This is a list of the most disturbing books I have read. And by this I mean works of fiction (short stories, novellas, short novels, novels) that kept me awake at night and left images I remember long after. I am just starting to compile the list, so it will be updated regularly. And of course I am open for recommendations!
Nathan Ballingrud - The Visible Filth
A deeply unsettling read, almost from the get go. The novella does what good horror fiction (at least in my opinion) should do: Make you feel safe while at the same time slowly pulling the rug away from under you, fiber by fiber, increasingly blurring the line between real and surreal - until you finally see that gaping hole underneath your feet that you are gonna fall into now. Like his marvelous - and recommendable - short story collection 'North American Lake Monsters', 'The Visible Filth' shows that Nathan Ballingrud is a unique voice in modern horror literature.
Kealan Patrick Burke - Blanky
What starts as a tragic story of loss, told from the perspective of a grieving father whose daughter has died just months after her birth (no spoiler here, you learn this on the first two pages), soon develops into pure and relentless horror with a deeply psychological and symbolic subtext. Kealan Patrick Burke doesn't say a word too much, and still manages to make his first person narrator almost painfully believable in his sadness, his hope, and ultimately his sheer terror. (Shout-out to Edward Lorn for his recommendation.)
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