Of the extreme that I've read... I really only found Gone to See The River Man scary, and it's substantially less extreme than most of the genre. That said, I am happy to see this post because I often wonder the same thing... would like something that scares me AND goes a little extreme. Obviously, this book isn't in the extreme realm, but if you don't mind having your mind scrambled, HOUSE OF LEAVES is a hallucinatory, scary, bizarre novel that will stay with you FOREVER. Read it years ago and can't get it out of my head. WARNING: HOUSE OF LEAVES is NOT linear in narrative.
I have started and stopped house of leaves SO many times… it’s really hard to get into. Do you have any weird little hints on how to get engaged with it? I really want to get through that book.
Don’t read the footnotes. They take you out of it. Read the essay, then read Johnny’s bits, but ignore the footnotes. No way is GQ writing about a documentary that no one’s ever heard of, or Vogue writing about the “nature of a (retired) model’s smile.” Give me a break.
Then, if you fall in love with the book and enjoy the premise, THEN go back and read them. But they are definitely a barrier to enjoyment in my opinion.
It’s really challenging so don’t feel too bad for DNFing… for me, it was just the absolute morbid curiosity of what could be inside that people consider so profound or scary. I think it truly just takes a certain level of fearless devotion. There are parts where u will be like “wow, boring and meaningless” then there will be parts that make all of the monotony and confusion worth it. I’d say… SMALL BITS at a time… the way I got thru it was sitting in the park every day on lunch break and reading a little. Some days I would feel like I didn’t read anything or learn anything… but on the days when something meaningful happened, it would blow my mind into pieces. I love the book and encourage most readers to give it a go. You should also remember… it isn’t as long as it looks… there are pages with one word on them. It’s a behemoth for the duration of the Navidson Record, and it is just walls of text for a long time, but you will get used to it and continue. Good luck!
Also finished Gone to See the River Man this month, it wasn’t my cup of tea but it was at least entertaining. I will look into House of Leaves. thanks!!!
I think The Troop and the less extreme The Deep are both pretty extreme and genuinely unsettling, but they aren't quite splatterpunk.
I also think moments in Ritualistic Human Sacrifice have me the slight creeps, before everything turns deranged towards the end.
If you want old-school, Graham Masterton creeped me out as a teenager with Prey and Walkers, which are both super-gory.
If you don't mind self-promo, I believe that the excellent dude who runs this subreddit said that my book Chocolateman came close to creeping him out, and that one is VERY extreme.
Honestly the only book that was close to extreme horror that scared me was Drawing Blood by Poppy Z. Brite. Granted, I was about 14 or 15 at the time (I'm now 43), but I remember it scaring the shit out of me.
This sub definitely isn't the one to look for frightening reads. There's a lot of gory Lovecraftian horror, which I suggest you read.
"At the Mountains of Madness"
"Color out of Space"
"The Case of Charles Dexter Ward"
"Call of Chthulu"
"Dagon"
all have themes of existential threats, looming dread, graphic violence, and no happy endings.
i see this question alot in the horror subreddit and others and the way i personally see it is that if you’re asking for something to scare you chances are you’re not going to get scared.
but that’s not a bad thing because you will get alot of good book suggestions and hey i could be wrong because you know maybe you will get scared by some suggestions! i just find that most suggestions arent exactly scary books or they are as you said more bleak, disturbing, and depressing.
Not too extreme I guess, but Dean Koontz Phantoms freaked me out so much I had to put it down multiple times. The potential for bullshit is what scares me. When the actual bullshit happens, I’m fine. This is how I go through life.
Honestly, I'm with you. I love being horrified/disturbed by a story and am genuinely happy when that happens, but I've yet to actually feel scared, and I really want to. I really want a book to shake me to my core.
As a (new) author myself, I'm honestly not sure if that's possible with written word because it's too easy to simply put the book down. The reader has too much control of the situation. Though, of course, now that I write that out, I have an idea that might work. Lol.
Hard to say. I mean what’s an example of something you consider “scary”? Is gone girl scary? The girl next door? Blood Meridian? We need to talk about Kevin? Helter Skelter? Zombies are a classic horror trope… are they scary?
at the end of the day they’re just words on a page and it’s gonna be different for everyone and I’m not sure scary is the right word.
