one of your videos. Have a great day!
That’s what I’m here for!
Well this is fun!! Do you have a playlist of all these videos?
Also, Ecstasy by Irvine Welsh is one of the most f*ckd up books I have read. It is three short stories and one of them involves a lot of dead body banging...the ending is a riot.
I am more into messed up books and not so much disturbing books, but am SUPER into this series and will try to check out some of the books that you recommend.
Thank you so much for watching! I’m glad you’re finding the recommendations (or sometimes apprehensions lol) intriguing! And yes, you can find the playlist in my channel. :) I’ve read Trainspotting, Marabou Stork Nightmares, and Filth by Welsh, so I have no doubt Ecstasy will be equally irreverent and vile. I’ll totally give it a read!
A book of clutter. that's an interesting description. I def want read more horror so will check out some of these books. I haven't posted yet but I recently read Stolen Tongues. Scared me
Thank you so much for watching! A lot of the books in this list are not necessarily horror, but definitely horrific. I now realize I really need to cover more straight-up horror on my channel!
Thank you Juan for the ever expanding TBR future list. I love when you have a new video. I have really gotten into reading extreme horror lately after reading horror since the 80s. I have watched all 8 volumes and I have a feeling that there will be others. Keep them coming!!! Take care. 😁
Thank you so much, Kevin! I hope that you enjoy whatever you pick from this massive series! You’ll have to recommend me some good 80s and 90s horror books!
"The Monk" by Matthew Lewis is an interesting Gothic novel. I know you love Antonin Artaud and he translated "The Monk" into French he loved it so much. Lewis wrote it when he was 19 which is incredible and it also kind of shows up in the flatness of some of the story. I'm 69 years old and I've read a lot of random stuff over the years.
I love The Monk! I read it in college to impress a guy I had a crush on who really liked gothic literature. Nothing came of it, but I did develop a strong love for gothic lit. I have a review of Edward Lee’s The Bighead where I compare it to The Monk haha.
I think one of your earlier episodes mentioned The Monstrumologist and I’m partway through it. It’s not at the caliber of most of these books but I definitely wasn’t expecting a detailed description of a 5-year-old splattered throughout an entire room in a YA novel…
GOOSE! GOOSABERT! I’ve missed you. 🥺 I had a similar reaction to The Golden Compass. Not disturbing by the standards of this list, but some of its implications, and that gory polar bear fight were disconcerting.
@@PlaguedbyVisions
I haven’t read that yet but I’ve heard it’s a sort of an anti-Narnia. Aslan is a not so subtle Jesus figure while the Golden Compass has anti-religion themes (at least according to angry parents).
Yay, part 8! I love this series so much! I add to my Thriftbooks wishlist every time lol
Thank you so much for watching! Yes, stock up on all the disturbing books!
I came across your channel a couple weeks ago and have been working through them since. I've had trouble finding "horror" UA-camrs with similar taste to me (and with an equal love of southern gothic
I am so sorry for my late reply, but thank you so much for your beautiful comment! I love Blood on the Tracks!
So glad to have another installment of this! Another great sounding list. Wonderful Wonderful Times does sound a lot like a Clockwork Orange, and sounds really interesting. Penance sounds incredibly intense 😳
Thank you so much, Dave! I don’t know why I feel like… I’ve missed you a lot. 😂 Maybe we need another UA-cam collab so I can keep tabs on everyone again. I think you would “enjoy” both of those titles. Jelinek’s prose is difficult to get into, but once you kindle to what she’s saying, it is harrowing, exhausting, but in a weirdly rewarding way.
@@PlaguedbyVisions Ditto! We’ve all gotten so booktube-busy! 😜. Well, you know I’m always available 😉
Hey Juan, thanks for another list of disturbing books! I would highly recommend reading Confessions by Kanae Minato. It’s about a teacher and single mother who takes revenge on the people who killed her young daughter. It’s not so much horror as it is a psychological thriller that spirals downwards into shock and despair, but it’s always stuck with me a a truly disturbing piece of fiction.
