Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 05:19:24 PM

Login with username, password and session length

More books that really are just horrible

Started by madhair60, August 08, 2019, 03:21:16 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

madhair60

Hogg. read Hogg, that was grim. Your lot on here told me to read that, so cheers. Read bambooGuerillas, grim. Read The Gas, you lot again, thank sfor that. Got any more rank shit? Cheers.

madhair60

just want to read books where I go ah, now, come on. not necessary.

Eat Them Alive, reading that atm. Mental. Let's Go Play At The Adams', read that and just felt hollow. Still feel hollow tbh it's ap owerful book.

madhair60


chveik


QDRPHNC

I find Martin Amis' output - what I've read of it at least - mostly horrible. Bleak for the sake of bleak, like an adolescent acting all dark to shock their parents.

Kingsley Amis, on the other hand, I love.

bushwick

#5
I should be able to think of a few...


"The Clinic" by Alex White (in The Fourteenth Pan Book of Horror Stories, 1977) - grim as fuck and stayed with me. The author (who is a mystery a la Pierce Nace, but is apparently female) wrote a few for the Pan books, all along the lines of 'horrible thing happens to poor innocent woman', but The Clinic is easily 'best'. (It's worth grabbing any Pan Horrors you can, especially the later ones, as they usually contain some disturbing stuff - not as cheap as they once were though)

I've never read "Lord Horror" by David Britton (as it goes for hundreds of pounds and is rare as fuck), but have got other Savoy Books stuff and it all tends towards the transgressive (they published The Gas). Very interesting publisher - David Britton was jailed for writing Lord Horror, worth reading up on. The Meng & Ecker comics are strong stuff and easier/cheaper to get hold of.

Any Richard Laymon books - still cheap and easy to get hold of, all pretty trashy with plenty of prurient misogyny etc.

Edward Lee - like Laymon but more OTT and violent/obscene, most of the 'good' stuff is in limited print runs and expensive though. There's a film called 'Header' based on one of his books, that is definitely shit but stayed with me and was very disturbing in its cavalier treatment of horrendous sexual violence.

The Atrocity Week by Andrew McCoy - this is fucking harsh. South African dude that told really grim colonial tales, fiction but the sort of stuff you could believe is based in fact. Atrocity Week is a Most Dangerous Game rip-off but very grim indeed and genuinely pretty good. Read another by him that was a bit more far fetched Boys Own Adventures style stuff, not as disturbing.

This guy Laurence James, one of my favourite authors - https://www.fantasticfiction.com/j/laurence-james/ - one man pulp powerhouse who has written some excellent and grim, funny books. The Crow series, Caleb Thorne series, The Witches series as by 'James Darke', all fit the bill - once you've read a few you really notice his themes.

His colleague Angus Wells did some good stuff too, sometimes in the same series as James. Don't bother with his later boring fantasy tomes but any of his Westerns are X-TREME as fuck usually and worth reading - https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/angus-wells/

Charles Birkin - posh English gent who wrote very grim tales of man's inhumanity to man in mid 20th C. Sadistic stuff, still potent today, hard to get hold of and mostly out of print but worth getting whatever you can find - https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/charles-birkin/

I'll think of some more - I buy less nowadays but was obsessed with this stuff for a good decade and still have hundreds of books with lots of doubles. Need to get rid of some but can't be arsed listing em all on online - if you can ever make it to Leeds I would do you a deal on a load...

EDIT: if you wanted to extend this to comics I would recommend the work of Tim Vigil - the Faust books are quite easy to get hold of and contain some OTT sex and violence stuff. Apparently the one to get is this series though - https://atomicavenue.com/title/5189/Eo - they come up on ebay but quite expensive so haven't taken plunge. Like a comic book version of Cannibal Corpse lyrics content-wise, from what I've heard. There's a great interview with Vigil on youtube when he describes how the series ended - the writer's partner saw the comic and was so appalled said she didn't want money from it in their bank account and urged him to quit writing the book or she'd leave him! loooool

madhair60

Quote from: bushwick on August 09, 2019, 02:33:17 PM
"The Clinic" by Alex White (in The Fourteenth Pan Book of Horror Stories, 1977) - grim as fuck and stayed with me. The author (who is a mystery a la Pierce Nace, but is apparently female) wrote a few for the Pan books, all along the lines of 'horrible thing happens to poor innocent woman', but The Clinic is easily 'best'. (It's worth grabbing any Pan Horrors you can, especially the later ones, as they usually contain some disturbing stuff - not as cheap as they once were though)

Actually got this coming in the post, most likely today.

bushwick


bushwick




^^^this is from The Witches 6: The Killing by James Darke. Read all 8 of these one after the other, absolute fackin class mate

bushwick



^^^ Crow 6: The Sisters, another great book for ladz

bushwick

Hey madhair, I have just this second scored second hand copies of Atrocity Week and Blood Ivory by Andrew McCoy for pretty cheap on ebay, I already have copies (the only 2 by him I've read). If you want these when they arrive sort us a tenner and I'll post 'em ya, PM if interested innit. Looked on amazon before and folk are taking fucking piss, £70 odd for Atrocity Week. can proudly say have never paid more than a fiver for a 2nd hand pulp.

