If you’re a normie, you’re gonna have no idea what I’m talking about, which is why (in this post) I will be talking to my reader as if they were a baby. Hi, little baby. Do you like to be uncomfortable? You’re gonna be today! Together, we are gonna dive into some of the most notorious, niche, and disgusting examples from my favorite genre: transgressive fiction. What’s that, little baby? You’d like me to explain what transgressive fiction is? Well, of course. That’s what I’m here for.
Merriam-Webster defines transgressive as an adjective meaning, “disposed or tending to transgress, violate, or go beyond a limit.” The keyword in this definition is the word limit. What is the limit, and how do we find it?
In 1993, Michael Silverblatt attended a workshop in LA given by my favorite author, Dennis Cooper. After attending this workshop, he wrote an article titled, “SHOCK APPEAL / Who Are These Writers, and Why Do They Want to Hurt Us? : The New Fiction of Transgression” for the Los Angeles Times. In this article, Silverblatt would define transgressive fiction for the first time. He differentiates the transgressive from the normal by writing, “It is not an entertainment. American audiences are inured to violence–when the violence is entertaining. As soon as violence becomes painful and shocking (that is as soon as it transgresses against our dulled senses) our response is rage.” Ah, there’s your answer to the first part of my question. The limit is anything that “transgresses against our dulled senses.” In other words, we have been conditioned to accept a certain level of depravity without much of a reaction. When something pushes beyond that threshold and feels too real or too raw, it disrupts that numbness, and that’s when people react strongly.
Now, we need to find where that threshold ends and where transgression begins. Neda Aria writes on her blog that “the main themes may be extensive taboo subject matters such as drugs, sexual activity, violence, incest, pedophilia, and crime.” Uncomfortable yet, little baby? We’ve barely gotten started.
Let’s stop talking definitions now and get to the point. If you’re still confused about what exactly transgressive fiction is, which (let’s be honest here) you probably are because you’re a dumb little baby, here are twenty examples across different mediums. Hopefully, after this, you’ll leave your baby ways behind and finally be a grown man… or woman or genderless freak (shoutout to the genderless freaks). To make this easy on you, I organized them by medium (literature, film, internet / digital culture, video game, art & performance, and comic) from least to most extreme.
WARNING: Many of the links or videos in this blog post will expose you to some pretty distressing things. Feel free to skip the links. Feel free to skip certain entries. Do what is best for your mental health and well-being.
📚 Literature (Least → Most Extreme)
Edinburgh (2001) by Alexander Chee
Edinburgh is a novel by Alexander Chee about a Chinese American boy in a Catholic boys’ choir who is sexually abused by his director. (Not uncommon, unfortunately). The story follows him into adulthood as he deals with the lasting effects of that experience and becomes what he’s always been trying to escape.
What makes it transgressive:
- Abuse occurs within a trusted religious space
- Focus on long-term psychological impact rather than just the event
- Blurs the line between victim and perpetrator (no clear “good” or “bad” person)
- The cycle of abuse continues instead of being resolved
- Refuses a clear moral conclusion, leaving the reader uncomfortable (doesn’t make a stance on what is right and what is wrong)
Mysterious Skin (1995) by Scott Heim
Mysterious Skin is a novel (also adapted into a film) by Scott Heim that follows two boys who share the same traumatic childhood experience (CSA) but process it in completely different ways. It tracks how that experience shapes their identities into adolescence and adulthood, though this entry is focused on the novel. You ever repressed something so hard you thought you were abducted by aliens?
What makes it transgressive:
- Directly engages with abuse and its long-term psychological effects
- Contrasts two opposing responses to trauma: reframing (love) vs. repression (aliens)
- Explores how memory can distort or completely reshape reality
- Links trauma to identity and sexuality without softening it
- Refuses emotional distance, keeping the reader close to the damage (The last chapter pretty brutally lays out every detail of the SA)
The George Miles Cycle (1990-2000) by Dennis Cooper
The George Miles Cycle is a series of novels by Dennis Cooper centered on the figure of George Miles and the people around him. The cycle includes Closer, Frisk, Try, Guide, and Period. Rather than telling a single, continuous story, the books revisit similar figures, voices, and situations in shifting, often disconnected ways, circling around the same obsessions from different angles. TW: poop eating, murder, torture, Satanism, drugs, incest, pedophilia, and probably lots of other stuff I’m forgetting.
What makes it transgressive:
- Focuses on obsession, desire, and violence without moral framing.
