For the readers of bizarro fiction, what is the most disturbing book you’ve read?
For the readers of bizarro fiction, what is the most disturbing book you’ve read? Feel free to throw in recommendations , I’m rediscovering the fascinating world of bizarro
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. 25+ years later and I still carry some images around in my head. *shudder*
I’ve always wanted to read it, but somehow other novels got between us. Now is the time
Misery by Stephen King, because the book is so much more twisted than the movie.
I’ve read it and liked it. I do think that some bizarro novels would make Misery look like a baby 🙂
@Andreia Ah! I guess I misunderstood the definition of bizarro, then. What is a good bizarro book?
This is one of my favorites. It has stories, it’s not a novel, so it’s easier to see if you would enjoy it or not. It depends on the taste, I don’t personally know anyone who loves this genre… let me know what you think if you try it. 🙂
What is bizarro fiction?
I had to look it up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizarro_fiction
I consider Geek Love bizarro and also found it extremely disturbing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geek_Love
That’s so twisted! *adds to TBR list* 😀
Yeah, that is a WEIRD book.
One of my all time favorite books!
on my list now!
Love that book!
Not sure if this qualifies, but the Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer is one of the most disturbing things I’ve read in a long time. https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Reach-Trilogy-Book/dp/B00W6RS2RI/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1507148130&sr=8-2
Even if it doesn’t qualify, i like disturbing 🙂
Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter is really strange.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0765380544/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507149418&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=vassa+in+the+night
Oh my gosh! My daughter just finished this on Sunday and said it’s the weirdest book she’s ever read. (And disturbing!)
Sold!
Check out Tom Robbins
Tom Robbins
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Thomas Eugene “Tom” Robbins (born July 22, 1932) is an American author. His best-selling novels are “seriocomedies” (also known as “comedy-drama”), often wildly poetic stories with a strong social and philosophical undercurrent, an irreverent bent, and scenes extrapolated from carefully researched bizarre facts. His novel Even Cowgirls Get the Blues was made into a movie in 1993 by Gus Van Sant and stars Uma Thurman, Lorraine Bracco, and Keanu Reeves. — amazon bio
Perfume was definitely the weirdest book I’ve ever read. I still can’t decide if I loved it or hated it.
is that by Patrick Suskind?
@Amber yes
John Dies At the End by David Wong
I felt like that tried too hard to be an Odd Thomas (Dean Koontz) book.
I listened to that one and it made all the difference to me. It was freaking hilarious. My BF even got into it.
@Sara I listened to it also! I agree it was good but I think it felt a bit hollow, I just wanted more.
@Julie oh its total fluff. Odd Thomas was definitely meatier. Completely agree.
Great list! NOS4A2 hasn’t been mentioned yet.
I’m an hour into the audio book and I am really enjoying it so far.
K.H. Koehler and Chrstine Morgan write some…interesting and disturbing books they’re not very well known authors 🙂
Mine is a gross short story about a huge, putrid butterfly growing on some kid’s bedroom wall. It’s been fluttering around in my head for 50 years. “The Cocoon”, by John B. L. Goodwin …
Sounds like something I would love
Do you have a link where I can find it/buy it? I can’t even find it on goodreads… and i want it.
It was part of a collection of short stories when I read it all those years ago. This is where I checked on the title and author. Not sure where it could be bought now, but you can give it a good try. Maybe in some discussion group? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B._L._Goodwin and (spoiler alert!) http://www.byanyothernerd.com/2014/01/short-story-26-cocoon-by-john-b-l.html
thank you! i will ask a blogger if he can maybe scan it, it only has 20 pages. fingers crossed
Geek Love and Perfume – whole-heartedly seconded! And if you can handle YA, I (at 46 years old) just read Grasshopper Jungle at the urging of a teen friend…..
i am reading Geek Love right now…. so freaky
I put the two on my list (actually a friend keeps nagging me to read Perfume, so yay), but YA is very hard for me to read. Might give it a try, but no promises 🙂
Fever Dream by Megan McDowell, I wish I had those hours back.
…and now it’s on my list!
Definitely Geek Love. Great read.
Will try it
Wow, so many ideas, thank you!
Here’s lots of titles, if anyone dares to try some. This genre is definitely not easy to digest, but I personally think the authors are brilliant to come up with such out of this world weirdness… https://deaditepress.com/
Blood Soaked and Contagious (Volume 1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1618681060/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_L1z1zbTD3PB6J
Oh, this looks GOOD
Jim is a great friend, his other series is great too! null https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0101A1DN6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_gbA1zbX30MQC7
Absolutely loved The Greatest Fucking Moment in Sports History. So hilarious and fucked up.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/136881.The_Greatest_Fucking_Moment_in_Sports
TBR, baby! Thank you!
For a great short fiction collection, may I recommend this issue of one of the ” flagship journals of the Bizarro genre.” https://www.amazon.com/Bust-Down-Door-Eat-Chickens-ebook/dp/B0056C01J2.
There’s a couple good reviews that explain what’s in store.
Cows. Don’t read it. I am just warning you. Do. Not. Read. It. 100% sick book. But was like a train wreck and I had to finish it. Fairly short but so gross and odd.
You know what’s gonna happen now…
I just read the synopsis for Cows. I now have a really bad stomach ache! It’s on the list………….
I know. I did the same thing. Read the synopsis and thought “hey it can’t be that weird and sick”. But I really had to warn you. It is so bad and nasty. Not for the faint of heart….lol.
That’s why I have to read it! I’ll report back ?
So i just finished Cows 🙂 Read most of it today. Yes, that is one vivid pile of gory f-up shit (literally), but to my surprise I wasn’t appalled by it. It is definitely like nothing I’ve read before, yet I’m ok with it. What kind of mental disease does that statement give me? Thanks for recommending it, I will never forget it 🙂
@Andreia I felt the same way. Like nothing else I have ever read. Left me feeling a little dirty and ashamed and a little nauseated. Definitely don’t look at cows the same after it.
I’ve ordered mine, but its not here yet!!!
The Atrocity Exhibition by J.G. Ballard and The Torture Garden by Octave Mirbeau. I don’t know that these are “bizarro” exactly, but they are certainly weird, physical reads.
Thank you, I’m happy to add them to my reading list
Judging by their descriptions, they sound like they fit right in
Perfume was so disturbing, I got pulled in and couldn’t stop. I hate thrillers
The Library at Mount Char …… I still think about it and would love to have coffee with the author! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26892110-the-library-at-mount-char
I loved this one! You’re right, it was weird.
That book blew my mind, and I really need to read it again. I loved it!!
thank you…I tire of mysteries and am always looking for something a little ‘bizarro’…
Very weird and very disgusting. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CBJR254/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508974437&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=cows+by+matthew+stokoe
It is one of those books you cannot shake after you read it.
Finished cows yesterday and i did have a nightmare last night :))
The MINOTAUR TAKES A CIGARETTE BREAK
American Psycho…God what a disturbing and horrible book.i couldnt finish it.
It’s on my list! And adding the minotaur thing right now
@Andreia AP was just so awful…there are people like that, that’s what made it even more disturbing. The MINOTAUR… wasn’t disturbing. It was just bizarre, and i really liked it.
I love awful books! If theyre too normal, too close to real life, they bore me….unless the real life is the story of a really messed up person. I will also take that.
@Andreia you also might like THE CHURCH OF THE DOG
American Gods by Neil Gaiman has to fit this category, right? So warped and twisted.