Chainsaw Terror currently rare as hens teeth, absolute jokes, I have a copy bought in Robin Hoods Bay for 4 quid. dunno if I'd sell it, suppose I would, has gone for hundreds apparently:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nick-Blake-Shaun-Hutson-Chainsaw-Terror-Ultra-Rare/133135520712?hash=item1eff7ed3c8:g:0psAAOSwzYhc3t9H

purlieu

Quote from: QDRPHNC on August 08, 2019, 09:58:37 PM
I find Martin Amis' output - what I've read of it at least - mostly horrible. Bleak for the sake of bleak, like an adolescent acting all dark to shock their parents.
Pretty much. Characters, plot, language, all unpleasant for the sake of being unpleasant. The fact that he's a deeply unpleasant person gives it a bit of a "he really means this" vibe which makes it even more unpleasant. A human being who has no desire to bring anything positive into the world.

jobotic

I've written about The Clinic here before. It is fucking hideous. First read it when I was a teenager and found it really upsetting. About five years ago I found it again and thought I'd see if it was as bad as I remember it. It was. Had to keep reminding myself it's fiction.

I am a bit of a snowflake though.

Petey Pate

Anything by Peter Sotos surely qualifies. I've not had the stomach to subject myself to any of his books but unless you're a deeply twisted individual who enjoys child rape fantasies I can't imagine they're anything less than horrible.

holyzombiejesus

The End of Alice was really fucking grim. Then there was one book that my Japanese friend left behind written by an American author. Can't remember his name but there may have been a Dennis in there somewhere. May have had something to do with the US Hardcore scene. The phrase 'bubbling arsehole' was used.

marquis_de_sad

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on August 12, 2019, 03:35:16 PM
The End of Alice was really fucking grim. Then there was one book that my Japanese friend left behind written by an American author. Can't remember his name but there may have been a Dennis in there somewhere. May have had something to do with the US Hardcore scene. The phrase 'bubbling arsehole' was used.

Dennis Cooper? His work is often very disturbing and bleak, but he doesn't just write for shock value. A proper writer.

Cuellar

A lecturer of mine once called the Malleus Maleficarum one of the most evil books ever written.

DukeDeMondo

Quote from: Cuellar on August 12, 2019, 04:52:26 PM
A lecturer of mine once called the Malleus Maleficarum one of the most evil books ever written.

I remember that much the same was said in a review of a really expensive edition that appeared in the Fortean Times maybe a decade or so ago. One of the most evil books ever written, they said. Hard to argue with that assessment, really.

Feral House have a few titles in their catalogue that are sure to make you feel absolutely fucking repulsive. Their edition of Tortures And Torments Of The Christian Martyrs - "complete with illustrations by contemporary artists and murderers" - makes for a grotty old read. Especially the version they put out after the release of The Passion Of The Christ.

They also published The Gates Of Janus, Ian Brady's analysis of serial murder. Features an afterword from the aforementioned Peter Sotos, which Brady demanded be removed from future editions. It wasn't removed, but the paperback edition does contain Brady's thoughts on the matter. 

Anyway both of those really are just horrible.

holyzombiejesus

Quote from: marquis_de_sad on August 12, 2019, 04:47:40 PM
Dennis Cooper? His work is often very disturbing and bleak, but he doesn't just write for shock value. A proper writer.

The one I read I recall thinking a bit silly. I think some guy had a pony tail so some other people strangled him with it, cut it off and then put it in his mouth and bummed his corpse and that's when the bubbling arsehole came in to play. I think that's what happened anyway.

holyzombiejesus

Peter Sotos crops up in this thread quite a bit. Was he linked to ToPY/ Current 93/ NWW etc?

madhair60

What is Malleus Malificarum? I ask because disney appear to be on the cusp of putting out the film.

Cuellar


bushwick

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on August 12, 2019, 08:35:47 PM
Peter Sotos crops up in this thread quite a bit. Was he linked to ToPY/ Current 93/ NWW etc?

No but he was the 3rd member of Whitehouse for a while. Around that time did a CD produced by Steve Albini called Buyer's Market which is just an audio collage of interviews with abuse victims, takes all sorts, eh. My mate watched Whitehouse play in Leeds years and years ago and Sotos started pushing people in the crowd, my mate had a brawl with him while they played...apparently one of the things that put him off being in the group. He can dish it out but he didn't like it up him!

