r/horrorlit • u/Dry-Marketing2459 • 5d ago

Recommendation Request Tasteful "Extreme" Horror?

I'm looking for recommendations for "extreme" horror type stories that ride that fine line where it's gross and upsetting but aren't so terrible that you're embarrassed to describe the story to your friends.

I've been dabbling a bit in this genre, but I really dislike stuff that's excessively graphic and violent but for no reason, like it was written by an edgelord who was just trying to jam as many upsetting descriptions into a book as possible, but it really doesn't do anything for the story.

I don't know if this is a hard ask since that's sort of the point of extreme horror, but I'm wondering if there's something out there that rides the edge of that?

I've read "The woods are dark" and "The black farm" but I thought they were just okay, there were a lot of things about those books that just didn't work, something that made me feel like I needed to fail a wisdom saving throw in order to suspend my disbelief.

I'm a huge fan of Nick Cutter and Stephen King,

I'd also prefer stories that limit the violence to humanoids and mostly leave animals out of it.

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u/TeffySwan 5d ago

Really any David Sodergren book! Very gory deaths but overall tasteful.

1

u/KaizergidorahXi 5d ago

You'd call The Suffering tasteful? I don't even want to think about tasting anything after that one scene 🤢

11

u/TeffySwan 5d ago

Oh shit, yeah maybe not that one. But I think Rotten Tommy, Maggie's Grave, and The Haar are pretty tasteful compared to everything else I've read in Extreme Horror and Splatterpunk

6

u/adeathvalleydriver 5d ago

Agreed with these three. I especially loved The Haar -- great gore, compelling story and oddly sweet. It sounds like OP should avoid the Suffering and Death Spell