- Engages with intense and taboo forms of intimacy and power.
- Blurs the line between fantasy and reality.
- Uses detached, almost clinical narration to present disturbing material. In the first book, a kid literally gets ran over by a car at a party and dies, and everyone is basically unfazed.
- Lingers in discomfort instead of resolving it.
Dead Inside (2015) by Chandler Morrison
Dead Inside is a novel by Chandler Morrison about a hospital security guard whose extreme detachment leads him into a relationship with a maternity doctor who shares similarly disturbing fixations. The story centers on how that relationship develops and spirals as both characters push further into their own depravity. Quick summary: the guy likes to… do the deed with dead girls, and the woman likes to eat babies. Romantic.
What makes it transgressive:
- Centers on extreme emotional detachment and lack of empathy.
- Focuses on a relationship built around shared fixation and moral breakdown.
- Engages with taboo forms of desire and bodily violation in a way that is intentionally violent and unsettling. (Seriously, if you are easily disturbed, don’t look this up).
- Pushes boundaries around mortality and what is considered acceptable behavior.
- Relies on shock and discomfort without offering moral resolution.
A Clockwork Orange (1971) by Anthony Burgess
A Clockwork Orange is a novel by Anthony Burgess (also adapted into a film) that follows a teenage delinquent whose violent behavior leads to an experimental attempt to condition him into being “good.” The story focuses less on the acts themselves and more on what happens when choice is taken away.
What makes it transgressive:
- Presents violence and cruelty through a stylized, almost playful lens.
- Centers on state control over the body and mind rather than just punishment.
- Questions whether morality has value if it is forced. Otherwise meaning, if you have to be told how to be good, then are you really good?
- Places the reader inside a perspective that is difficult to distance from.
- Refuses a simple answer to whether control or free will is more disturbing.
🎬 Film (Least → Most Extreme)
Opal (2020) by Jack Stauber
Opal is a musical, animated short by Jack Stauber that follows a young girl living in a strange, isolated house with her family. It presents itself as childlike, but the muted colors, character designs, and overall look are already unsettling from the start. Side note: the songs are gas.
What makes it transgressive:
- Deals with neglect, abuse, and distorted family dynamics.
- Uses a childlike format (cartoony and slightly humorous), but everything already feels off instead of safe.
- Blurs reality and perception, especially from a child’s point of view.
- Shows how harm can be normalized within a household.
- Reveals its darker meaning gradually, making it more unsettling than overtly shocking.
Possibly in Michigan (1983) by Cecelia Condit
Possibly in Michigan is an experimental short by Cecelia Condit that follows two women in a stylized, almost dreamlike suburban setting who are stalked by a masked, cannibalistic man. His face haunts me. It combines music (also gas), staged dialogue, and abrupt tonal shifts, creating a sense that everything is slightly off from the beginning.
What makes it transgressive:
- Treats violence and desire with a flat, almost casual tone.
- Disrupts normal cause-and-effect, making events feel arbitrary and unsettling.
- Uses performance and repetition to create emotional distance instead of clarity.
- Undermines expectations around gender roles and control.
- Leaves meaning unresolved, forcing the viewer to sit with it without explanation. Who was the real threat?
Tusk (2014) by Kevin Smith
Tusk is a film by Kevin Smith about a man who travels to interview a stranger and ends up trapped, where he is gradually transformed into a walrus against his will. The story centers on captivity, control, and the loss of identity through forced physical change. If body horror freaks you out, skip the clip.
What makes it transgressive:
- Centers on forced bodily alteration and loss of autonomy.
- Blends absurdity with cruelty in a way that removes any sense of safety.
- Treats the human body as something that can be reshaped and degraded.
- Uses confinement and control to strip away identity.
- Refuses to restore normalcy, leaving the violation intact. (They literally don’t even try to un-walrus him).
Felidae (1994) by Michael Schaack
Felidae is an animated film by Michael Schaack that follows a cat investigating a series of murders among other cats, which leads him into a wider conspiracy involving experimentation and a cat cult? Cat religion? Ritualistic cats? I don’t know exactly how to describe it, but cats are committing suicide for an entity. It presents itself as a mystery but quickly moves into the genre of horror. The genre description for this film on the Wikipedia page goes crazy: adult animated, xenofictive, psychological horror, mystery film.
What makes it transgressive:
- Uses an animated, animal-focused format to present graphic violence and disturbing ideas.
- Engages with themes of experimentation, control, and suffering.
