The best extreme horror books

Why am I passionate about this?

My experience and expertise – I am not only a reader of horror, in particular extreme horror, but I am a published writer with several hundred writing credits. I have had hundreds of stories and articles published on many websites, magazines, and anthologies including a story in Year’s Best Hardcore Horror Volume 5. For eleven years I wrote articles on the bizarre and morbid for Girls and Corpses magazine. I have been consistently writing for 20 years, and have also helped write several independent horror films. I have written many reviews and interviews as well, most recently in Phantasmagoria Magazine.


I wrote...

Hurting My Toys: Spiritual Suicide

By David L. Tamarin,

Book cover of Hurting My Toys: Spiritual Suicide

What is my book about?

Hurting My Toys is an extreme horror tale about a schizophrenic drug-addicted serial killer who cannot differentiate between fantasy and reality. In his deluded mind, he can become a God who controls the universe provided that he kills enough people. Warning - may be traumatic to some.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Girl Next Door

David L. Tamarin Why did I love this book?

Reading this book was one of the most intense experiences of my life and I will never forget reading it. Based on a true story of the extreme abuse of a young girl by an evil aunt and some neighborhood kids, this book makes you feel like you were actually present at the crime. While most books I read are tame in comparison, this book is truly and uniquely disturbing and deserving of its reputation as a top-notch horror novel.

By Jack Ketchum,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Girl Next Door as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A teenage girl is held captive and brutally tortured by neighborhood children. Based on a true story, this shocking novel reveals the depravity of which we are all capable.

This novel contains graphic content and is recommended for regular readers of horror novels.


Book cover of Duet for the Devil

David L. Tamarin Why did I love this book?

Two of the top voices in extreme horror fiction unite to create a surreal road trip to hell. Loosely based on the crimes of the Zodiac Killer, as well as several other serial killers, Duet for the Devil pushes all possible boundaries and stands as a monumental achievement in Extreme Horror. Featuring hundreds of pages of brutality and disturbing criminal behavior, the book is not one to be forgotten.

By T. Winter-Damon, Randy Chandler, Edward Lee

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Duet for the Devil as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

DUET FOR THE DEVIL is a brutal and grim tale of The Zodiac Killer, serial slayers, drugs, dark gods, black magicks, detectives, and a dog-a road trip to oblivion. You've never read a hardboiled crime/erotic horror novel anything like this before- DUET FOR THE DEVIL completely redefines the meaning of extreme...and shatters, once and for all, the perceived limits of hardcore horror...


Book cover of Succulent Prey

David L. Tamarin Why did I love this book?

Wrath is truly the king of extreme horror and this is his best book. The over the top sex and violence will leave you traumatized in this tale of a cannibalistic serial killer. At times erotic and at times disgusting, this book at no point bores the reader and is a good introduction to an amazing writer.

By Wrath James White,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Succulent Prey as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"This is a serial cannibalistic killer’s wet dream come true. The author Wrath James White had written something beyond dark, beyond morbid.” - John Rizo, HorrorNews.Net

"The Resurrectionist by Wrath James White the kind of novel that can unsettle even the most hardened gore fanatic. White writes the kind of horror that gets under your skin, and reading his brand of hardcore fiction may have the unintended side effect of making you feel...wrong. Seriously wrong." - I.E. Lester, Dark Scribe Magazine

Fifteen years ago Joseph Miles was abducted, tortured and almost killed by a serial killer with the taste for…


Book cover of Survivor

David L. Tamarin Why did I love this book?

This is the best book written by Gonzalez, who recently passed away. It is the extreme and brutal tale of a woman who is abducted for the purpose of being put into a snuff film. The action is ferocious and brutal and the lead character is extremely strong, so much more than just another victim. I felt for her and cheered for her when her character fights back against the evil men hellbent on torturing and killing her.

By J.F. Gonzalez,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Survivor as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

BEFORE HOSTEL...BEFORE SAW..THERE WAS SURVIVOR... It was supposed to be a romantic weekend getaway. Lisa was looking forward to spending time alone with her husband-and telling him that they are going to have a baby. Instead, it becomes a nightmare when her husband is arrested and Lisa is kidnapped. But the kidnappers aren't asking for ransom. They want Lisa herself. They're going to make her a star-in a snuff film. What they have in mind for Lisa is unspeakable. They plan to torture and murder her as graphically and brutally as possible, and to capture it all on film. If…


Book cover of The Groomer

David L. Tamarin Why did I love this book?

The Groomer by Jonathan Athan is a heart-wrenching tale of true evil. It tells the story of a sleazy murderer and producer of child snuff films. At times the book was too much for me and I ended up having a good cry after one of the characters is exposed to some purely evil horror. An amazing and powerful book about the nature of evil.

By Jon Athan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Groomer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Andrew McCarthy grows concerned for his family after he catches a young man, Zachary Denton, photographing his daughter, Grace McCarthy, and other children at a park. To his dismay, Zachary talks his way out of trouble when he’s confronted by the police. He hopes that’s the end of it. Then he finds Zachary at a diner and then at a grocery store. He knows their encounters aren't coincidences. And just as Andrew prepares to defend his family, Grace vanishes.

As the police search stalls and the leads dry up, Andrew decides to take matters into his own hands. He starts…


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Book cover of This Animal Body

Meredith Walters

New book alert!

What is my book about?

Neuroscience PhD student Frankie Conner has finally gotten her life together—she’s determined to discover the cause of her depression and find a cure for herself and everyone like her. But the first day of her program, she meets a group of talking animals who have an urgent message they refuse to share. And while the animals may not have Frankie’s exalted human brain, they know things she doesn’t, like what happened before she was adopted.

To prove she’s sane, Frankie investigates her forgotten past and conducts clandestine experiments. But just when she uncovers the truth, she has to make an impossible choice: betray the animals she’s fallen in love with—or give up her last chance at success and everything she thought she knew.

By Meredith Walters,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked This Animal Body as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Frankie Conner, first-year graduate student at UC Berkeley, is finally getting her life together. After multiple failures and several false starts, she's found her calling: become a neuroscientist, discover the cause of her depression and anxiety, and hopefully find a cure for herself and everyone like her.

But her first day of the program, Frankie meets a mysterious group of talking animals who claim to have an urgent message for her. The problem is, they're not willing to share it. Not yet. Not until she's ready.

While Frankie's new friends may not have her highly evolved, state-of-the-art, exalted human brain,…


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