I’ve read this book, and it was magnificent! I talked about it in a video I made titled “Top 5 Saddest Horror Novels” if you’re interested in my thoughts!
Huge fan of the videos!! I wanted to recommend The Laws of The Skies by Gregoire Courtois if you haven’t already read it. One of the parts near the end of this book really dug itself deep into my brain.
Thank you so much for the recommendation! I will be sure to include it in a future installment. :) and thank you for watching! ❤️
You've definitely built a community here brother. Yeah we might have some screws loose but hey things would just get boring if we didnt!
I don’t have any screws loose! 😂
Thank you for another amazing video! Got some great recommendations. I would love to recommend a non-fiction work called "The Good Old Days: The Holocaust as Seen by its Perpetrators and Bystanders". I think the title says what is so disturbing about it, but I think what really disturbs me is the parallels to American racism today and how the idea of the past as some sort of utopia really persists with people who still perpetuate racist ideals. Anyways, looking forward to your next video!
Thank you so much for all of your kind words and for your recommendation in this comment! I’ll be sure to mention it in the next installment. Indeed, I think people need to be more aware of these alarming parallels.
📚 Juan, thank you for creating such wonderful, engaging videos! 💐💕
Thank YOU so much for watching!
Flowers for Algernon is my 5th favorite book of all time! 😍 Yeah I'm not sure I'd call it disturbing, but it sure changed me. Made me appreciate my fully functional brain, which I had unknowingly taken for granted. That's one of the few books I think *everyone* needs to read.
Agreed. It's a book that sticks with you for a long time.
Noted! I definitely need to read it now.
After monts that felt longer than we all expected, Juan is finally back with yet another round of what we all love and want, more disturbing books.
Thank you for another great installment and for making my TBR list even longer.
Today I come with just one recommendation but I hope you find it disturbing enough:
The Necrophiliac by Gabrielle Wittkop: Originally categorized as an erotic novel (WTF, I know), it's written as a necrophiliac's journal, so we follow him day by day who digs out people and has... you know, different expiriences with corpses, and... ummm I should really warn that is somewhat disturbing the way it narrates those experiences (specially the first one cause is a litlle girl's corpse) but it also kinda feels almost poetic (?), I don't know, just read it, it's fucked up.
I really loved this novel! I’ve talked about it before. I did a video review of it, and it was one of my entries in my “Most Disgusting Books” video, since I felt disgust was more accurate a description for what it provoked in me. Still, it was magnificent.
Thank you, and don’t worry! I will mention one of your previous comments in my next installment!
"Eden Express" by Mark Vonnegut is a disturbing real-life first person description of what it's like to lose your mind. Read it in college for a "Madness in Literature" course.
This sounds incredible!
Whether or not one regards Flowers for Algernon disturbing, my mother was a special education teacher as well, and I also found the novel (novella?) quite impactful.
Although not impactful in the same sense, for me Algernon inhabits the same mental bookshelf as a book like The Bell Jar.
Ah, yes, with the Bell Jar as this numb and subdued bleakness. I think “disquieting” or “upsetting” might be better words.
Hi Juan. I have finally finished part 8 and have added a bunch more impactful suggestions to my read list. I have only just finished reading No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy and found the ruthless hitman Chigurh to be very disturbing. However, I found Blood Meridian, and The Road to be much better, the latter of the two being my favourite. There are a couple of intense scenes in The Road that are very disturbing, that shook me, but I don't want to spoil them for anyone who hasn't read the book. Also, if anyone is into taboo dark romance novels, that involve kinks like bdsm then I recommend best-selling author K. Webster.
Glad you have enjoyed this series! McCarthy is truly a genius when it comes to brutality. And K. Webster sounds… not for me, but I’m sure they have their audience. 😂
Clive Barker has a way of setting disturbing visuals that also encompasses such beauty.