- Creates a strong disconnect between visual style and subject matter.
- Treats its characters with a level of brutality not typically associated with animation.
- Refuses to soften or distance the audience from what is happening. As you can see in the clip, the film doesn’t imply anything. It shows you.
Possession (1981) by Andrzej Żuławski
Possession is a film by Andrzej Żuławski about a man who returns home to Berlin to find his wife acting distant and erratic, which leads to their relationship completely falling apart. As things escalate, her behavior becomes more extreme and eventually ties into something physical and unnatural that the film never fully explains.
What makes it transgressive:
- Uses intense, volatile performances to push emotional states to extremes.
- Combines interpersonal breakdown with sudden, often shocking violence.
- Links relationships, identity, and physical transformation (body horror) in unsettling ways.
- Breaks down the boundary between psychological and material reality. You will be so confused by the end of this movie.
- Sustains a level of intensity that becomes overwhelming rather than cathartic.
The Strange Thing About the Johnsons (2011) by Ari Aster
The Strange Thing About the Johnsons is a short film by Ari Aster that follows a seemingly normal family whose private dynamic becomes increasingly disturbing over time. It presents itself like a conventional domestic story before revealing something much darker underneath.
What makes it transgressive:
- Centers on a taboo family dynamic that directly violates social boundaries (incest).
- Reverses expected roles within the family structure. In this case, the son is the perpetrator and the father is the victim, but… it also brings up the question: is a father responsible for the actions of his son?
- Treats disturbing behavior with a calm, almost ordinary tone.
- Builds discomfort through implication rather than constant escalation.
- Forces the viewer to sit with the situation without offering resolution.
🌐 Internet / Digital Media (Least → Most Extreme)
Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared (2011-2016) by Rebecca Sloan and Joseph Pelling
Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared is a web series by Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling that copies the structure of children’s educational shows, where each episode is built around teaching a basic concept through songs and simple lessons. The original episodes—Creativity, Time, Love, Computers, Healthy, and Dreams—follow that structure but slowly break it apart. There’s also a TV series, which is worth checking out.
What makes it transgressive:
- Uses a child-friendly format to introduce increasingly disturbing ideas.
- Turns education and structure into tools of control.
- Distorts concepts like time, creativity, and identity.
- Shifts tone abruptly, creating discomfort through contrast.
- Undermines the sense of safety normally associated with children’s media. The concept of turning something child-like into something creepy is super popular right now and has been for a while.
Salad Fingers (2004-2025) by David Firth
Salad Fingers is a web series by David Firth that follows a strange, isolated character living in a quiet, empty world. The episodes focus on his interactions with objects and occasional other figures, but everything feels off in a way that’s hard to fully explain. I have watched every episode multiple times, and I still don’t know what is fully happening.
What makes it transgressive:
- Centers on a character whose behavior doesn’t follow normal social logic.
- Suggests disturbing ideas without ever stating them directly.
- Treats unsettling behavior as if it were normal.
- Creates discomfort through tone rather than explicit events.
- Leaves most of what’s happening unexplained, forcing the viewer to fill in the gaps.
MEATCANYON (2025) by MeatCanyon
MEATCANYON is a short film by Hunter Hancock (aka MeatCanyon) that follows a struggling creator trying to come up with a new idea, eventually spiraling into a grotesque, surreal hallucination driven by pressure and feedback. It mixes animation with live-action elements, shifting between styles as things become more distorted. Like all of his videos, this film is hilarious in a slightly offensive way.
What makes it transgressive:
- Focuses on creative anxiety taken to an extreme, almost self-destructive level.
- Uses body horror (he literally becomes a meat monster) and visual distortion to represent internal pressure.
- Blends animation and live action to make the experience feel unstable.
- Pushes a relatable situation into something grotesque and overwhelming.
- Stays in that breakdown instead of offering relief or resolution.
Borrasca (2015) by C.K. Walker
Borrasca is a horror story by C.K. Walker that originally appeared on Reddit’s NoSleep forum (r/nosleep), which is why it falls under internet media. It is in four parts with a part five that came out a bit later. It was also adapted into a podcast and published in print. The story follows a group of kids growing up in a small town where strange disappearances and rumors point to something being seriously wrong beneath the surface, which they only begin to understand as they get older.
What makes it transgressive:
- Centers on exploitation and abuse hidden within an otherwise normal community.
- Involves systems of control maintained by people in positions of authority (police and politicians).
