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Original poster

Books that disturb you?

156 replies

TheMasterNotMargarita · 16/01/2017 17:58

I don't mean books that are obviously horror genre or thriller type or misery-lit.
I just finished A Handmaid's Tales and it gave me the heebie jeebies. Everyone under the regime having their place. Not knowing who you could talk to about anything. Chilling.

I was also quite freaked out by The Midwich Cuckoos and scared myself with Rebecca. Blush

Any others had a similar effect on you?

OP posts:
Grumpbum · 16/01/2017 22:15

Behind Closed Doors by BA Paris first book in ages I had a dream over

notyounanbread · 16/01/2017 22:12

The Collector by John Fowles is very disturbing. Never Let Me Go is one of those novels that haunts you for days after you finish it. American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis is horrifying. Lord of the Flies is one of the most frightening books I've ever read - those boys are 12 years old!

kelper · 16/01/2017 22:10

I started reading "we have to talk about Kevin" when I was pregnant. It remains the only book I have ever thrown in the bin, I only got about a quarter of the way in.
My offering is "the camera killer" by Thomas Glavinic, really strange but good

BasinHaircut · 16/01/2017 22:05

.

WickedLazy · 16/01/2017 22:02

The swan by Roald Dahl. Was at the front of the wonderful story of Henry Sugar (which is also an odd read). The cruelty is heartbreaking. It's the only short story of several (I think there were 5 or 7) that I can actually remember reading. I think I would have been around 8 or 9 at the time.

Lemond1fficult · 16/01/2017 22:01

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - it's mostly about two Dalit tailors in 70s India and their struggles to survive and realise their dreams against the political turmoil of the day. Because I know it's all based on real-life events, it's haunted me ever since.

SouthWestmom · 16/01/2017 21:59

Every Last One

Just sad and surprising

MrsG30 · 16/01/2017 21:54

Black yes that was it! One read is plenty 😢

BlackIsTheNewBlack · 16/01/2017 21:41

Mrsg was it The lovely Bones?

If so then I agree. Awful book! One read was more than enough.

BlackIsTheNewBlack · 16/01/2017 21:39

Definitely agree with ...kevin and *Handmaids Tale.
My contribution to this thread is When the wind blows by Raymond Briggs.

I read it when I was about 14/15 and it has stayed with me. In fact, as soon as I saw the thread title I thought of it. It's a story told about an everyday, average, retired couple who are getting ready for (the possibility of) nuclear war but they really don't get it.
They're good citizens who follow the governments advice to the letter but it doesn't help them in the slightest.

Heartbreaking and chilling in the extreme!

MrsG30 · 16/01/2017 21:31

The Dice Man by Luke Reinhart - had me in tears and I think I only managed the first 2 chapters and threw the awful thing on the fire. It's about a psychiatrist who begins to live his life by the roll of the dice. Sounds interesting, until the first thing the 'dice' tell him to do is rape his neighbour. Hideous. That book sh*t me right up.

There was another book I read which I have a feeling is quite well known, but I can't remember the title or author. It's about a young girl who is abducted and murdered (horrible). The story is from her POV in the afterlife, watching her family cope with the tragedy and grow up. It was a really hard read, very moving - I read most of it through tears.

quencher · 16/01/2017 21:17

Half a yellow sun by chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

The ending still haunts me 7-8 years from when last read it. I watched the movie and it didn't have the same feeling the book gave and it doesn't have the effect the book has.

DodoRevival · 16/01/2017 20:59

Let's Go Play at the Adams.

Never babysit overnight after reading this. Ever.

LessThanJacob · 16/01/2017 20:55

House of leaves gave me the willies. Bought it on the recommendation of a previous thread like this.

Also second we need to talk about Kevin. Thought I would hate that book but read it on honeymoon and loved it. DH read it too and we spent the last week talking about it!

Ellieboolou27 · 16/01/2017 20:44

Redannie that book sounds truly disturbing!
I can't read any books on child abuse since becoming a mum, pre kids I read a piece of cake and that haunted me for ages

Plsstopstalkingme · 16/01/2017 20:42

Place marking

KnottedAnchorChief · 16/01/2017 20:38

I'm the King of the Castle by Susan Hill, who also wrote the Woman in Black. Chilling story of childhood jealousy and rivalry.

Filibustering · 16/01/2017 20:37

Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel. It's about a small-time spirit medium doing the seedy outer London circuit of function rooms and 'Psychic Fayres' in the late 1990s, and you spend the entire novel wondering whether the spirits who haunt her are 'real' or the displaced signs of trauma left over from a horrifically abusive childhood. Chilling and brilliantly-written.

ryderandthepups · 16/01/2017 20:32

We Need To Talk About Kevin nearly put me off having kids!

braceybracegirl · 16/01/2017 20:22

Yes please! I work in social care so I would not want to read it!! Too much like work :(

redannie118 · 16/01/2017 20:21

This reply has been withdrawn

The OP has privacy concerns, and so we've agreed to take this down now.

Vinegartitsvera · 16/01/2017 20:20

I was going to say 'We need to talk about Kevin' too. How having a child can go so wrong.

braceybracegirl · 16/01/2017 20:19

Redannie118 that sounds awful. Why do they do that?

redannie118 · 16/01/2017 20:11

This reply has been withdrawn

The OP has privacy concerns, and so we've agreed to take this down now.

Daisymclazy · 16/01/2017 20:00

Somewhere south of midnight. Author unknown as I've lent it out.