Joyride by Jack Ketchum
Johnny got his gun by Dalton Trumbo
Come closer by Sara Gran
I have no mouth and I must scream by Harlen Ellison
The collector by John Fowles
Summer I died by Ryan c. Thomas
The troop by Nick Cutter
And as I mentioned below,
Exquisite corpse by Poppy z. Bright
If you're into photography, I'd suggest Joel peter-witkin. He has several collected works- books.
Wonderful list! Some of these I’ve covered previously, but I see one or two that I’m happy to welcome into the master list, so thank you!
Yo brother man thanks for your recommendations, I don't know Jelinek she sounds like the real thing, I gotta have a read, well my bro have you had a read of Blake Butler? His "Scorch Atlas" is a novel that is a kind of series of prose poem apocalypses, numbing bleakness wrapped in word music.
I think you would really enjoy Jelinek! She is poetic and brutal and can sometimes even make you laugh. I’ve heard the names Blake Butler and Scorch Atlas before, but now I’m very much intrigued, so thank you! It’s always nice to hear from you!
Could you do an audiobook list. Preferably ones that are free on youtbe and other sites. It is hard to find disturbing audiobooks
I’ll be sure to check next time if an audiobook is available!
Holy crap! Thank you for reading my comment! I hope ya don’t mind, I thought I’d share my introduction in the genre because I’d say it’s equally as bizarre and disturbing as the genre myself. At 12, I was stumbled upon My Little Pony grimdark fanfiction specifically one called ‘Cupcakes’. If you know, ya know, but the plot essentially involves pink pastel horse preforming torture and organ harvesting on blue horse. As a weird disturbed child, this mesh of children’s characters and extreme horror really fascinated me. I still love such stories to this day to the point where I’m writing my own horror reinterpretation of mlp. If I could give a recommendation of such fiction I’d recommend ‘Step Right In and Start Again’ by shortskirtsandexplosions. The story centers around a character, after messing with time magic to disastrous effects, awaits punishment from her mentor. I’m not gonna say more than that. I also recommend ‘Somno Captis’ which is about a character desperately trying not to fall asleep. I understand the very nature of My Little Pony horror stories alone might make people uncomfortable but I feel this is representative of the extreme horror genre itself. It shows us a concept that we might not be comfortable with but will exist regardless of our opinions on it. Links to stories provided below
Step Right In and Start Again: www.fimfiction.net/stories?q=Step+right+in+
Somno Captis: www.fimfiction.net/story/391057/somno-captis
Thank YOU so much for your suggestion! Believe it or not I have actually heard of this Cupcakes fanfic, along with the Gravity Falls Taco Bell one. I really need to see what all of this is about. 😂 I really appreciate the links!
Yay, you mentioned Flowers For Algernon! I was somewhat able to relate to the main character at times, what with me being autistic and unable to feel like I fit in. From what I’ve heard, the ending is bittersweet, but surprisingly hopeful.
I definitely need to read it! It sounds like something that would emotionally destroy me, and I’m in the mood for that now and then.
Y E S!!!! The Disturbing Books series returns!!!
It will never die!
Woah... is this your biggest MDB video yet??
There was a scene in The Library Policeman that I found really disturbing and had to skim over... so King absolutely deserves to be here lol
(That sucks that you lost the footage man)
This is only the third longest installment. 😂 I used to worry that my videos were too long, but now I’m just vibing.
King really has left a mark on many readers with his absolutely unhinged ideas. I think the book of his that disturbed me the most was The Long Walk.
I think I heard about this book in the comments of another video about books - but… the book “the groomer” by Jon Athan 2020..seems to really push the envelope of disturbing. It’s about kidnapped children, exploitation and one dad’s journey for justice and revenge.. to the extreme. I have not read it - and probably won’t . But it seems well written based on what I’ve seen.
Oh I read that! It sucked lmao. A character gets his bone shattered with THROWING DARTS. 😭😭😭
@@PlaguedbyVisions oh wow. From the details it looks like it would be super shocking and disturbing. I’ll assume you’ve read way worse?
Papa Visions has blessed us depraved children once more 🙏🙏🙏
Come, my children. Gather round.