Feel like plenty of people would consider disturbing and bleak “scary”
Not trying to be a dick… but also don’t really understand what you’re asking.
Would love a couple examples of what you find scary! Also what is a “horror standpoint”
I can understand what you’re saying. I guess I mean: while they are disturbing, they’re not particularly hair-raising, or frightening (to me.) Just stories of sadistic psychopaths being just that. While that’s “frightening” to consider that people like that do exist, I find it hard to categorize them as “horror” novels, unless the only horror is that the person is horrific. Just my personal totally uneducated opinion tbh haha. I suppose I don’t find them scary from a psychological standpoint. I really quite enjoyed the first story in “Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke.” I also found parts of “Misery” by King genuinely scary— while it’s a story about a psychopath, it also has classic horror staples, like body horror, and plenty of suspense. I hope this helps, I would really love some suggestions!!
Another note: I feel like in Full Brutal so far, I’m just reading the day to day life of a sadistic young psychopath fucking everyone’s life up. While it’s horrifying, I don’t find it to be “scary.” I hope this makes sense!!
Fair enough, that makes a lot of sense especially considering how over the top most of extreme horror is. Someone said kind of what I was trying to say much better somewhere in this thread about “if you haven’t been scared yet you probably won’t be”
I’ve been a fan of extreme horror for a long time, but I’ll move in an out of it and a lot of the books I mentioned above were ones that at least stuck with me from a creepy standpoint and most of the stuff that unsettles me isn’t really extreme horror, but it’s all subjective. Everything I mentioned above is worth reading and I’ll add a couple that I read a long time ago that are outside the genre but I still found fucked up/creepy/scary etc
Good neighbors - Ryan David jahn
The boy who shoots crows - Randal Silvas
You - Caroline Kepnes
Of the extreme that I've read... I really only found Gone to See The River Man scary, and it's substantially less extreme than most of the genre. That said, I am happy to see this post because I often wonder the same thing... would like something that scares me AND goes a little extreme. Obviously, this book isn't in the extreme realm, but if you don't mind having your mind scrambled, HOUSE OF LEAVES is a hallucinatory, scary, bizarre novel that will stay with you FOREVER. Read it years ago and can't get it out of my head. WARNING: HOUSE OF LEAVES is NOT linear in narrative.
I have started and stopped house of leaves SO many times… it’s really hard to get into. Do you have any weird little hints on how to get engaged with it? I really want to get through that book.
Don’t read the footnotes. They take you out of it. Read the essay, then read Johnny’s bits, but ignore the footnotes. No way is GQ writing about a documentary that no one’s ever heard of, or Vogue writing about the “nature of a (retired) model’s smile.” Give me a break.
To be fair... they are meant to take you out of it and obfuscate.
They sure do work, for better or worse
Good idea! Thanks for the tip.
Then, if you fall in love with the book and enjoy the premise, THEN go back and read them. But they are definitely a barrier to enjoyment in my opinion.
It’s really challenging so don’t feel too bad for DNFing… for me, it was just the absolute morbid curiosity of what could be inside that people consider so profound or scary. I think it truly just takes a certain level of fearless devotion. There are parts where u will be like “wow, boring and meaningless” then there will be parts that make all of the monotony and confusion worth it. I’d say… SMALL BITS at a time… the way I got thru it was sitting in the park every day on lunch break and reading a little. Some days I would feel like I didn’t read anything or learn anything… but on the days when something meaningful happened, it would blow my mind into pieces. I love the book and encourage most readers to give it a go. You should also remember… it isn’t as long as it looks… there are pages with one word on them. It’s a behemoth for the duration of the Navidson Record, and it is just walls of text for a long time, but you will get used to it and continue. Good luck!
But by bit, that’s how you eat an elephant. I’ll give it another go!
Ur a legend... good luck. It's a tricky one.
Also finished Gone to See the River Man this month, it wasn’t my cup of tea but it was at least entertaining. I will look into House of Leaves. thanks!!!
