A current trend in filmmaking is adaptations. These adaptations range from remakes and reboots of older films and film series to making films based on books and comic books. Since thrillers and horror novels are currently a popular genre in the reading world, many film adaptations are of thrillers and horror novels.
Thriller novels usually follow a formula that involves suspense, an unreliable narrator that often results in mind games for the reader, and some sort of mutilation or death on or off the page. Different thrillers use these tropes to different degrees depending on the author’s style and intentions for the novel. That being said, sometimes these tropes become so intense and vivid that the reader is truly disturbed by the content of the novel. Here are ten such novels that are so twisted, they should not be made into films.
The Surgeon By Tess Gerritsen
The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen is actually the first book in her Rizzoli and Isles series. While this series was adapted into the popular television show on TNT, and the first episode of the television series was loosely based on the second book, The Apprentice, The Surgeon itself still deserves a place on this list.
The Surgeon is incredibly graphic, following Detectives Thomas Moore and Jane Rizzoli as they track down a serial killer later revealed to be Charles Hoyt. His treatment of victims and his modus operandi are described in graphic detail in the book, leaving most readers reeling. This paired with the fact that the television series chose to adapt The Apprentice rather than The Surgeon for its pilot episode shows that The Surgeon in isolation may not be suited to be adapted from page to screen.
The Chestnut Man By Soren Sveistrup
The Chestnut Man is screenwriter and television creator Soren Sveistrup’s (known for the television show The Killing) novel debut. It is classified as a Nordic Noir and chronicles police in Copenhagen, Denmark as they search for a serial killer known as The Chestnut Man because of his calling card, a doll made out of a chestnut and match sticks.
The deaths are described in graphic detail, like Tess Gerritsen’s The Surgeon. Furthermore, the deaths described in the book do not discriminate against age or gender, among other things. All deaths are equally graphic and many reviewers describe the book as “not for the faint of heart.”
The Silent Patient By Alex Michaelides
The Silent Patient is about painter Alicia Berenson and how she allegedly murdered her husband Gabriel and then never spoke another word. As a result, she was ordered by the court to reside in a mental institution where she eventually is put under the care of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who wishes to understand her motives for the murder and the reasons why she can no longer speak.
This novel is not gruesome, or even graphic. It is still twisted because of the twist ending itself. The book offers a twist that no reader has seen coming and would likely be difficult for a film to replicate.
House Of Leaves By Mark Z. Danielewski
House of Leaves follows a plot that is structurally similar to a thriller but also contains elements of the horror genre. The story chronicles a family who moves into a house only to discover that it is larger from the inside. The story has multiple narrators, all of whom interact with each other at some point throughout the book.
The formatting of the book itself is unconventional. Danielewski plays around with the formatting in order to convey different feelings for the reader, including claustrophobia and disorientation. It is this aspect of the book that would make it difficult to adapt into a film as while film can cause the same emotions, it cannot in the same way as the book can, which is part of the appeal of the book itself.
The Wives By Tarryn Fisher
The Wives is about Thursday and her husband Seth, who has two other wives. Thursday is aware of their existence but does not know who or where they are and is willing to put up with it because she loves Seth so much. Eventually, she uncovers information that changes how she sees her arrangement with her husband and his two other wives.
The novel contains themes of abuse, which has been depicted in film in the past. However, the book has also been described as “edgy,” “twisted,” and “disturbing,” meaning it might be difficult to create a film that is not too exploitative for general viewership.
The Good Son By You-Jeong Jeong
The Good Son follows Yu-Jin, who suffers from chronic seizures, waking up one day to find his mother dead and in a pool of her own blood. Because of his seizures, Yu-Jin has memory issues and is unsure what happened the night before.
The novel is a claustrophobic and tense psychological thriller. Like others on this list, while it contains qualities that film can certainly, effectively convey, the means of conveying the qualities will not be the same and may not have quite the same effect on viewers as the book would have on readers.
Lock Every Door By Riley Sager
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager is about Jules Larsen, who is apartment-sitting in the Bartholomew, a high-profile apartment building surrounded by mysteries. According to the synopsis, Jules finds connections between the apartment building and her sister Ingrid’s disappearance years earlier, and things only get stranger from there.
This novel is highly suspenseful and contains a twist ending. It has been favorably compared to Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin. While Rosemary’s Baby is highly disturbing and was also adapted into a film of the same name, Lock Every Door, with its more modern context is so thrilling and suspenseful that it may be best left as a book.
The Whisper Man By Alex North
The Whisper Man takes place after the serial killer is caught and imprisoned. The serial killer, Frank Carter, or, The Whisper Man, kidnapped and killed five boys, luring them out by whispering by their windows, over the span of twenty years before getting caught. During the time of the novel, even though he is incarcerated, the whispering and disappearances start again.
This novel is highly suspenseful and creates new lore that will keep readers up at night. It is also filled with surprise twists that may not be able to be successfully transferred over to film.
Night Film By Marisha Pessl
Marisha Pessl’s Night Film is about journalist Scott McGrath investigating the death of Ashley Cordova, the daughter of the fictional, renowned, and notorious film director Stanislaus Cordova. McGrath has a rocky history with the Cordova family, having attempted to write damning articles about the director in the past. He believes that something sinister is involved in Ashley Cordova’s death and uses information and resources involving her father to uncover the truth.
The novel, like House of Leaves, is unconventional in its formatting. In this case, parts of the novel are written as webpages, as McGrath uses a prominent Stanislaus Cordova fansite in his investigations. The dark tone and disturbing content of the novel, paired with its unconventional formatting would make it difficult to be made into a film.
Haunted By Chuck Palahniuk
Haunted is a collection of short stories connected by a frame story that runs throughout the book. The most well-known short story from the book is entitled “Guts” and chronicles three different and increasingly grisly mishaps involving masturbation. This short story, in particular, is incredibly graphic and supposedly based on true stories.
Aside from “Guts,” the narrative of the frame story involves each narrator of the short stories slowly being killed off, one by one. While Chuck Palahniuk’s books often make readers’ lists of most disturbing reads, Haunted may be the most disturbing of all of his books.
Next: 5 Thriller Books Better Than The Movies (& 5 That Are Surprisingly Worse)
