I read "The Girl Next Door" in 2023, in a single day. I heard it was the grandfather of extreme horror, so I was expecting a fun splatterpunk deal. Instead, it was emotionally damaging. For real. I kept reading hoping there'd be some hope at the end, then learning it was based on a true crime case was even more disturbing. Human beings are the real monsters, and that's why I tend to stick to paranormal/monster books.
Also: yes. "Gone to See the River Man" was one of the only extreme horror books I've seen folks talk about that I picked up this year that I truly enjoyed. It wasn't just icky for the sake of being gross, the characterization was wonderful.
I know details about the real case. Compared to what happened to Sylvia Likens, that book is tame. Such as they wouldn't give her a toilet and wouldn't feed her for a week or more. Then would make her eat her own waste before they would feed her anything. The characterization wasn't strong so I didn't care about the girl being tortured. It suffered being from David's point of view. It should have been from the sister's point of view.
The worst thing about The Girl Next Door is that don't even have the comfort of knowing it's fiction. Cause it's not. It's heavily inspired if not just a strait up retelling of the Sylvia Likens case. This shit happened. ALL this shit happened.
I’ve never read the book but even watching a RU-vid video was enough for me to feel it’s one the the worst true crime stories ever documented. The scariest part to me is seeing how people can go along with PERSONAL violence. We all know about people going along with violent cultures but to personally enact this kind of horror on someone is unbelievable.
I read "The Girl Next Door" and stayed up-to-date with who the people really are and where they are today. The sister of the tortured girl ended up having her own terrible tragic accident when her and her husband ended up driving off the side of the road and had to survive for days stuck in a snow drift surviving only on what they had in their car. It didn't end well for them. The woman who tortured the girl, died without ever facing the consequences of her actions. One of the girls who participated in the torture grew up to be a high school special ed teacher (or high school counselor?) somewhere in the midwest. She ended up getting let go when her identity was revealed and was forced to move to another town and changed her name. The characters in this book didn't just ruin their lives, they ruined every life close to theirs.
My main takeaway from Tender is the Flesh was that no matter how hard some people try to be a good person, desperation can create the worst of monsters. I loved that book so much and I was definitely disturbed by it for at least a week after I read it. One if my favorites.
I'm actually listening to it on Audible rn, it really is consistently funny and also consistently shocking. The writing isn't amazing tho, if you told me it was a Fight club xAmerican psycho fan fic I would believe you. The narration is very solid on the audible version too, the guy reading brings a good bit of life to the story and turns some passages from irredeemable cringe to really hilarious.
If you liked cows, I just finished Zola by D E McCluskey. 😳. That’s kinda all I have to say lol. It was funny but also easily the most disgusting book I’ve ever read in my life and I will never recover. It’s on kindle unlimited and it’s very short, highly recommend 👍
I highly recommend Along the River of Flesh by Kristopher Triana! So good! with twists I did not see coming! I'm in the middle of Full Brutal and it's great, too! And I've picked out my next two Triana reads--Ex-Boogeyman and Toxic Love! Thanks, Anda! I just discovered your channel, and you're my favorite Booktuber!❤
Idk if you’ll see this but based on your list I have a couple 2024 recommendations I think you’ll love: Full brutal by Kristopher triana!!!!! The Resurrectionist by Wrath James White! Prodigal Blues by Gary A Braunbeck. Survivor by J.F. Gonzalez. The summer I died by Ryan C.Thomas. And finally, The black Farm by Elias Witherow Happy reading!! And thanks for a great year of creepy literature
@@erichodosh2933 damn you must hate extreme horror seeing as you just negatively reviewed some of the three most popular and beloved books of the genre, maybe don’t read books you’re predetermined to despise 🤷🏻♂️?
@@pandastrix4082 And if I hate Metallica and Pantera I guess that means I hate metal? No. It just means I'm looking for a level of quality beyond Wal-Mart. Tender is the Flesh and Exquisite Corpse were both very good.
Hey anda, I’ve been having a rly rough time mentally and been in a bad depressive episode and have been looking forward to this extreme horror video for a while. Waking up to see this was uploaded today filled me with so much joy and appreciation so I wanted to say thank you so much! Can’t wait to hear your extreme horror reads in 2024 😁🥳
Son of the Slob is probably the worst thing I’ve ever read. I gave up after the halfway point and after having finished The Slob, I was just exhausted. If you could arrest someone for writing a book too fucked up, that’d be the book they wrote.
Awesome vlog! I too have difficulty finding ppl who appreciate the horror genre. Everyone i have talked to look at me like im crazy. I dont bring it up anymore. I agree about the hidden meanings and how we interpret them. Its very cathartic. Thank u for sharing how u feel. U r def a person that is so genuine. Thank u!
