That list is weak. He knows nothing about small press horror or any underground literature. I agree that Johnny Got His Gun deserves a place, but most of the rest seem halfassed to me. I'd start with The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers, A Million Versions of Right by Matt Revert and Zombie by Joyce Carroll Oates.

Surely all lists of this sort are subjective? I've had my stomach churned by stuff, and even experienced awe once or twice... but "disturbing"... couldn't that only apply to non-fiction stuff? I mean, anybody can WRITE some bad, bad stuff (I've done it, and have actually witnessed visceral reactions; one guy I knew stopped reading a flash piece of mine before the end because he was freaking out) but to actually KNOW it has happened is a different kettle of fish.

Kind of makes me wonder about that Ketchum book though... would anyone call a fictionalised account of the Fritzl horror (or Baby P) anything other than a piece of exploitation?

I'll make an addendum to my previous post. I didn't read the list before, but "The Girl Next Door" by Jack Ketchum, is worthy of a Top Ten list. It was disturbing. I don't know if it deserves number 1, but it's a pretty sick book (if you like that). Jack Ketchum writes some great shorts too. "Peaceable Kingdoms" has some great shit.

Kevin Sweeney wrote:
Surely all lists of this sort are subjective? I've had my stomach churned by stuff, and even experienced awe once or twice... but "disturbing"... couldn't that only apply to non-fiction stuff? I mean, anybody can WRITE some bad, bad stuff (I've done it, and have actually witnessed visceral reactions; one guy I knew stopped reading a flash piece of mine before the end because he was freaking out) but to actually KNOW it has happened is a different kettle of fish.

Kind of makes me wonder about that Ketchum book though... would anyone call a fictionalised account of the Fritzl horror (or Baby P) anything other than a piece of exploitation?
I can agree with that. Reading about such events can actually remove your sense of security, faith in [humanity/God/other ideals], what you just ate, etc.

About the Fritzl thing (because I don't know about what happened with Baby P)... kind of. There have been many, many fictionalizations of real human horror, and I'd probably say that the level of exploitation is directly proportional to how sensationalized the piece is.

I agree with Requiem and Johnny from that list, but that's about it. And I actually felt far more bothered and heartbroken by Selby's Last Exit to Brooklyn.

Okay, the habi-trail scene in American Psycho still freaks me out.

Delany's Hogg belongs on any list of this nature, and it's criminal to omit it. Just terrible, nasty, disgusting shit. And the ending is about as dark as it gets.

Garret- You'd list Oates' Zombie over American Psycho or Exquisite Corpse? It's an un-nerving portrait, to be sure, and the use of the chicks to trap the kid is foul (fowl... forgive me). But does it really work? It's so one note...

The Girl Next Door didn't work for me because I made the mistake of reading a very detailed account of the actual case, and it was so much worse in real life. I'm one of a few people that actually thinks Off Season is the better Ketchum novel.

JRJ wrote:
I agree with Requiem and Johnny from that list, but that's about it. And I actually felt far more bothered and heartbroken by Selby's Last Exit to Brooklyn.

Yeah, I agree that both 'Last Exit' and (imo) 'Monster' are more heartbreaking than Requiem.

JRJ wrote:
The Girl Next Door didn't work for me because I made the mistake of reading a very detailed account of the actual case, and it was so much worse in real life. I'm one of a few people that actually thinks Off Season is the better Ketchum novel.

I totally agree that the real story that "The Girl Next Door" is based on is much more disgusting. I didn't learn that it was based on real events until after I read the book though.

I never read Requiem, but saw the movie. I guess I'm not into drugs so I couldn't really understand the lengths people would go to in order to get them. It was a depressing movie to me though, that people would completely self-destruct from addiction.

JRJ wrote:
I agree with Requiem and Johnny from that list, but that's about it. And I actually felt far more bothered and heartbroken by Selby's Last Exit to Brooklyn.



Garret- You'd list Oates' Zombie over American Psycho or Exquisite Corpse? It's an un-nerving portrait, to be sure, and the use of the chicks to trap the kid is foul (fowl... forgive me). But does it really work? It's so one note...


It might be very one note, but the disorganized thinking going on gets very offputting. There's a chapter that begins with an ampersand. American Psycho is too human and funny to be truly disturbing. Too many points of entry. It's so damn readerly. Which is why Zombie, which is an ordeal to get through because you're stuck in a circle of repetitive bullshit is the more disturbing book.

Garret- I just flipped through my copy and I'll be damned if you aren't right. It's creepy just to look at. Thousands of ampersands and the narrator's childish little drawings... Yuck!

Great final chapter, too, if you're into the whole "banality of evil" thing.

I read a true crime book in my late teens called Cannibal Killers which was pretty creepy, especially when you started to notice how these guys were all so similar at their roots, with the bed-wetting and fires and animal torture and motherly sexual abuse. Reminds me of a great Jack Ketchum short called "The Rifle" (I think) about a mother who recognizes psychopathy in her own son and does what needs to be done.

JRJ wrote:


I read a true crime book in my late teens called Cannibal Killers which was pretty creepy, especially when you started to notice how these guys were all so similar at their roots, with the bed-wetting and fires and animal torture and motherly sexual abuse.

I think I had that same book when I was 16. I think I stole it from my job.