Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

I am looking for suggestions for the darkest, most cringe worthy books you have ever read. Maybe something you couldn’t finish, because the content was so disturbing.

Can be any genre, and long as it’s still fictional.

Tampa - I had a hard time reading this one as it's pretty cringe worthy
A Little Life - I couldn't finish this one due to content

Golden Boy - this one made me very uncomfortable and I had a very hard time getting through it

The Girl Next Door
The End of Alice

Comfort Food
Tender Mercies
The Milk Bitch Trilogy

Purge

Scott wrote: "The Girl Next Door"

Just a sidenote, thought of mentioning that book, this is loosely based on a true case, so not entirely fiction.

to the OP:
As I managed to read and finish that one, I can say I cringed a lot, also a book which never left me, a true nightmare.
At that time I read up on the case (google / wiki / true crime pages) and cannot really say what is worse, the book or the case. If I remember correctly, the book made me feel and some actions where worse described in the book than what happened in reality: as if what really happened was a watered down version of the book, if that is even possible.

Not really a book I recommend reading, just so you know what to expect. This is also true for my next suggestions. Take care and think hard what you might get into when reading these books.

A lot of books by Hubert Selby Jr., I tried
LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN and could not finish it. May try again some time. The movie is watered down (the end-scene).
Saw the movie from Requiem for a Dream, which was difficult to watch (un-cut version), and bought the book not sure if I will ever be in the mood to read it.
Somewhere, I think on GoodReads, The Room was described as the most far out cringe-worthy, difficult book from him, and of course I bought it, and like the other books from him have not read it yet.
So a few books, one started and DNF-ed, a few others bought but not read, not really recommended, but might fit in your quest.

The Witch and the Priest

Twilight by William Gay - this isn't the Twilight vampire series btw.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone but this is more about what was going on at the time. I started reading it to my then 4 year old grandson--while he was in the PICU at Children's Hospital in Columbus, OH. He had cancer, and that's never a good time. He's now 22 years old, but those early years, and the loss of so many of his Clinic friends is still hard on him. And I've never been able to read any of the other books in the series because of this.

American Psycho and Glamorama

The first one very good, the second one quite awful.

I had a hard time with The Lovely Bones (sorry on mobile and can’t link). One of very few books that I’ve placed on my mental “forget they ever existed� shelf.

The Lovely Bones
Psycho II

Lobstergirl wrote: "American Psycho
The first one very good"

This reminds me, I was quite surprised when I discovered by accident, that some stuff there is borrowed (stolen?) from this book:
The 120 Days of Sodom.
Both definitely are cringeworthy, and I did not manage to finish "The 120 days ...".

The Marquis de Sade is a great suggestion (for the topic). I've skimmed Juliette, never had the willingness/willpower/courage to read more than a couple pages at a time.

Monsters in the Dark
Abuse: The Complete Trilogy
The two suggestions above are trilogies. I like dark subject matter and I really liked both of these and both were difficult to read at times but I was unable to put them down if that makes sense. They do have satisfying endings

Asking For It by Louise O'Neill - You're not going to like Emma at first. But what happens to her and what continues happening after that is.... painful. and horrible. It's a powerful book.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott - Child abduction, child abuse, sexual assault.... this is another scary one.

Rich Again and Black Alice. I think Rich Again has the scarier villain, but Black Alice is a more enjoyable book.

Smack by Melvin Burgess. Teens on heroin, prostitution, heroin babies, the whole deal. Pretty graphic

/book/show/8...

Through Darkest America and the follow up Dawn's Uncertain Light. While the MC is quite young and the books are not meant to be horror (I think) there are some very disturbing themes and scenes.

I was going to read Meat but after the above two I have been postponing it ... one day though.

Living Dead Girl is quite open with it's dark-theme but not cringe-worthy. However I think some would have difficulty reading it.

Of course it all depends what kind of themes/writing works on you. I'd be curious for suggestions from OP.

The Summer I Died I just quit this one and thank it for helping me dial in what I don't like in a horror story. spoiler in my review /review/show...

I Stop Somewhere was quite full-on.

Shella

The V Girl

As Meat Loves Salt