One book that I felt was only disturbing to me was Heart of a Dog by Bulgakov. It's a satire of Bolshevism, and pretty funny at that (it's not meant to be disturbing at all as far as I know), but there was one scene where the dog is undergoing an operation, and that was described with such detail that I felt physically ill while reading it. I had to power through those 6 pages without stopping, or else I wouldn't pick it up again.
It is a very good, short and funny read, and I definitely recommend it if you haven't read it yet!
(Also, a small note: during The Maimed you were talking about the main character having Asperger's. People with autism have not liked that term, since Hans Asperger was a nazi who tortured and murdered a number of autistic people/children, and 'his' version of autism was seen as the superior one compared to the other versions of autism, in the eugenics/übermensch sense. It is seen as an outdated/offensive term, and people now just use ASD, for autism spectrum disorder. No offense of course, but I just wanted to let you know. Keep up the good work, your videos are amazing!)
Thank you so much for this comment and the valuable information! Of course, no offense taken at all-on the contrary, I always appreciate being informed of these things, especially because I know confronting people about it is not easy. I am happy to have this word leave my vocabulary!
Omg I haven't read, "where you going" in over ten years. I have to read it again.
It is a fantastic story! One of the best any American writer has ever produced.
Perfume is one of my favorite books, but its really not the scariest thing I've come across.
For some reason, every time I read it I just feel sooo relaxed, but I have no idea why. It is a solitary novel but it doesnt make me feel lonely.
It's kinda weird for me to relate to the main character of Perfume since he is a serial killer, but..... um, I don't know. Something about wanting to be isolated from society, all alone with your own thoughts and dedicate your entire life to your only passion makes me feel some sort of way. Reading Perfume hits almost like meditation.
It is a book about murder and tragedy, but there's also something very neurodivergent about it, if it makes sense. Like it's an entire saga about one guy with ASPD dedicating his entire life to his special interest, which so happens to be smells, odors and fragrances.
Truly, if we look past the serial killing, it’s kind of a vibe…
I talked a bit about Essex House on the Discord server but I thought I’d drop a couple of suggestions here. As I wrote, Essex House was an imprint of an LA porn book publisher. Most of the Essex House books were borderline sci-if and the writing was definitely interesting (though they are very late 60s) and fairly literary. They published the first edition of Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski. Sci-fi author Philip Jose Farmer wrote three books for Essex House and they remain the easiest to find - they’ve been reprinted many times unlike most of the others. My suggestion as a starting point is Image of the Beast (Essex House - 1968). Stay with me here… the book is about a detective who finds a snuff movie where his partner is killed/castrated by a female “vampire” with false metal teeth. Did I mention that a snake-like thing with the miniature head of historical child murderer Gilles de Rais lives in the vagina of said vampire? The sequel to the novel, Blown (Essex House - 1969) is nowhere near as interesting but does use Famous Monsters of Filmland editor Forrest J Ackerman as a major character. Farmer’s third book for the is A Feast Unknown (Essex House - 1969) a perpetually horny Tarzan battles it out with an equally horny Dic Savage. I could go on and on about Essex House but I’ll leave it to you and your viewers to dig deeper. Have fun!
Late as all hell as always replying, but holy crap, you have no idea the way your comment made my head spin! I am now on a mission to get a hold of Image of the Beast. Thank you so much for this contribution. It will be duly praised in the next installment. ❤️
New to the channel. Love it!! Thanx
Thank you so much! Glad you’re enjoying the content. :D
I thought this would not come out until June.
Whew! At least I was a half a month ahead of you! 😂
YES love this series! Woohoo!
Devil all the Time is better than Heavenly Table in my humble opinion - not a popular one haha! And The Vegetarian keeps popping up for me so I think I must need to read that soon ......Awesome job Juan!
Is that not a popular opinion? Well, I’ll have to read it and see if I can join you in populating it. I found Heavenly Table a bit meandering and indulgent in useless detail-but it didn’t make it a bad book! I just didn’t like it as much as I thought I would.
