Best fucked up books -

[BrunoMattei]

Justine by Marquis de Sade.

This book cycles between porn (if you even call it that) and philosophy, and the second part is more scary. You don't agree with his fucked-up characters' arguments, but their logic is very solid which is the scary part. For me it was psychological horror reading it.

Literally, in my OP post. But you sum up why Sade is still relevant. It's not so much the graphic sexual violence but the philosophy behind it where you can easily find parallels with today and find yourself saying "He has a point about that."

You don't end up as political prisoner under almost every regime you live through without having at least some good ideas.

Friend of mine who could be considered a Sade scholar (taught at Yale for a period) considers Sade's writings as a work of revenge against society.

 

[AnOminous]

I'd say in a slightly similar vein, "Misery" did that for me when I was younger, also "Cujo" evokes a pretty visceral level of feels.

Fun fact: Stephen King was so drunk and coked-up while writing Cujo that he doesn't even remember writing it.