Darkest books you've read?

[pellaz]

Aztec by Gary Jennings

I read this a while ago and thought it was extreme. Probably would not read it now but read this book (1034 pages) and his other works in my past. So ck out Jennings for something to push the limits. Maybe all the better if its out of print.

[HomeagainNYC]

Perfume by Patrick Süskind.

[pellaz]

Perfume; presume your talking about the novel, see the movie too

[HomeagainNYC]

Yes, the novel, as usual the movie cannot begin to do the book justice.

[kokomoloko79]

Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis

I second these. Anything Burroughs usually has a dark element and damn could that man write!

[Kiid]

Harry Potter u.u
...............

[megumidesu]

Well there's a scene with eggs in Story of the Eye and an obsession with bodily fluids not usually considered sexual that many people consider to rival Sodom. However, I find Sodom more crude, partly because it was unfinished and unrefined by Sade and shows the mark of his madness at the time, unlike Justine which is a more coherent erotic novel.

There's probably some Japanese ero-guro out there that would make Sade blanch.

"justine" is a really depressing book ...
i feel so bad for her . especially at the end . like , she finally finds somewhere where she's not being abused and tortured and i get so hopeful that she'll be happy and lovely but naaaaahhhhh -_____-

[partisan]

Yes, the novel, as usual the movie cannot begin to do the book justice.

maybe not, but the film is still something special.

[partisan]

In mainstream horror peter straub, i think stands heads and shoulders above people like king, koontz, or herbet. And darker.

- magic terror (short storys)
- lost boy, lost girl (novel)

[MisterLove]

Summer is coming up and I'm actually quite happy and excited! As always when that happens I get the thirst for really morbid and twisted literature. [...]

I'm not sure if 'morbid' is the exact word but William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist is definitely scary and disturbing.