28 Of The Most Disturbing Books People Have Ever Read

Date: Category:News Views:1 Comment:0


On the always buzzing subreddit r/AskReddit, users were discussing the topic: What is the most disturbing book that you've read? Here are just some of the top answers:

1."Night by Elie Wiesel. I had to put it down in several places, and some of the imagery is burned into my brain. What makes it so much worse is that most of those scenes were recounting of horrors he witnessed during WWII. How anyone lived through that and was able to function at all defies logic."

Cover of "Night" by Elie Wiesel, includes "Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize" and a New York Times quote: "A slim volume of terrifying power."
Hill & Wang / Via amazon.com

u/Naive_Kaleidoscope16

2."Organic Chemistry, 5th edition. I legit wake up in the night sobbing thinking about it."

Three people with focused expressions, a woman writes chemical structures on glass. Cover of "Organic Chemistry" by Maitland Jones and Steven Fleming
W. W. Norton & Company / Via amazon.com

u/siegfrieder

3."I'll be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara. The content of the book itself is creepy, and the fact that she didn't live to see the Golden State Killer captured sits with me years after reading it."

The cover of "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" by Michelle McNamara, a true crime book about the Golden State Killer. Includes a promo for an HBO series
Harper Perennial / Via amazon.com

u/SnooRadishes3875

4."The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini."

Cover of "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, featuring a cityscape. Text highlights it as a #1 New York Times Bestseller and includes a review quote
Riverhead Books / Via amazon.com

u/Educational_Cod_2572

5."We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver"

Cover of "We Need to Talk About Kevin" by Lionel Shriver, featuring handwritten title on notebook paper
Counterpoint / Via amazon.com

u/FewMathematician8245

6."A Child Called 'It' by Dave Pelzer. It's very graphic and sad and a true story."

Book cover of "A Child Called 'It'" by Dave Pelzer, featuring a boy looking up and text highlighting survival courage
Health Communications Inc / Via amazon.com

u/Difficult_Ad_962

7."The Road by Cormac McCarthy."

Book cover for "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, highlighting its Pulitzer Prize win and a quote praising its beauty and storytelling
Vintage / Via amazon.com

u/ishellremanenaymelus

8."We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow You Will All Be Killed With Your Families by Philip Gourevitch. It's about the Rwandan genocide."

Book cover for "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families" by Philip Gourevitch, featuring a beach scene
Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Via amazon.com

u/quaswhat

9."Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews."

Cover of "Flowers in the Attic" by V.C. Andrews, 40th Anniversary Edition. Foreword by Gillian Flynn. Shows an illustration of a girl's face in an attic window
Pocket Books / Via amazon.com

u/Realistic-Drummer565

10."The Unexpected Salami. It's about rockstars, drug addiction, and sex. It involves overdosing, someone being murdered, and very explicit directions on how to come off of heroin."

Book cover for "The Unexpected Salami" by Laurie Gwen Shapiro, featuring a table setting image. The cover highlights a novel's praise by Tom Perrotta
Algonquin Books / Via amazon.com

u/CaptainFartHole

11."When I read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood in college in the mid-90s, I was troubled for days. It caused me to seriously rethink gender roles, bodily autonomy, and religion. Which, I suppose, is exactly what it was trying to do."

Cover of "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood, showing a stylized figure in a bonnet and cloak
Vintage / Via amazon.com

u/Old-Pin-7839

12."The Long Walk. It's by Stephen King, but it's a Bachman book. Can't believe they're making it a movie now, it's gonna be nuts."

Cover of "The Long Walk" by Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman, featuring a road and shadowy figures on either side
Scribner / Via amazon.com

u/FroggiJoy87

13."The Jungle by Upton Sinclair...had to stop and just cry a few times. Not the MOST disturbing book I’ve read, but some other people have already mentioned those."

Book cover of "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair, depicting an industrial scene with smoky factories and horse-drawn carts
Global Publishers / Via amazon.com

u/crynoid

14."American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis."