I loved Tender is the Flesh. I agree with you about taking a more subtle (ha!) touch when it comes to social commentary. When an author gets too preachy it knocks me right out of the story. This was one of my favorite reads from last year, as well.
I really loved Tender is the Flesh, and I was so ready to make it one of my favorites until that ending. It was just…so poorly executed for a book that was so well written otherwise. It just came off as a twist for the sake of being a twist, and it was a HARD left turn for the main character. It was as if a switch had been flipped and he became someone else, not the guy we had gotten to know from the beginning of the story. I am interested in the author’s other works, but Tender was a disappointment to me. Maybe because I was loving it until the last handful of pages. 😢
I def recommend Jon Athan’s extreme horror novels! The Groomer, Blender Babies and even Into The Wolves Den! They are super plot heavy and I couldn’t put them down! Also recommend Along the Path of Torment by Chandler Morrison (Same writer for Dead Inside). Also Zola and Grandpappy were some of the grossest books I’ve ever read! 😝
With Baby fights. Did they just straight up take the plot line of a south park episode and say let's make this into a extreme horror book instead. I mean I would give the benefit of the doubt but giving babies drugs and forcing them to fight almost seems far to specific to be a coincidence.
I love how you discussed "Dead Inside" and it's #1 on my extreme horror tbr list! Also since watching your videos, you've inspired me to get back into writing horror and get WILD with it! I too have loved horror since I was a kid and was considered "the weird kid" in class and I'm still weird. Thank you for making this!
I loved Maeve Fly, but I was confused afterward when I found out it was being pconsidered extreme horror. I don't agree at all. I haven't read much extreme horror, and while Maeve Fly was pretty violent and gruesome, there were plenty of times where the author could have taken things much further that would have made it truly "extreme." I mean Mary by Nat Cassidy made me more uncomfortable than Maeve Fly did. I feel like labeling Maeve Fly as extreme horror was more a marketing trick than anything else.
Could you maybe give me some suggestions which extreme horror books actually have an engaging and interesting plot? Like a real storyline? I feel like many are just disgusting slice of life stories and I don’t find that interesting ❤
I have found that Jon Athan books have a huge focus on plot. I recommend The Groomer, Blender Babies, Into The Wolves Den. But def check your trigger warnings because these can be very disturbing books. Blender Babies was an apocalyptic horror novel, The Groomer and Into The Wolves Den are both about child abduction and can be hard to get through but the writing keeps you engaged in the stories!
I've never read any extreme horror, but what all this reminds me of is actually an essay we read in high school by Jonathan Swift. It's called A Modest Proposal and basically, he's describing in great detail how the poor could profit off of selling their babies as food. He has this whole system figured out for it! It's meant to be satirical, but some of us at school were freaking out thinking he was being serious. It's definitely one of the weirdest things I've read and it was written in 1729!
Loved gone to see the river man! I dnf'd the hell out of the girl next door about 180-something pages in. It got to the point that I was in fight or flight mode every chapter and thought - why am I putting myself through this? No desire to ever pick it back up
Laterally, I just got back into reading and started with misery, and now im halfway done with tender is the flesh. Im definitely checking out the other books you read. Got yourself another sub.
There’s a sequel to The Slob, it’s called Son of the Slob. Also, like others have said, you should read Along The River of Flesh. It’s the sequel to Gone To See the River Man and it’s a continuation of Edmund’s story. It’s such a good book.
I know that really reading extreme horror books is your thing. But I would also be really interested to know your thoughts on Urban Spook's Analog Horror series "the Painter". It's here on RU-vid, and the entries and series itself are all fairly short. But the series itself has gotten some pretty significant flack for the extreme nature of the subject matter, and it being perceived as disrespectful of it. I'll be honest I think it has more to do with the stigma around extreme horror itself as a genre. But I would be very interested to know what your thoughts on it are.
I didn’t think must of girl next door. I was far more upset at EMMA KENNY doing her youtube vid on the case than his book. It wasn't that upsetting to me, it felt wooden. The actual story of that poor girl is heartbreaking though. I just didn’t think much of the book.
So happy to see another who loved Tender is the Flesh. I read it three years ago and haven't stopped thinking about it. Utterly un-put-downable! You're right; the underlying social commentary goes way beyond meat production. Only getting that out of it is..well, simple minded- sorry.
I was an avid reader many years, then quit. Just getting back into it....and ur videos have been a great goalpost for where to start! I like weird gross hard to read horror, so nice to see its not just me 😂
The Slob is basically what would happen if you mixed Looney Toones with extreme gore. Calling it horror is an insult to the genre as it comes of ass a tryhard attempt on being dark and edgy. Anything beyond that (The backstory and the psychological part) is as barebones as you can get. The fact that you enjoyed it indeed says a lot about you lmao
I dont think I've ever read an extreme horror book, I'm interested in checking them out... I think the only book I can remember reading that might qualify, but I dont think so, is this one book about a pedophile who was watching this woman's son that I read in my Mysteries and Suspense class...I do remember finding it creepy as hell, but I cant remember the name of that book for the life of me...Wouldve been 10th or 11th grade...
Yo i just gotta say, i felt weird being addicted to extreme horror novels and wondered why i was at all. But your comment on feeling "dead inside growing up" really hit home.
Reading Tender Is The Flesh is what actually drove me to start reading books again. Before picking it up I had no expectations, I just saw it on my recommendation list for audio books on Spotify so I thought I would give it a read. I hated that book but in the best way. The ending left me with a black hole in my chest that made me want more books like that.
A few months ago I read the worst book I’ve ever read. It was about a girl who gets into increasingly more disgusting & extreme porn. I would never recommend anyone read it. Side note: Son of the Slob is also great!
So I just finished 'Cows' and i'm on my way through other extreme horror books but something with cows made me stop about halfway through and take a pause because something felt off about it. At first I thought it was possibly going in the anti meat direction which was totally possible with all the descriptions like "Oh is this about humans eating animals and its actually gross if you take a look at it" but when I started to really go for it and think about it; it seems more like its a retelling of the story of the dark messiah and jesus. Just in an extreme horror way. There's way too many comparisons throughout the book that seem really close to that to the point of "This cant be coincidence" that have me convinced that the author is primarily pulling from the bible and using Steven as the conduit for the protagonist. Once I realized that I couldnt unsee it.
One of the most extreme books I've ever read wasn't really a horror book, it has some elements of horror and occultism and superstition but the real horror is in the brutal reality of the lives and inner thoughts of its characters. I'm talking about Fernanda Melchor's Hurricane Season, and I definitely recommend it for anyone who likes fiction that feels like the harshest reality imaginable while simoultaneously elevating it with a writing style that just won't take its foot off the gas for a single second. But of course there will be some things people will find offputting in these characters so discretion is advised.
Ngl, Aron Beauregard is really hit or miss with me. The only big hitter that I liked (mostly) was Playground. Everything else he writes seems kind of extra, but not in a good way.
I like your picks a lot but if I may make a suggestion , you should put the books you're talking about on a little stand instead of holding them. I think it would suit your background a lot more and you talk with your hands so I think it would fit your style more also. End of the day though who really gives a fk what I think. Just an observation.
"but thats really it" tells me you definitely have read some nessed up stuff cause human hotdogs sounds craaazy haha. Love the vid btw, even though i dont read horror
Couple of those I haven't read or heard of before. I thought tender is the flesh was a fantastic book. My other half and i listened to it on a car trip. I didn't feel like it was extreme other than the situation itself. For me gone to see the river man was such a waste of a book. The writing is good, a lot of the ideas in the book are good, but the characters so blah and nonredeemable. Take another book by that same author They all died screaming, That was a fun read and while the characters aren't good people they are interesting and had me laughing out loud at some of the nasty things that were going on.That book will make me pick up more from that author in hopes of other nasty fun reads.
“Extreme horror” to me is a type of story that unsettles your mind and spirit as much as your stomach. I love Richard Laymon because on a certain level he has accomplished that with a lot of his work but to me I just love his style of writing and what he perceives to be frightening. Not sure if you read him but his novel “cuts” is what I define as extreme horror
Wow, just wow, thats an amazing list, thank you so much! Looking forward to reading some of these. At some of the book names/descriptions I literally laughed out loud, love it!
I really wanted to like tender is the flesh. The things I couldn't get over was the ending. At least to me it felt extremely lazy and ruined the potential that it had
Oh my gosh, I’ve read Gone to see the River Man and I really enjoyed that! Now I’m currently reading Dead Inside and oh my gosh, how do you manage to get through this? 😅
First of all I want to thank you for this video. You have no idea how many videos I had to get through that were just lists of Steven King novels over and over. We get it. He writes scary books. This list had the properly gnarly and obscure stuff I was looking for. Nice work
Baby in the blender is worst than COWS?! Im dead.... Honestly, Cows is the most vile book ever I cannot even comprehend the point of it and I TRULY regret reading it. It's was so vile.
