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What's the darkest book/story you've ever read?

I'm thinking of reading outside my usual light genres. Suggestions?
UckfayOuyayOotay · 46-50, M
The original Grimm's Fairy Tales were pretty dark. Hansel and Gretel murdered their parents after escaping the witch, the prince Cinderella married stuffed her step mom and sisters into barrels with spikes in the sides and rolled them down a long hill into a lake, etc.
helenS · 36-40, F
@UckfayOuyayOotay Yes they are very cruel. I wonder why this book is considered a childrens' book.
UckfayOuyayOotay · 46-50, M
@helenS The stories were written at a time when death and cruelty were common place. People were desensitized to it and in fact expected it. To write a story without these details would have been odd.
SW-User
Interview with a cannibal - Günther Stapf (true crime)
helenS · 36-40, F
You want to read a dark book? Read "The Castle", by Franz Kafka.
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helenS · 36-40, F
@Darksideinthenight1 Is the "Necronomicon" really a book? Does it exist?
4meAndyou · F
F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack series is replete with monsters of the dark who want to destroy the universe and all that is light and good.

There is an entire series, also, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, all about detective Aloysius Pendergast. The first in the series is called Relic. ALL of them are horrifying.
Phase · 31-35, F
Whispers and the Roars - K, Websters.
Read it without reading any comments or spoilers. The synopsis shouldn't be too revealing still. Go in completely blind and you will not be disappointed.
SW-User
Books by EM Cioran, a pessimist with a dark sense of humor, faves include The Fall Into Time, The New Gods, A Short History of Decay and Anathemas and Admirations.
GlassDog · 41-45, M
The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
The Trial, Franz Kafka
GlassDog · 41-45, M
@helenS I feel a bit hesitant to recommend it because it left me in a slough of despond for months after reading it. I haven't read The Castle, but I'm intrigued by the idea, even if it might be bad for me.

I'm not sure I'd recommend The Wasp Factory to you. Its aim is to shock.
helenS · 36-40, F
@GlassDog I've read both, the Castle and the Trial, and The Castle is much more radical, in my opinion. I would say it's his masterpiece.
GlassDog · 41-45, M
@helenS A colleague feels the same, although I'd take your opinion above his because you've read both.
Currently reading (history/fact/non fiction) "Death's Acre" If you're into forensics, this is a very interesting book.
Autobiography. An auzzie in big tiger prison in Thailand for heroin smuggling.. scary shit..
cherokeepatti · 61-69, F
Books about women serial killers...they could be every bit as cold-blooded as male serial killers
JupiterDreams · 31-35
[i]Call Me Evie[/i] - J.P. Pomare

[i]The Dark Half[/i] - Stephen King

[i]Sharp Objects[/i] - Gillian Flynn
The road, I think
Casheyane · F
@stound What's it about?
@Casheyane dystopian future and everyone dying
goliathtree · 56-60, M
@stound I would put that right up there...also one where the movie actually did the book justice.
ImpeccablyImperfect · 51-55, F
True Crime.
That’ll change your views on humankind.
SharingIsCaringSB · 22-25, F
“The Kind Worth Killing” by Peter Swanson.
Reemar · 31-35, F
Nathaniel... Can't remember the author
dumpstermeow · 41-45, F
Splatterpunk genre. Hands down.
The Woman in Black

Carrie

A clockwork orange

The handmaids tale

The company of wolves
Uncle Tom’s Children, Richard Wright.

 
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