r/ExtremeHorrorLit

(not a native, there might be mistakes in what I write)

The book I'm looking for must have all of those in the title, I'm looking for a book which brings the sense of total despair and so on
The MC is stuck in his/her own head and the stream of consciousness is weird, distant, meaningless or terribly bizarre.
The only book i read so far that matches these aspects is "I'm Thinking Of Ending Things" by Ian Reid. The atmosphere and lore are spot-on. And look, i know it's not "extreme horror", it's just an example. I'm looking mostly for psychological horror, but self-harm gory stuff will make it even better. But the psychological part must be real deep and stuff, the book shouldn't be just a gore-fest with a suicidal plot. So feel free to suggest.

The only other criteria must be that the book should have a lot of stream of consciousness and ideally be first-person.

I'm trying to see what else I can read next (in between reading A Father's Story by Lionel Dahmer as well, and I have The Time Quintet to help me come back down from the horror).

What I don't mind in splatter books that you can recommend:

* Cannibalism

* Necrophilia

* Highly descriptive details

* Dread & Psychological Trauma (Intense themes of suicide, alienation, and deep psychological impact)

I do have bodily fluid limits, but I can try to push through if the book is good:

* Pus

* Vomit

* Scatological themes / Coprophagia (This is my biggest sensitivity)

* Maggots (it's a 50/50 boundary)

Limits on Sensitive Themes:

* Adult SA/Rape: Okay with it if it actively serves the plot/psychological themes.

* Children/Infanticide: Hard 50/50 boundary. I can tolerate mild narrative elements if it pushes the extreme story forward, but I strictly want to AVOID any graphic child sexual abuse (CSA) or extreme child torture.

(Note: I am already aware of Playground by Aron Beauregard since it's highly recommended. I am keeping it in mind to potentially give a try later, so no need to suggest that specific one!)

I am morbidly intrigued by dark and disturbing movies, shows, and stories. I’d love to hear y’all’s favorite dark, disgusting, messed up, disturbing books you’ve finished (or haven’t) in your lifetime.
Bonus points if it’s a shorter book. (I have the good ol ADHD)

Hey just started reading a dark web of monsters. Book is brutal, and I’m generally having to stop or skip parts to get through it. I have not had to do that before, but the subject matter really creeps me out and makes me uncomfortable. Was wondering what books do that for you? I generally don’t feel that way when reading extreme lit.

Hey. So I'm an avid reader of DR and even horror. The main issue with the genre are the standard "romance" rules being applied to it. For example the requirement of a 'happy' ending. Then making things palatable for the readers and not showing the ugly, gritty realism of rape and violence.

I'm sick of the romantisized versions and the female characters developing a syndrome aka being delusional after for that HEA. Female characters having mind breaking orgasms during rape (Orgasm is realistic but not the kind that happens in here) Rapists being "gentle." No fear, or if present, it disappears quickly. Or the bad, dangerous man just softens and redeems.

I want a truly dangerous male character (abuser) and a female character who at least recognises that she is in pain, hurt, wounded etc. Trauma bonding is very realistic, but it doesn't imply complete delusion.

I would definitely prefer M/F dynamics. Rape, violence, etc, I read everything. My post belongs in the "horror" genre according to DR readers (I still don't understand why but anyways) so please recommend something if you can. I want an author who doesn't flinch from cruelty. Who doesn't water down the things in order to make the story land.

I love horror but mostly when it's realistic, psychological, etc. I have always been averse to anything supernatural but I'm finding myself limited and probably missing out on some amazing reads.

What would you recommend to me as a brand new reader of anything supernatural to start me off slow?

Books I love include:

Exquisite Corpse

The Girl Next Door

Those girls- Chevy Stevens

A little pinprick - Paige derth

Clearly a good torture is up my alley.

Thanks!

As I've been reading more and more extreme horror I purchased quite a few books, which take up an increasing amount of space, in my not so spacious home, and as we all know cost quite a bit too.

Living in the Netherlands not all books are available to me, unfortunately.

Hence I've started considering buying an ereader.

Now as it turns out not all books are available in ebook format here either (because of regional restrictions).

Do any of you have similar problems and do you have any suggestions or advice regarding e-readers.

The books I like best I'll still purchase physically to display.

Hi everyone. A friend and I have a small book club in which we read the same book simultaneously, and we’re interested in finding a book that is both grotesque, psychologically unsettling, and/or morally transgressive. We are not specifically looking for splatterpunk or gratuitous gore set up for shock value.

Some books we have read so far:
• Lapvona,
• You Weren't Meant to Be Human,
• Tender is the Flesh,
• Any work by Cormac McCarthy.
(My friend has not read his works, but I have. Anything similar in theme/weight to Blood Meridian, Child of God or Suttree is a welcome recommendation.)

We are both particularly drawn to fiction that combines beautiful literary prose with depravity, violence, cruelty, bleakness, existential dread, or deeply uncomfortable subject matter. We are open to both established classics and contemporary extreme fiction.

Recommendations with a brief explanation of what makes the book particularly disturbing, but without spoilers, would be greatly appreciated.

(Thank you for reading.)

So I just finished this book and I have a lot of opinions. I quite like parts of this book and agree with a lot of it's themes, namely the idea that humans are no different than animals and that we will turn on each other over very little. The idea that we would dehumanize each other just because it inconveniences us is amazing. However, there are parts of the book that I'm very not vibing with, like the main character Marco is great. I really like that we are following a piece of shit guy. A dude that keeps making excuses for his part perpetuating this while critiquing everyone else. My problems is that every other character is very one note and not built up in any other way. I understand for some is to show the evils of the world but that's really all they do. There is one character that actually tries to do something and we barely talk about him! God I would of love if Marco talked to Vegetarians, which we know exist in this world because his sister talks about them but we never get anything else with them. We also never see or hear about anyone protesting at all. I know most people would just accept it, but not everyone would. Also, why do we not get more with Jasmine we just breeze though all that shit like you are telling me this man who has lost a child doesn't have any thoughts on the idea he is basically raising a grown child that he is also fucking like God we could have gotten cool weird shit there. I would have rather gotten more there than seeing the next evil person that he meets like it's a batman villain gallery. This is just my opinion right after finishing it so it might change, but this book to me just felt a bit disappointing.

Please tell me your opinions on the book. I would love to see what other have to say.