@@PlaguedbyVisions I felt that Devil was a more focused story, and showcased a bit more of the horror writer in Pollock. I agree that neither are bad!
Hi Juan! I don't know if you've talked about this in any of your videos but, why don't you like true crime? i got curious haha
I’ve sort-of mentioned it, but the knowledge that it’s directly parroting real-life tragedy always leaves me feeling a bit weirded out. It’s an ethics thing that I haven’t had the time or patience to work out for myself. I don’t judge others for enjoying it though, of course. I’d be a hypocrite. 😂
Thank you for reading my comment on “O.” To me, the most disturbing part of the story was the grooming of Nathalie by O for Sir Stephen. Too many think of Nathalie as an older teen, but she was portrayed in the book as 12-13. Grooming an older teen is bad enough, but the implication that a child of 12 can give consent is horrifying.
Yes, it certainly is an extremely harrowing journey when the erotic disposition is stripped down. I think many tales of erotica are like that. Anais Nin also comes to mind.
I don't see many people talk about this novel, so I have one suggestion. "Tideland" by Mitch Cullin is a (coming of age? childhood trauma? it's many things) novel about a young girl being left behind by her deceased heroin-addicted parents in the middle of nowhere. The experience of reading it is upsetting, to say the least. I'm not easily disturbed, but one of its scenes left me nauseous and wanting to put the book down. One other detail I want to note is that the novel is from the perspective of the little girl, so a lot of the tragedy that happens around her she doesn't understand and instead makes up fantasies as she goes on.
It was also adapted into a movie by Terry Gilliam. As you can imagine, it's incredibly controversial and not many people defend it. The original novel is also part of a trilogy of individual stories all set in Texas and all about neglect and adolescent suffering in some shape or form. I don't know if anyone else agrees about the novel, but to me, it reads like a more fucked up "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls. It's not a real memoir, and it's fictional, however, it's like the protagonist is looking back at her depressing childhood and the depressing summer she had through the same lens she had when she was a child. It makes me wish that we continued to see more of her after the novel ended, but unfortunately, I'll probably never get a confirmation on if she turned out okay. As a big fan of the novel, I definitely recommend it.
I have seen this film, and had no idea it was originally a novel! I’m going to have to seek it out whenever I can buy books again. Thank you so much for the recommendation! I’ll be sure to mention it in the next installment.
Glad to see some Stephen King on the list! Revival by King is my favorite book, I think it's his most disturbing work, but in a way that's hard to explain without ruining the book. I love harmony korine's movies, I've never read his books, seems right up my alley. If you haven't seen the videos already, look up his appearances on letterman that got him banned 😂
I love Korine on Letterman. You can find a Letterman appearance here on UA-cam where he talks about this very book I mentioned, and his explanations are hilarious.
Well, looks like I’ll have to jump into newer King eventually! Thanks, Toby!
"The Furry Trap" by Josh Simmons is a great collection of disturbing and well-drawn graphic art stories.
As does this!
Soooo excited to sink my teeth into this rotten appetizer platter.
Enjoy!
"What a red flag of a guy" 😂 @josephritchie here Juan, Hello! I really hope you pick up a copy of 'Confessions of a Prison Bitch' by 'Henry Bellows' when your book buying ban is over.
It's the autobiography of a convicted criminal (can't leave specifics on YT comments...) and 'Bellows' is of course a pseudonym. It's an autobiographical telling of his horrifying childhood, up to and including his incarceration, which mainly focuses on the taboo of men being "forced to do things" while in prison, and his theory that you just need to learn to be excited about it otherwise you will be consumed by the fear...
Very strong stuff, complete with a commentary by the brilliant Mikita Brottman, and (drum roll please) Peter Sotos obviously.
Oh hey! I never realized this was you. 😂 As always, I appreciate your constant recommendations that make me curse this book buying ban endlessly. This sounds like it’ll be an instant buy for me. I’ll definitely share this info in the next installment!