- Turns a coming-of-age story into something much darker as the truth is revealed. I won’t spoil it because it’s a major plot-twist, but when I first read this story I was utterly appalled, which is perfect.
- Reframes earlier events in a way that makes them more disturbing in hindsight. Fore-shadowing goes crazy in this story.
- Connects ordinary settings with extreme, underlying harm.
🎮 Video Game
Corpse Party (2008) by Team GrisGris
Corpse Party is a horror game by Team GrisGris that follows a group of students trapped in a haunted elementary school after a ritual goes wrong. The game combines exploration with long story sequences, and the outcome changes depending on the player’s choices, often leading to multiple endings.
What makes it transgressive:
- Centers on young characters placed in extremely violent and hopeless situations.
- Uses detailed descriptions and audio to make harm feel immediate and personal.
- Forces the player into outcomes where most choices lead to failure or death. Four main characters are dead by the end of the game, and lots of other characters can die if you make the wrong choices. Each death is super brutal.
- Connects past violence in the school to what the characters experience.
- Turns a familiar school setting into something hostile and inescapable.
🖼️ Art & Performance (Least → Most Extreme)
Witches’ Sabbath (1798) by Francisco Goya
Witches’ Sabbath is a painting, my personal favorite, by Francisco Goya that depicts a group of figures gathered around a large, goat-like creature that is often interpreted as the devil. The scene is chaotic and distorted, with an overall atmosphere that feels unsettling rather than structured. If you look closely, there are babies dangling from a stick, a dead child on the ground, another child that looks close to dying, and a baby that looks like it’s about to be sacrificed. Goya really had to drive the point home.
What makes it transgressive:
- Depicts taboo and anti-religious imagery tied to witchcraft and the devil.
- Distorts human figures in a way that feels unnatural and unsettling. I mean, just look at their faces.
- Presents fear, ritual, and belief as something grotesque rather than sacred.
- Reflects paranoia and hysteria surrounding witchcraft.
- Replaces order and clarity with confusion and unease.
Pictures (1999) by Robert Mapplethorpe
Pictures is a photography collection by Robert Mapplethorpe that focuses on the human body (mostly men) and sexuality (lots of BDSM stuff) through highly staged, black-and-white images. The work is very controlled and polished, even when the subject matter is meant to provoke a reaction. There is literally a photograph of a penis getting a nail driven into it (everything is consensual, to be clear), and somehow he’s made it look like art.
What makes it transgressive:
- Presents taboo subject matter in a formal, almost classical style.
- Treats explicit imagery with the same seriousness as fine art.
- Engages with themes of control, power, and the body.
- Challenges what is considered acceptable to display publicly. There is everything from bondage to CBT (CW: this link contains very explicit material) in this picture book, and believe it or not, these photographs do get displayed.
- Creates tension between aesthetic beauty and uncomfortable content.
Fixation / Carcass / Seam / Segregation by Pyotr Pavlensky
Pyotr Pavlensky stages his performances in Russia, using his own body in public acts meant to confront political power and control. Works like Fixation (2013), Carcass (2013), Seam (2012), and Segregation (2014) take place in real locations and involve physical actions that draw attention to restriction, authority, and resistance.
What makes it transgressive:
- Uses the artist’s own body in acts of self-harm: putting a nail through his scrotum, laying in a nest of barbed wire, sewing his mouth shut, and cutting off his earlobe.
- Happens in public, so there’s no separation between the act and the viewer.
- Directly challenges political authority within Russia.
- Turns pain and restriction into a form of expression.
- Blurs the line between art, protest, and real-world consequence.
🖤 Comics
Lovesick is a comic series by Luana Vecchio that follows a cam girl on a dark web site that tortures, punishes, and kills her own subscribers (who pay her to do so) for other entertainment. The comic spirals into increasingly extreme situations tied to obsession, control, and identity, and leans heavily into stylized, neon visuals that make everything feel intense and overwhelming.
What makes it transgressive:
- Centers on a character whose relationships are driven by control and fixation.
- Engages with explicit, taboo subject matter in a direct way.
- Uses graphic visuals and body horror to heighten discomfort.
- Blends sexuality, violence, and identity without separating them.
- Pushes everything to an extreme rather than holding anything back.
That’s all twenty. Congrats on making it through! I hope you are thoroughly disturbed, but more than that, I hope you enjoyed.
Well—ladies, gentleman, and others—if you still don’t get what transgressive means, I genuinely don’t know what to tell you. At that point it’s kind of on you. Byeee! c: