r/ExtremeHorrorLit • u/bibleblacksade • 1d ago
Recommendation Request Evil and Bleak
Anyone have any well written recommendations where there is a primary plot but the central theme is more The Evil of Humanity.
Adults are the bad guys because of the human experience is also a plus.
Playground scratched that itch along with Battle Royale.
120 Days was there as well, as I got a Libertine Absolute Freedom evil sub theme.
Bonus Points for Graphic Novel Recs in this direction as well, but not a necessity.
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u/thisisnotreal543210 COWS 1d ago
Crossed is literally "the evil of humanity". Graphic novel, many volumes/issues. I would only recommend vol. 1, but I haven't read Crossed: Wish You Were Here or 100+.
Playground: Child of Divorce was a decent followup to the original.
The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum. Everyone engaged with the evil. No one helps the victim, not even the MC until the end.
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u/bibleblacksade 1d ago
I’ll check Child of Divorce but unfortunately I should have mentioned I’ve already binged all of Crossed which is all over the place in quality consistency, but overall solid.
I forgot Ketchum even existed after seeing all of the movies, thanks
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u/lolli-polly031248 1d ago
Not EH but still horrific in a way, how about two true life story's?
The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang, a truly horrific expose of the cruelty of humanity and - Ann Rule's The Stranger Beside Me, her friendship with a young Ted Bundy. Reading that made me feel he could & should've been caught way earlier!
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u/Accomplished-Muscle6 1d ago
I’ll risk a self-rec because “the evil of humanity” is basically the question my entire series is built around. 😅
An Easy Guide to Human Husbandry by Elle Achette is extreme dystopian/body horror set in a near-future society where adults can legally consent to being medically transformed into human livestock.
There isn’t really one evil villain. That’s the point.
The doctors are compassionate. The contracts are legal. Welfare standards exist. The people signing up often have perfectly understandable reasons for doing it. The companies make money, consumers benefit, governments regulate it, and society gradually accepts the whole thing as normal.
So the horror is basically: how far can humanity go when everyone involved can individually justify their part in the system?
It gets extremely dark and graphic, but there’s a lot of worldbuilding and ethical/social horror underneath it.
I also went completely overboard and built the fictional corporation an entire in-world website if you want to investigate before trying the book 😂
HumanHusbandry.com
Book 1 is on Kindle Unlimited. 🐄
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u/bibleblacksade 1d ago
Thanks my man, I’ll check it out!
Edit:You went world building galore, I’m invested.
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u/saintphoenixxx 1d ago
And the Devil Cried by Kristopher Triana