Read If You Dare: Most Disturbing Books

Perhaps more of a Halloween-appropriate list, here are the most disturbing books I've read

This is a picture of Harriet Richardson (later Staunton) at the time of her engagement in 1875, found on the Persephone site. Her life is the subject of Harriet by Elizabeth Jenkins

CW: all sorts of abuse and violence are prominent themes in these books and I refer to a very disturbing Canadian news article

We live in troubling enough times and so it may seem odd to post a list of "most disturbing books,"  and yet, I read [content warning for link] this article on the CBC and was instantly reminded of Harriet by Elizabeth Jenkins. Jenkins' book has been reprinted in recent years by the incredibly Persephone books and is also one of the most disturbing books I have read the past few years.

The book Harriet itself is evocative, engaging, and well written even despite its extremely upsetting content. I find it particularly devastating because Harriet is based on a true story-- Jenkins published her fictional account in 1934, and it is based on a real life crime that took place in 1877. The CBC article is about Florence Girard was published by CBC News January 13, 2025, referring to Girard's murder that took place in 2018. It horrifies me that, 141 years later, such crimes and cruelty are still happening to such vulnerable people as Girard.

So why make a list of these incredibly upsetting books? I guess because they have stuck in my memory, long after I have closed the book. I was also recently reminded how important memory is for change and activism. I have re-read Gloria Steinem's My Life on the Road, and she quotes Paula Gunn Allen, who reminds us, "The root of oppression is the loss of memory." All of my books here are fiction, and still I am reminded that Jenkins' book (neverthless based on a true story) remembers the oppression of people living with disabilities, O Jeonghui's The Bird of oppressed, poverty-stricken children of colour. Carver doesn't invite much sympathy for his heinous characters, but does remind us of how pervasive gender-based violence and misogyny is.

The Bird by O Jeonghui

I read this book at the recommendation of a very smart friend of mine, for a former series I wrote about reviewing books written by Asian women. It is an excellent, heartbreaking read. Its a short novel, and if you really wanted to you could burn through it in a day, maybe even less. I was so disturbed and heartbroken by The Bird, however, that after I read this and reviewed it for the series I was working on at that time, I didn't read anything for a couple months after, I was simply too devastated.

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn 

Geek Love is an award-winning cult classic that admittedly, is so distinctly fictional it may seem odd that its on this list. However, as good and clearly-fictional as it is (I own my own print copy), I still find all the body horror, cult antics, and family abuse very disturbing and downright gross, it remains on my bookshelf and mind, and while I don't plan on revisiting any time soon, I can't deny its haunted me.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love: Stories by Raymond Carver

In a way, the punishment suits the crime for this one. I read this book, against my better judgment of generally avoiding reading books written by men because I LOVE the song Time Ain't Accidental by Jess Williamson, it was honestly one of my top 5 songs of 2023. In this song, Williamson sings, "I read you Raymond Carver by the pool bar like a lady," so naturally, I checked the book out of the library. Huge mistake! While I did truly enjoy some of Carver's stories, I found some so casually misogynistic and wantonly violent that I wanted to tear the book up (but did not because of course, it was a library book).