If you’re an obsessive consumer of horror, particularly a gore-hound or someone who doesn’t mind their novels being repulsive, disgusting, horrific, or disturbing, then you’re in the right place. This list compiles my obscure recommendations, particularly for fans of extreme horror or splatter punk fiction, that are sure to test your endurance as an avid horror reader.
Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of murder, gore, sexual assault, and domestic abuse. Additionally, each recommended book has a list of trigger warnings. Please exercise personal care while reading.
Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana
Trigger Warning: Gone to See the River Man contains mentions of eating disorders, incest, murder, and racism. Please exercise personal care while reading.
Kristopher Triana’s Gone to See the River Man is a masterful piece of fiction. Whilst less extreme than some of the other entries on this list (let that be your warning), this novella is a disturbing yet compelling story about a woman named Lori and her sister Abby, who embark on a quest to deliver a key for her ‘special’ friend Edmund, the serial killer. This book is a quintessential read in the extreme horror canon, especially for beginners. The novella adopts modes of surrealism and cosmic horror and provides a satirical approach to the serial killer groupie phenomenon. I consider it a must-read for fans of horror, splatterpunk, or even hardcore thrillers.
Woom by Duncan Ralston
Trigger Warning: Woom contains mentions of abortion, body horror, rape, drug abuse, and racial slurs. Please read this list of TWS and research the book prior to purchasing.
Duncan Ralston’s Woom is a visceral and often disgusting read that will certainly challenge any readers who are up for a descent into hellish descriptions and unflinching, extreme horror. The novella follows Angel, a man who invites a sex worker, Shyla, to an eerie motel room that will act as the foundation of their descent into depravity. Woom is a rewarding read for obsessive readers of extreme horror fiction, but be warned, this book earns its reputation as extreme, and all trigger warnings are utterly necessary.
Fluids by May Leitz
Trigger Warning: Fluids contains mentions of rape, gore, vomit, transphobia, incest, and drug use. Please read this list of TWS and research the book prior to purchasing.
May Leitz’s Fluids is a compelling read that leaves no trigger untouched. The novella follows a lonely woman seeking companionship and a trans woman seeking acceptance. The bond that forms between the two is an often masochistic, twisted take on romance and doesn’t refrain from delving into topics like disordered eating, assault, and abuse — all to deliver a deeper message on acceptance and identity. Leitz’s narrative is written in a beautifully woven stream-of-consciousness style and comes across as a meaningful exploration of the trans experience, making it an endlessly significant read for anyone with an iron stomach.
Waif by Samantha Kolesnik
Trigger Warning: Fluids contains mentions of domestic abuse, rape, and body horror. Please read this list of TWS and research the book prior to purchasing.
Samantha Kolesnik’s Waif is an ideal companion to books like My Year of Rest and Relaxation and The Stepford Wives, which seek to offer a nuanced understanding of the complex female experience whilst simultaneously acknowledging societal privilege through a glamourous, idealised façade. Waif follows a suburban wife, Angela, who lives a seemingly perfect life. Behind this picture of the dreamboat, successful husband, and the lavish lifestyle she always dreamed of is a life filled with abuse and misery.
Angela’s once dormant sexuality is reignited at the sight of a beautiful grocery store worker, and thus follows a spellbinding odyssey into the underground world of pornography and dodgy plastic surgery ethics. Waif is a quick yet powerful read that packs a punch in its 114 pages and should be read by anyone interested in complex female protagonists and feminist social commentary.
This list includes relatively obscure horror novellas that will certainly scar, traumatise, or excite you — depending on your threshold for unrelenting, extreme horror narratives. Nonetheless, these books are equally important to the greater canon of horror literature and will make a compelling addition to your TBR.
Want to know which horror books have spooked the Bookstr team? Read this article!
Check out our horror bookshelf on Bookshop for more recommendations!
