# Books you read when you were young that absolutely shocked/disturbed you **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2001, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184 "2001-04-24T20:35:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/241 "2002-04-01T17:55:34Z")
Sublight: I’m confused. Do you mean that you can only GIVE oral sex in a parked car, or can only receive it in a speeding car, or just that though you’ve begged and pleaded, no one so far has been willing to do it for you in a parked car and the book notwithstanding, this makes you very sad. That reminds me of the serial dude in American Psycho, where he walks around the apartment with his latest “girlfriend’s” head hanging from his perky erection. 2 heads up for that cheery image. I recommend this book for all the early readers who like their fashion splashed with innovative gore. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/242 "2002-04-01T18:42:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by haardvark \* > \*\*when I was in grade school in the late 70’s our school library had crates full of new books from a (British?) publ. firm called “Usborne” that had a little red hot-air ballon as its printer’s mark. Lots of brightly coloured illustrations and callouts and sidebars and different kinds of formatting etc. > > \ > > They ALSO had a mittful of “factual” books on ghosts, monsters, legends, vampires etc. Some of these had fairly grotesque illustrations (which 20 years on I can still see vividly) and graphic tales reported as thogh they were all perfectly true. \*\* YES!! I had the book from this series about ghosts. There’s a 2-page “article” that detailed all the typical signs and symptoms of a haunted house, and one of the illustrations was of a human skull with huge eye sockets. That image terrified me. I was also horrified to read in one of the stories (a detailed map of a town called Plumley, IIRC) that one particular ghost was known to appear at 4 in the afternoon. Up until then, it had been inconceivable to me that scary (supernatural) things could occur during the daytime. What a blow that was. 😛 The whole book was frightening. I remember crying on some nights, unable to sleep and cursing myself for having read it too soon before bed. ---
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/243 "2002-04-01T19:11:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by haardvark \* > \*\*when I was in grade school in the late 70’s our school library had crates full of new books from a (British?) publ. firm called “Usborne” that had a little red hot-air ballon as its printer’s mark. Lots of brightly coloured illustrations and callouts and sidebars and different kinds of formatting etc. Come to think of it, very 90’s in their layout, lots of jumpcuts and “islands of content”. > They had craft activity books and history and how to’s and how-does-it-work type stuff, standard pre-teen fodder. We had so many of them in the library I can only assume that the school got some sort of a bulk deal. > \*\* Yeah, Usborne is a large publishing firm specializing in pricy factual children’s books—I would bet schools get good bulk rates from purchasing the series. I work for a children’s literacy org where we get some odd books donated. We found one gruesome book in the library here: _Rabies_, complete with a color photo of a skunk’s (decapitated) head. We looked this author up on Amazon—her name’s Elaine Landau and she has written such charming titles as “Air Crashes”, “Black Market Adoption and the Sale of Children” (yes, that’s a children’s book), “Nazi War Criminals” and “Stalking”. ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/244 "2002-04-02T16:38:13Z")
> [@](#): > > “Black Market Adoption and the Sale of Children” (yes, that’s a children’s book) What is the rationale behind writing a children’s book about that? Did you see anything where the author explained her reasoning? RR ---
**Author:** ![Nora\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Nora\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nora_Charles)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/245 "2002-04-12T13:56:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by booklover \* > \*\* > Three nameless books that will stick with me forever: > > -a novel about children surviving nuclear holocaust, complete with graphic descriptions of radiation-induced illnesses > > \*\* I think this might be _Children of the Dust_ by Louise Lawrence. It totally creeped me out when I read it in the sixth grade, because unlike other “scary” sci-fi YA novels it was very matter of fact and mundane, with characters and a setting I could easily identify with. I had nightmares about it years after reading it. I’ve meant to reread it in English (I read it translated into Danish) for some time, but just now when I went to [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060237392/) to make sure of the author name I saw to my great surprise that two of the three reviewers found it “optimistic” and that it gave them “a calm sense of peace”. Hmm. The book ends on a somewhat hopeful note. The nuclear holocaust might not be the end of the Human race after all. I would hate to ruin one of my all time favorite reading experiences by rereading