I have read snatches of Sotos online, enough to know I don't want to bother with it. Goth nonce shit innit, really. Wouldn't have it in my house, and that's saying something.

edit: the Whitehouse track Language Recovery is said to refer to Sotos, quite uncomplimentary, don't think they get on any more like.

marquis_de_sad

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on August 12, 2019, 08:32:04 PM
The one I read I recall thinking a bit silly. I think some guy had a pony tail so some other people strangled him with it, cut it off and then put it in his mouth and bummed his corpse and that's when the bubbling arsehole came in to play. I think that's what happened anyway.

Hmm, maybe not him then.

jobotic

Quote from: bushwick on August 13, 2019, 11:08:59 AM
No but he was the 3rd member of Whitehouse for a while. Around that time did a CD produced by Steve Albini called Buyer's Market which is just an audio collage of interviews with abuse victims, takes all sorts, eh. My mate watched Whitehouse play in Leeds years and years ago and Sotos started pushing people in the crowd, my mate had a brawl with him while they played...apparently one of the things that put him off being in the group. He can dish it out but he didn't like it up him!

I have read snatches of Sotos online, enough to know I don't want to bother with it. Goth nonce shit innit, really. Wouldn't have it in my house, and that's saying something.

edit: the Whitehouse track Language Recovery is said to refer to Sotos, quite uncomplimentary, don't think they get on any more like.

So who's Sutcliffe Jugend? That Whitehouse?

holyzombiejesus

And what have they got against that nice Sue Lawley?

thenoise

Quote from: bushwick on August 13, 2019, 11:08:59 AM
No but he was the 3rd member of Whitehouse for a while. Around that time did a CD produced by Steve Albini called Buyer's Market which is just an audio collage of interviews with abuse victims, takes all sorts, eh. My mate watched Whitehouse play in Leeds years and years ago and Sotos started pushing people in the crowd, my mate had a brawl with him while they played...apparently one of the things that put him off being in the group. He can dish it out but he didn't like it up him!

I have read snatches of Sotos online, enough to know I don't want to bother with it. Goth nonce shit innit, really. Wouldn't have it in my house, and that's saying something.

edit: the Whitehouse track Language Recovery is said to refer to Sotos, quite uncomplimentary, don't think they get on any more like.

William Bennett dismissed him as a 'conservative heterosexual fantasist' in the Susan Lawly forums around the same time. Frankly, I was quite relieved to read this.

Philip Best - whose own Consumer Electronics project is also obsessed with paedophilia - joined Whitehouse at 14 after running away from home. Do you think Billy Bennett was bumming Bestie? To the sounds of pummelling white noise? Anyway, a delightful bunch of lads.

I read Total Abuse, collected early Peter Sotos, and it's what you'd expect really, fanboyish gloating over the fashionable 80s serial killers, some rather non commital stuff about how great the nazis are, and lots of being mean about women and children. Also recounts the much more interesting account of his arrest, and a later magazine where he reviews porn, music and true crime fiction - somewhat interesting if you like that sort of thing. His later books are much stranger, stream of consciousness filthy rants and wild fantasies peppered with tabloid news articles about murder and rape. A bit over written to be honest and sold in editions of 100 that sell out within weeks, and fetch top dolla on eBay (there are some strange collectors out there).

bushwick

Quote from: jobotic on August 13, 2019, 11:54:06 AM
So who's Sutcliffe Jugend? That Whitehouse?

They're like a dumbed down Whitehouse tribute act without the intellectual pretensions. Been going the same amount of time. More screaming/noise/rapin' tackle. Connoisseurs of power electronics like their We Spit On Their Graves cassette, a 'tribute' to Sutters' victims, which is regarded as a classic of the genre. Their later stuff gets looked down on by the PE headz

bushwick

Quote from: thenoise on August 13, 2019, 01:05:06 PM

Philip Best - whose own Consumer Electronics project is also obsessed with paedophilia - joined Whitehouse at 14 after running away from home. Do you think Billy Bennett was bumming Bestie? To the sounds of pummelling white noise? Anyway, a delightful bunch of lads.

Everyone raves over the new version of CE but I'm not that bothered. Now he's got a bird and the creepiness is tempered a bit I can't see the point any more lol. I'm pretty sure William is as straight as a die to be honest. He used to teach NLP/pick up artist techniques to suckers in Edinburgh a few years ago - my mate Gilham (sure it was him) uncovered this info and put it on the Susan Lawly forums. Then I read a funny thing about him trying to use said techniques with a sexy chick in a bar and getting blown out. I am fascinated by the Whitehouse lads but rarely feel the desire to listen to them these days. Did they both go to public school? William did, did he not?

(sorry for offtopic)

the ouch cube

"Cows" by Matthew Stokoe, set in a slaughterhouse, there was (I seem to recall) an almost-tender coming of age story hidden in there somewhere, but it was obscured by endless pages about turds and smelly fannies and intestines and bumming, etc. etc.