We love having an emotional support sloth to look to whilst walking among the filth
Tina the Sloth is 100% on it! She fell from the shelf the other day seemingly on her own. It’s being ruled as accidental, but I think the books might have been too much for her…
I'll admit, I'm not all the way through part 8 of this series but in the last 48hrs I've been binging. If it's been mentioned I'd be surprised but I recommend Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons. People know of this book and it's not hidden but I feel its left unread because of its disturbing size(my copy is 756 pages but with text size id say it's easily a 1100+ page book if the text size wasn't bible size). This book has all the triggers. Explicit violence, rape both physical and mental. The holocaust, mass murders..I kid you not this book disturbed me. Its depiction of violence in our world and the clever conspiracy behind it all as Simmons depicts in this gigantic Novel is graphic. its done in a way that even behind the narration of the worst characters you find yourself understand but not liking their decisions.Some of it was hard to read, everyone gets there due here and usually without their basic animalistic survival instincts to help them..its like a escalator ending at a meat grinder. Again it's what I'd say a well known book by a well known writer but man...it got me.I'd put it with the "Not what most people would consider disturbing" books. Also the Stephen King part of the video was awesome "He is the doorway" if I could also recomend 2 random disturbing King works...The Long Walk and The Outsider. One old one newer both fucked up.
I have indeed read Carrion Comfort, a few years ago, and I remember it being fantastic! It has definitely not been mentioned on this series yet, however, so I’ll be sure to include your comment in the next installment!
@Plagued Nearly forgot to ask if you'd ever read (or heard anything regarding) Joseph Heller's second novel "Something Happened"?
I my experience, "Catch-22" tends to be the lone novel of his that gets any attention at all, which is a real shame, imo. I found Catch to be quite overrated all around, with the singular joke quickly being run into the ground, especially considering the length of novel. That said, I found his second, and yes, even longer, book to be fantastic and one that continues to stick with me even now, years later.
Anyone that has read it and I have discussed it with have agreed, and I dare say that if someone can finish it without feeling as if they were gut punched, I would have to assume that something is very, very wrong with them. Highly rec'd to you, good sir.
This is fascinating! Indeed, I’ve only read Catch-22, and indeed, I hated it, but this gives me hope for Mr. Heller. I’ll be sure to mention him in the next installment. Thank you so much!
when pee wee gaskin was put to death matt and myself were having sushi dinner and discussing the case in loud voices. Pee wee being the #1 south carolina serial killer. from the next table a woman spoke up. " don't believe anything Pee wee says he is a damn liar" . turns out she was pee wee's lawyer's wife. " i had a pair of Pee wee's tiny shoes in the trunk of my car forever".
What?! I have legit never heard of this killer before! Reading a book by a sociopath and manipulator sounds like a truly disturbing experience.
@@PlaguedbyVisions he was very short and could hold grudges for a long time. his usual tactic was to get drunk with his victim then take them out on a drive then get out of the car to get them to look at something and hit them from behind with a claw hammer. He also took lots of his victims to the same place and did not even bother to bury the bodies .
The vegetarian is not super disturbing but it is really well written and has some very interesting dream sequences. I'd say it's more artistically disturbing rather than outright disturbing if that makes sense... I would definitely recommend it anyways for its literary merit!!!
Artistically disturbing is right up my alley! I don’t necessarily seek explicit gore or taboo subject matter in disturbing book. The quiet, uncertainty, and off nature of something can be just as upsetting!
Damn I had that book.The Bachman books.I had it in 1994.I no longer have it.
You can still find it for pretty cheap online with a little bit of luck!
Ah yes, Wetlands. I have a list of "most disturbing movies" and when entering the content information for Wetlands, it fell right under the sweaty butt-cheeks of the "downright gross" category.
As far as horror, my latest reading hasn't been disturbing per se. The Troop, by Nick Cutter, is good so far, although I've heard most of his other novels thus far haven't reached the same level of quality. In progress as well is Don't Turn Out the Lights: A Tribute to Alvin Schwartz. I've only read a couple of the stories and thus far I'm a bit disappointed. I don't know if it's because tributes to Schwartz are a tall order or if the illustrations (though pretty), don't hold a candle to Stephen Gammell's work, but I'll keep reading nonetheless.