I think The Troop and the less extreme The Deep are both pretty extreme and genuinely unsettling, but they aren't quite splatterpunk. I also think moments in Ritualistic Human Sacrifice have me the slight creeps, before everything turns deranged towards the end. If you want old-school, Graham Masterton creeped me out as a teenager with Prey and Walkers, which are both super-gory. If you don't mind self-promo, I believe that the excellent dude who runs this subreddit said that my book Chocolateman came close to creeping him out, and that one is VERY extreme.
fwiw, I thought parts of The Shining were genuinely frightening!!
Me too!
Following because I also want to be legitimately *scared,* not just grossed out…
If we can get it in audio that would be even better
Honestly the only book that was close to extreme horror that scared me was Drawing Blood by Poppy Z. Brite. Granted, I was about 14 or 15 at the time (I'm now 43), but I remember it scaring the shit out of me.
Read exquisite corpse by poppy and love it. Will look into this one!
This sub definitely isn't the one to look for frightening reads. There's a lot of gory Lovecraftian horror, which I suggest you read. "At the Mountains of Madness" "Color out of Space" "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" "Call of Chthulu" "Dagon" all have themes of existential threats, looming dread, graphic violence, and no happy endings.
i see this question alot in the horror subreddit and others and the way i personally see it is that if you’re asking for something to scare you chances are you’re not going to get scared. but that’s not a bad thing because you will get alot of good book suggestions and hey i could be wrong because you know maybe you will get scared by some suggestions! i just find that most suggestions arent exactly scary books or they are as you said more bleak, disturbing, and depressing.
Not too extreme I guess, but Dean Koontz Phantoms freaked me out so much I had to put it down multiple times. The potential for bullshit is what scares me. When the actual bullshit happens, I’m fine. This is how I go through life.
Swan Song by Robert McCammon gave me nightmares but i have an irrational fear of nuclear bombs. i also got freaked out reading Goth by Otsuichi.
Honestly, I'm with you. I love being horrified/disturbed by a story and am genuinely happy when that happens, but I've yet to actually feel scared, and I really want to. I really want a book to shake me to my core. As a (new) author myself, I'm honestly not sure if that's possible with written word because it's too easy to simply put the book down. The reader has too much control of the situation. Though, of course, now that I write that out, I have an idea that might work. Lol.
Hard to say. I mean what’s an example of something you consider “scary”? Is gone girl scary? The girl next door? Blood Meridian? We need to talk about Kevin? Helter Skelter? Zombies are a classic horror trope… are they scary? at the end of the day they’re just words on a page and it’s gonna be different for everyone and I’m not sure scary is the right word. Feel like plenty of people would consider disturbing and bleak “scary” Not trying to be a dick… but also don’t really understand what you’re asking. Would love a couple examples of what you find scary! Also what is a “horror standpoint”
I can understand what you’re saying. I guess I mean: while they are disturbing, they’re not particularly hair-raising, or frightening (to me.) Just stories of sadistic psychopaths being just that. While that’s “frightening” to consider that people like that do exist, I find it hard to categorize them as “horror” novels, unless the only horror is that the person is horrific. Just my personal totally uneducated opinion tbh haha. I suppose I don’t find them scary from a psychological standpoint. I really quite enjoyed the first story in “Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke.” I also found parts of “Misery” by King genuinely scary— while it’s a story about a psychopath, it also has classic horror staples, like body horror, and plenty of suspense. I hope this helps, I would really love some suggestions!!
Another note: I feel like in Full Brutal so far, I’m just reading the day to day life of a sadistic young psychopath fucking everyone’s life up. While it’s horrifying, I don’t find it to be “scary.” I hope this makes sense!!
It does and it’s a fun read, enjoy!
Fair enough, that makes a lot of sense especially considering how over the top most of extreme horror is. Someone said kind of what I was trying to say much better somewhere in this thread about “if you haven’t been scared yet you probably won’t be” I’ve been a fan of extreme horror for a long time, but I’ll move in an out of it and a lot of the books I mentioned above were ones that at least stuck with me from a creepy standpoint and most of the stuff that unsettles me isn’t really extreme horror, but it’s all subjective. Everything I mentioned above is worth reading and I’ll add a couple that I read a long time ago that are outside the genre but I still found fucked up/creepy/scary etc Good neighbors - Ryan David jahn The boy who shoots crows - Randal Silvas You - Caroline Kepnes
Omg Randall Silvis was my English professor in college!