By Charlotte Perkins Gilman
New York : Feminist Press, 1973.
This is an infamous feminist short story about a women locked in her small bedroom by her hateful and misogynist husband. The women slowly goes mad and starts seeing other small women in the yellow wallpaper.
"This wallpaper has a kind of subpattern in a different shade, a particularly irritating one, for you can only see it in certain lights, and not clearly then. But in the places where it isn’t faded and where the sun is just so—I can see a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to skulk about behind that silly and conspicuous front design." (from book)
What is deeply disturbing about this story is watching the slow descent into madness but the world in which the protagonist lives is not one any better. The yellow wallpaper is also based on the authors own struggle with depression, mental illness and femininity. Despite
its age, this deeply unsettling story still relevant today and the disturbing nature of this book only
gets better with age.
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By Alice Sebold
Boston, MA : Little, Brown, 2002.
The Lovely Bones follows the life, or rather the after life, of Susie Salmon after she is brutally murdered and raped. But her story doesn't end there as we see Susie in heaven watching over her family as they learn the truth of their daughters tragic demise and are forced to deal with their grief.
“Because horror on Earth is real and it is every day. It is like a flower or like the sun; it cannot be contained.” (from book)
The hardest and most disturbing thing about this book is that we see the brutal murder and rape of Susie through her own eyes. The realization of whats to come and the sinking terrified feeling; it is not an easy thing to digest. The book perfectly encapsulates the way a family deals with grief forced upon them in the worst situation possible.
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By Margaret Atwood
Boston, Mass : Houghton Mifflin, 1986.
The handmaids tale is a terrifying work that portrays a future where birth rates are at an all time low so fertile women are forced to bear children. This novel follows Offred and fellow handmaidens as they make their way in this dystopian future.
"Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now..." (blurb on novel)
What makes this so unsettling and makes men and women everywhere uneasy is that this could very easily be a real possible future and the exact nature of te intense misogyny is hard to swallow or even imagine. Women are not allowed to have a choice in anything, not even their own bodies. However what makes this even scarier is that this was written in 1986 and is still influencing our society now.
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Enotes
By Toni Morrison
(Toni morrison trilogy #1)
New York : Knopf,1987.
This novel follows the life of Sethe, an escaped convict that is haunted by her past and the tragic happenings of her time as a slave. Even worse she is being haunted by the image of her dead baby girl that tragically died at age two with her tombstone only marked "beloved".
“It’s gonna hurt, now, Anything dead coming back to life hurts.” (from book)
Beloved perfectly captures the horror of being an American slave but also shows insight into the struggles after they escape slavery though they may be free now they certainly aren't free of that trauma. It really leaves your heart aching that this really happened to thousands of people for no reason other than ignorance and the cruel nature of some people. The tragic story of "beloved" herself while she haunts Sethe is also deeply unsettling.
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The Guardian
By Lionel Shiver
New York : Counterpoint, 2003.
Written as a series of letters, Eva writes to her estranged husband about their son, whom two years prior went on a murderous rampage killing several of his class mates. Eva wonders if her son was evil and unlovable from birth or if she created the monster.
"That boy hardly needed a mask when his naked face was already impenetrable.” (from book)
What makes this so disturbing is possibly very obvious because a troubled psychopath murdering several people with no remorse is not exactly a walk in the park. However, what makes it worse is that we see the mothers point of view that is seldom seen in stories such as these. It is so deeply raw with emotion and guilt and shows the exact nature of evil. Eva's instant dislike for her unlovable son is not hard to understand but it is so unsettling how much nature vs nurture plays a role here.
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enotes
By Alice Walker
New York : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982.
The Color Purple is a serious of letters written by Celie, a poor black southern woman, that due to her race, gender and troubles, she is placed at the lower status of American society and is the target for multiple varieties of gruesome violence.
"All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my brothers. I had to fight my cousins and my uncles. A girl child ain't safe in a family of men. But I never thought I'd have to fight in my own house." (from book)
This book is riddled with horrible events and such deep feelings that it makes your skin stand on edge and feel so helpless. The disturbing nature of this book may be less apparent but it is there in all the gruesome, horrible violence and abuse.
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enotes
By Gillian Flynn
New York : Crown, 2012.
This may seem like a typical fast paced mystery thriller; beautiful wife goes missing and the husband is blamed, but not everything is as it seems and not everyone is as innocent as they claim to be.
"Gone Girl is not only the story of a disappearance, but a truly frightening glimpse of a souring marriage."(Shauna Griffin.)
It is not quite easy to explain why this book is so disturbing and why it will leave you feeling so empty without ruining the entire book so it will just be stated that this book will make you question who you can trust, especially your loved ones.
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Author site
By Charlotte Perkins Gilman 
