Recently, I put out a request on Twitter for some really dark m/m fiction. I wanted to see what was out there. A recommendation came back with the tag line being it was the darkest m/m this person had ever read. Intriguing.

Hand on Glass

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I looked it up on Amazon and it came with a warning: This book contains graphic violence, hardcore bondage and punishment, torture and blood play. May not be suitable for the more sensitive reader. So I went for it. I downloaded the book and tucked in.

The book had a quirky storyline and interesting world-building, and at its conclusion I was engaged enough to care what happened to the characters. And while there was some gore, some violence and some blood, I don’t think it really warranted such an exciting warning.

And that got me thinking about how I regard violence in books. What is my scale? And then I remembered reading American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. Now that’s graphic violence. The first time I saw this book, it was behind the counter at a Dymocks. Restricted. That was before I was 18. It was about five years before I actually read it and I still get a bit queasy thinking about it. The violence in that book is creative.

And I think the book is so much worse than the movie. In fact, while I don’t get huge kicks out of movie violence, there’s something a bit safer about it. You don’t have to use your imagination (though you end up with some freaky nightmares), whereas with a book it’s just you, the words and whatever sick pictures you can come up with.

Mind you, I’m not saying movie violence is all roses and fairy floss. I took my grandmother to see Seven Pysychopaths last year (and before you complain, it was at her request). Two guys are shot in the head, graphically, within the first five minutes. My grandmother jumped and I realised she wasn’t at all used to the kind of on-screen violence I now take for granted.

So really it’s a question of scale and what kind of scale you use. For me, 0 would be kittens and ducklings, five might be a bit of murder and mayhem but toned down a bit, and of course 10 is chainsaw-wielding, acid-bathing, prostitute-and-kitten torturing American Psycho.

Please don’t think I enjoy “all this violence.” Its unsettling if you have too much of it and after a while it loses its potency. I think violence in stories serves a purpose to reflect on our own society, I really do, and sometimes stories about kittens is a better balm for the soul.

But when I’m expecting graphic violence that is likely to make me run screaming for the hills, I’d like it to live up to a few expectations.

So what’s your scale? And what is the darkest book you’ve ever read?