I’ve been having a similar streak! I picked up a Tom Piccirilli novel that was just mediocre, and I was promised disturbing. Likewise so far with a Kristopher Triana novel. Times are hard for lovers of the disturbing.
Hi really love what you're doing here and I am urging you to check out the worksof Thomas Ligotti apologies Juan realise that you have mentioned earlier that they weren't for you I guess despite sharing so many similar tastes we are not going to agree but what i would say is Jeff Vandemeer is correct in my view in his intro to the penguin edition that Ligotti is actually an experimental writer in the mold of Beckett, Kafka, Bruno Schultz, Djuna Barnes, Flann O'Brien and EM Cioran so that the prose and forms themselves are larger than the surface content ie horror his non fiction work the conspiracy against the human race fails because it is trying to be explicit whereas the fiction in my humble opinion is such great prose it reveals what he is trying to get at in that book a despair that is so total that it is beyond even the nihilism of tibetan buddhism, despait about conciousness, existence and nature itself and it is often very very funny much like those other writers mentioned above forgot to mention Sartre of la Nausee too
Well, this is certainly the most compelling argument for Ligotti I’ve read in my comments! I admit, when I first tried Ligotti, I don’t think I was at the same level of appreciation for dark fiction that I am now thanks to this channel, so that, paired with your wonderful words, makes me want to give him another shot for sure!
@@PlaguedbyVisions thanks for reply Juan appreciate the time you take BTW have tried to prescribe Ligotti many times over many years with little success but I believe I am right in saying he is the only living author to have been published under the Penguin Modern Classics imprint
Hello, was I banned from your server or something?
Hi, sorry! What happened was: My Discord account was hacked and my server was deleted. I’m sorry. :(
Im famous! You are very right on your points sir, it's hard for the "literary sledgehammer" to sculpt Caravaggio level stuff, he's probably just the guy who lops the arms off the busts. Apparently he wrote The Resurrectionist in a very short period of time using his blunt style to draft the first few chapters quickly which he decided to stick with after people liked it. Yes it meanders, yes it deflates, but i have to give it to Wrath, his ideas are twisted. Rape murder is just one of the worst things one human being can do to another and the way he creates this story where a man can do it hundreds of times to women he's stalking and act like it's no biggy cause of his ability, in conjunction with the surprising restraint at times from Wrath throughout that allows an amount of ambiguity at what or how much has transpired... the scenes where it's working made it worth it for me. I think you might like some of his short story stuff, just fun, ridiculous ideas. Peace mane
I think you’re exactly right: His ideas have an obscene and daring flavor to them that truly captivate, even if the execution leaves a lot to be desired. It’s the “concept” of the Resurrecionist that I appreciated the most, because White really does think outside of the box that most extreme authors confine themselves to.
🥰 Wow! Thanks for reading my ridiculously-long textual diarrhea 😅 I get easily excited. So honoured, I feel like Mike Wazowski when he says to Sully: "I was on TV!!!" XD Thanks again for sharing my recommendations and sharing your wonderful persona with everyone of us, my friend! Everything great that we all say about you is true 😎
Thank YOU so much for your recommendations, and as always, for all of your support, my friend!
Damn I completely forgot I wrote that comment 👀👀👀
Hahaha! I loved your comment so much!
Let’s gooooooooooooooo
*dabs disturbingly*
Cute sloth. lol. Do you write? Your prose often sounds like poetry.
Sloths are my favorite animal! I’ve never published anything, but I do write fiction from time to time! I’ve never tried poetry.
@@PlaguedbyVisions many of the great prose writers have a melodic (not pop-like, you know what I mean dude) tone to their work. That's what I hear when you get grooved into a review. I'd love for you to share some of your work sometime with us!
Ahhhh shieettt
Ya sabes mami
Huzzah :)
Uh isnt wetlands also a movie
5:21
Indeed!