Cover of the book "American Psycho" by Bret Easton Ellis, featuring a close-up of a man's face partially obscured by the title text
Vintage / Via amazon.com

u/Queasy-Sector-5170

15."She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb."

Book cover of "She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb, featuring a woman's face emerging from the sea, marked as a #1 New York Times Bestseller, Oprah's Book Club
Atria Books / Via amazon.com

u/sunnysam306

16."The most disturbing thing I ever read was I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison."

Book cover of "I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison, featuring a silhouette of a screaming face enclosed in circuitry
Open Road Media / Via amazon.com

u/Remarkable_Fun7662

17."In Cold Blood by Truman Capote."

Cover of "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote featuring a landscape of trees under large, dramatic clouds
Vintage / Via amazon.com

u/SarahMae

18."Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica."

Book cover of "Tender Is the Flesh" by Agustina Bazterrica, featuring a stylized silhouette with horns and a positive review from Christina Dalcher
Scribner / Via amazon.com

u/queencat91

19."Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk."

Blurred illustration of a shocked face with wide-open eyes and mouth. Text reads "Haunted." Likely represents suspense or horror
Anchor / Via amazon.com

u/Icy-Evening8152

20."Apt Pupil by Stephen King was pretty dark."

Cover of "Apt Pupil" by Stephen King, featuring a shadowy figure and a boy, conveying suspense and intrigue
Scribner / Via amazon.com

u/Samantha-Saladfork

21."1984. Scary even in the '90s when I first read it. More so now."

Cover of George Orwell's "1984" 75th Anniversary Edition, featuring an eye design and a seal marking it as an authorized edition by the Orwell Estate
Mariner Books Classics / Via amazon.com

u/Little-Box-5222

22."Shake Hands with the Devil by Roméo Dallaire. The true account of Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire's experiences in Rwanda. He recounts a lot of his experiences, and the descriptions are horrific. Roads they couldn't drive down because they were so covered with bodies, watching people hacked apart in the street, stuff like that. It's brutal."

Cover of "Shake Hands with the Devil" by Lt. Gen. Roméo Dallaire, featuring a close-up of Dallaire in uniform. Title text overlaid on the image
Arrow Books Ltd / Via amazon.com

u/rogue-wolf

23."Beloved by Toni Morrison is pretty f*cked up. I loved it and the movie was brilliant, but I don’t think I’ll ever read it again."

Cover of "Beloved" by Toni Morrison, featuring the title with decorative lettering and mentioning it is a novel by a Nobel Prize winner
Vintage / Via amazon.com

u/ODogrealnameisKevin

24."I think my most disturbing is The Poet by Micheal Connelly. There is a chapter I wish I could scrub from my memory in that book!"

Cover of "The Poet" by Michael Connelly, featuring a crow in flight and an introduction by Stephen King
Little, Brown and Company / Via amazon.com

u/ConsistentlyScreams

25."Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. Not a gory book, but a deeply disturbing read about a man trapped in his body."

Cover of "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo, featuring a large hand making a peace sign with soldiers in the background
Bantum / Via amazon.com

u/poralialia

26."House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski."

Cover of "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski, featuring a compass design and text layout against a dark background
Pantheon / Via amazon.com

u/Melonmacaha

27."IT by Stephen King. I was a teen and hate clowns. It was disturbing but I loved it."

Book cover for Stephen King's "It" featuring a stylized clown face above the title, promoting the HBO series inspired by the novel
Scribner / Via amazon.com

u/I_DreamofTravel_15

28.And lastly, "Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Read about halfway through and said f*ck it."

Book cover of "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov features the title in artistic script above an abstract landscape, with an introduction by Claire Messud
Vintage / Via amazon.com

u/probablykelz

What is the most disturbing book you have ever read? Comment below!

Comments

I want to comment

◎Welcome to participate in the discussion, please express your views and exchange your opinions here.