Recs if you like Story of the Eye...

Based on the list/book published in 2006, general editor Peter Boxall.

cosmic, violent, nightmareish, ancient, warped, bizarre, absurd, strange, surreal

Overlooked, lesser known classics from all over the world and of many genres.

This list also exists as a book club on Fable under the same name.

these books look back 👀

always accepting suggestions for books with eyes featured prominently on the cover

Tier 3 of the Disturbing Novel Icberg. Stories are more graphic with darker themes.

Note: some books are missing due to lack of access.

“It’s like a car crash you just can’t look away from”

Books where the red flags are flashing from page one. You see the obsession forming, the moral line blurring, the disaster building — and you keep reading anyway. Slow spirals. Psychological rot. Inevitable collapse. Oh my!

Transgressive, perverted, depraved, debased writings from before the Information Age ~1967.

At times disgusting, ecstatic, abhorrent, funny, erotic, evil. Occasionally, actually way less shocking than the reaction from the time of their initial publication suggested.

Seek content warnings. I haven’t read them all and many I regret having in my brain. But I think they’re all intriguing, maybe not all important but they offer us a different view of the past.

Suggestions welcome!

Creepy and cozy vibes are having a date in this list.