it and finding it wasn’t really that tragic and deep, or that it had an allegorical feel rather than the stark reality I always thought it did. Has anyone else read it, and did it make you brood for weeks too? ---
**Author:** ![FriendRob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecc23a/32.png) [@FriendRob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriendRob)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/246 "2002-04-12T17:08:08Z")
A lot of the creepiest stories I read (and I loved them - sought them out) were actually assigned reading for school, most have already been mentioned: \*\* -The Lottery -All Summer in a Day -Lord of the Flies \*\* Not yet mentioned: \*\* -A Separate Peace -The Veldt \*\*(I don’t think this one was assigned, tho) Also, a story about a little boy who was born with freakish powers, the extent of which only become clear gradually as the story progresses. Including the ability to read minds, so everyone around him has to be incredibly careful what they think around him, or they’ll just … disappear. And when interference from the outside world became a worry, he did something to remove the town, or possibly the outside world, so that there is now a place on the outskirts of town where the world just _ends_… Personally, I’m grateful to those teachers for helping me learn what a powerful thing a book can be. But from the resonses here, I’m wondering… maybe too powerful for some? Can’t help mentioning **Deathbird Stories** again. Also the collection **Dangerous Visions** - including the ultimate Philip K. Dick story, “God of Our Fathers”, which asks the question “what if God really exists… and is _evil_?” I’ll second **The Magus** as the most disturbing story I’ve read as an adult. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/247 "2002-04-12T17:31:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FriendRob \* > \*\*Also, a story about a little boy who was born with freakish powers, the extent of which only become clear gradually as the story progresses. Including the ability to read minds, so everyone around him has to be incredibly careful what they think around him, or they’ll just … disappear. And when interference from the outside world became a worry, he did something to remove the town, or possibly the outside world, so that there is now a place on the outskirts of town where the world just _ends_… > > \*\* It’s a short story, called, I think, “It’s a Good Day”. Adapted for The Twilight Zone (with Billy Mumy as the boy). Parodied in the Simpsons, Treehouse of Horror, with Bart as the boy. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/248 "2002-04-12T18:04:09Z")
The most disturbing story I’ve ever read was Franz Kafka’s _In the Penal Colony.__shiver_ Don’t read this unless you have a **very** high tolerance for creepiness. It’s much, much worse than “The October Game.” I don’t read Kafka anymore. ME ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/249 "2002-04-13T08:06:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jsc1953 \* > \*\* > > It’s a short story, called, I think, “It’s a Good Day”. Adapted for The Twilight Zone (with Billy Mumy as the boy). > > \*\* **It’s a Good Life** , by Jerome Bixby. ---
**Author:** ![lucifee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@lucifee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucifee)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/250 "2002-04-13T21:41:45Z")
I thought the Tailypo story was called the Tailywailywo and this is the first time I’ve ever met anyone who’s read it. That really scared me when I was little. All you lot who are frightened by Stephen King are crackers. He is _rubbish_ . A Farewell to Arms and The Catcher in the Rye get my vote. American Psycho gave me nightmares for six months, no exaggeration. A book by Irvine Walsh (who is not a good writer) called Maribou Stork Nightmares made me physically vomit. Lord of the Flies is horrible but genius - what about that bit when one of the twins says: “he sharpened a stick at both ends” and we never get to find out why. Anyone ever read Too Late the Phalarope? Now that is a heart-wringing novel. Or you could try Tender is the Night. And I know we’re not supposed to be doing poetry, but what about that bit in Anthony and Cleopatra when Anthony dies in Cleo’s arms and she has that speech beginning “Noblest of lords, woo’t die?” Never fails to have me sobbing by the end. Also my recommendation of the year is a novel called Mr Phillips by John Lanchester. ---
