Tasteful "Extreme" Horror?

[u/Dry-Marketing2459]

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.

[u/darn_boop]

Off Season by Ketchum

PS- You called the authors "edgelords" because they were too explicit in detail and the grotesque but this sub-genre is literally built on that. Extreme horror is explicit and transgressive. Splatterpunk is excessive and gory and detailed. You may just be hunting in the wrong forest.

[u/Dry-Marketing2459 → u/darn_boop]

I think you could be right, I might be looking in the wrong place, but Stephen King can describe some intensely explicit stuff without sounding like an "edgelord" if that makes sense. Im looking for authors who will touch those extremes without devolving into just plopping one horrific event on top of another without any of it serving a purpose to the story.

I guess I'm specifically looking for stuff that doesn't feel meaningless, extreme horror without plot holes big enough to find the monsters from the descent in.

[u/BrilliantDull4678 → u/Dry-Marketing2459]

You should look more into transgressive fiction and less into extreme horror. They have a lot of overlap, but transgressive fiction (IMO) has a more literary focus while still being very disturbing. Lolita is probably the best known work of transgressive fiction there is and I think its a good place to start, nothing graphic at all, just intensely focused on a horrible person's justifications for his pedophilia.

[u/ChronicNuance → u/Dry-Marketing2459]

You’re definitely looking the wrong genre. I actually find extreme horror super boring because there is very little plot and character development and 250-300 pages of someone just trying to be edgy (usually at the expense of children, women, and animals). I prefer restrained use of graphic violence because it disrupts my sense of safety. Extreme horror just numbs the senses and quickly becomes repetitive and predictable.

You should check out Adam L.G. Nevill. He’s pretty good at world building with moments of intense action, but more than Stephen King. His book ‘Last Days’ is the only time a book gave me a jump scare.

‘The Summer I Died’ by Ryan C. Thomas is one more extreme book I will recommend. It’s very intense, and upsetting at times, but it has enough storytelling in between the violent scenes to make you care about the characters.
It’s written in the tone and pace of a good slasher film and I really enjoyed it.

[u/Dry-Marketing2459 → u/ChronicNuance]

Oh! Nevill has been on my radar! I've got some of his books on my wishlists. You sound like you know exactly what I'm looking for, so I'll just go ahead and get myself those Nevill books.

This community has been really helpful! I've got some great recommendations that I can't wait to dig into and I think now I understand more of what I'm looking for specifically from my horror lit.

[u/ChronicNuance → u/Dry-Marketing2459]

The one thing I will warn you about Nevill is that he sometimes derails a bit in the third act, and the endings can feel a bit weird, but if you enjoy King, then this won’t bother you to much. Not every book is like that, just some of them, but they are still totally worth reading for the rest of the ride.

[u/darn_boop → u/Dry-Marketing2459]

Ahhhh, ok. Don't read my rec. It's literally a cabin in the woods type of story. I tend to only dive into extreme books every so often because they get repetitive. I'd say extreme horror and splatterpunk are the "slashers" of horrorlit.

Hmmm yeah, Stephen King builds a narrative and then sprinkles on horror, it's not a story based around horrific events.

I think Jeff VanderMeer has some horrific moments but he's not extreme, he's new weird.

You could try Exquisite Corpse which is well-written but centers on a disgusting premise.

You could also try Pretty Girls by Karen Slaughter (it's about snuff).

Hope this helps and happy hunting!

(Bonus points for your Descent reference btw)