**Author:** ![Osbie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cdc98d/32.png) [@Osbie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osbie)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/251 "2002-04-13T22:27:09Z")
**On the Beach** - for some inexplicable reason, it was offered in my Weekly Reader book club catalog. I was in jr. high and it was the mid-1980’s… I was so horrified that I wouldn’t let my best friend borrow my copy afterwards. Sharing the misery doesn’t always lessen it. **My Friend Flicka** - Mom read it to me as a child and the business about the creek at the end was bad enough, but it made her start to cry. There is nothing more terrifying than seeing your mother cry. **Mr. Yowder and the Lion Roar Capsules** - Poor lion! **Mike Mulligan and his Steam Engine** - I’m sure some would consider it a happy ending, but not me. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/252 "2002-04-13T22:50:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Octavia Smythe-Bunion I. Esq. \* > \*\ ***Mike Mulligan and his Steam Engine** - I’m sure some would consider it a happy ending, but not me. \*\* Steam Shovel. Why don’t you think it’s a happy ending? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/253 "2002-04-14T01:19:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rilchiam \* > \*\*Why don’t you think it’s a happy ending? \*\* How would YOU like to end up stuck in a basement? For all eternity? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/254 "2002-04-14T01:52:41Z")
I missed this one growing up. They do WHAT to the guy now? He has to spend the rest of his life with steam engine, is that it? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/255 "2002-04-14T02:54:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > \*\* > > How would YOU like to end up stuck in a basement? For all eternity? \*\* It was the Depression; he was glad of a job. ---
**Author:** ![Osbie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cdc98d/32.png) [@Osbie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osbie)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/256 "2002-04-14T05:00:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rilchiam \* > \*\* > > It was the Depression; he was glad of a job. \*\* The Depression aspect was lost on me as a child. 🙂 I agree with **Ukulele Ike** … There’s something depressing about working really hard to dig out that building and then being stuck down there forever. The steam shovel even had a face and a name - what was it? Was it Marianne? I can’t remember. **Zoggie** : It’s been awhile since I read it - someone might need to help me fill in the gaps. Mike Mulligan had this steam shovel and together they’d solve problems for people (as only a steam shovel can). So Mike gets hired to dig out the basement of this building and when he’s done, there’s no way to drive his steam shovel out of the pit. So they convert her into a furnace and he’s given the job of maintaining her. Okay, so maybe I didn’t have nightmares about it, but it always left a bad taste in my mouth. Did she ever wish she was still a steam shovel? Did she miss the outdoors? Am I perhaps more than a little crazy to care? (But then I used to have to kiss all 8 trillion of my stuffed animals every night before going to sleep - in case one of them felt “left out.”) ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/257 "2002-04-14T08:18:46Z")
The final illustration showed Mary Ann smiling and Mike happily reading the paper with his feet up! What more do you people want? ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/258 "2002-04-14T21:05:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lucifee \* > \*\*All you lot who are frightened by Stephen King are crackers. He is _rubbish_ . > \*\* While that may be the case, the OP is about books that scared you when you were **young**. As an adult, Stephen King bores me, when I was 9 years old, his books could occasionally fuel nightmares. (My parents should have paid more attention to what I was bringing home from the bargain bin of the used bookstore.) ---
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2002, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/259 "2002-04-15T01:11:42Z")
Faith of the Fallen, by (gasp) Terry Goodkind. The scenes dealing with Nicci’s upbringing had me attempting to reach through the text, into the story, and throttle Nicci’s mother. As long as were on “disturbing”, has anyone heard of a little literary classic called “Three Ladies at Sea,” available from IRC? It’s a snuff story, set in international waters, where a variety of women and girls are sexually murdered. I finished it on a bet from a friend, and consider the scariest thing to be that by the end of the story, the horror wasn’t horrible anymore. I read Stranger in a Strange Land early enough to miss 90% of the sex references, and was horribly dissapointed by. . . oh, yeah, spoilers. Ditto for The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Speaking of Heinlein, was anyone else irritated by his later books recycling all of his past universes in one go? I also read Friday at an early enough age for it to be educational, heh heh heh. . . I also find it amusingly delicious that people, having collected to relive to recollect their childhood disturbances, will doubtless inspire others to be disturbed. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2002, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184/260 "2002-04-15T01:36:48Z")
I can’t believe that none of you has mentioned **My Sweet Audrina** by V.C. Andrews. That was a seriously wack book! I found a copy in the bargain rack at the used bookstore recently. At a buck for a hardcover, how could I leave it for a stranger? But I’ve been too scared to read the damn thing! Somebody should compile the most-mentioned books in this thread to make a “totally twisted reading list.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-read-when-you-were-young-that-absolutely-shocked-disturbed-you/63184.md?page=14)