17 Non-Fiction Books That Will Freak You The Fuck OutSkip To ContentHomepageSign InSearch BuzzFeedSearch BuzzFeedlol Badge Feedwin Badge Feedtrending Badge FeedCalifornia residents can opt out of "sales" of personal data.Do Not Sell My Personal Information 2022 BuzzFeed, Inc PressRSSPrivacyConsent PreferencesUser TermsAd ChoicesHelpContactSitemapPosted on 11 Sept 2017 17 Non-Fiction Books That Will Freak You The Fuck Out Truth is scarier than fiction. by Jamie JonesBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestTwitterMailLink We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community which non-fictions books seriously gave them the creeps Here are some of the best responses We hope you love the products we recommend! Just so you know, BuzzFeed may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. 1 People Who Eat Darkness by Richard Lloyd Parry Amazon "Detailed, gripping, and utterly terrifying in many different ways. You'll genuinely fear for anyone you know who's living alone in a foreign country. I completely identified with the powerlessness of the victim's family in the face of such horrific violence, bureaucratic red-tape, and ill-equipped investigative procedure." – product1977 Get it on Amazon 2 The Hot Zone by Richard Preston Amazon "The pacing and wordplay is sinister and well thought out, and when you add that to how frighteningly dangerous Ebola is and the crazy history it has. I will usually re-read books at least half a dozen times on the regular. This book? I refuse." – niccig Get it on Amazon 3 Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi Amazon "Helter Skelter terrified me. When I got to the part about them doing creepy crawlies through people's houses, I couldn't sleep well for days." – Tiffany Gould, Facebook Get it on Amazon 4 Brain On Fire by Susannah Cahalan Amazon "For me, one of the most terrifying non-fiction books is Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan. She talks about a short period of her life when her mental health suddenly deteriorated and she spontaneously lost her mind. It's always been a real fear of mine, but knowing that it's a legitimate possibility makes it so much more terrifying." – jement Get it on Amazon 5 The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson Amazon "It is about the World's Fair of 1893 in Chicago. Larson writes about the planning of the World's Fair and the Fair itself like a novel – casual, engaging, informative, and detailed. In the same manner and tone he writes about the murders that happened at the same time. The late 19th century was a good time to reinvent yourself, unless you took a job with H.H. Holmes in his murder castle not far from the location of the World's Fair. Grisly, chilling, and calculated – read it, you won't be disappointed!" – Jill Romick, Facebook Get it on Amazon 6 The Hate Factory by Georgelle Hirliman Amazon "It's about a huge riot at a prison in New Mexico in 1980. It's absolutely sickening reading about the sheer level of violence that erupted when prisoners rebelled against officers." – kathrynr4af7577c5 Get it on Amazon 7 The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout Amazon "It'll make you suspiciously squint at everyone for a week." – madisonr4b7e97d6d Get it on Amazon 8 In Cold Blood by Truman Capote Amazon "The murder of the Clutter family was horrific but what's more terrifying is how as a reader you almost feel sorry for Perry Smith, one of the murderers." – brionyalexh Get it on Amazon 9 Mindhunter by John E Douglas Amazon "The author, John Douglas, was one of the original FBI profilers and some of the cases he writes about haunt me to do this day." – Kristina Houde Barry, Facebook Get it on Amazon 10 My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf Amazon "It's a book written by a high school friend of Jeffrey Dahmer, and it shows what kind of kid Dahmer was." – taradrake Get it on Amazon 11 Germs Genes & Civilization by David P Clark Amazon "Just the thought that we are so vulnerable to superbugs and potential plagues. They have shaped or history, what about our future?" – l4168307fa Get it on Hive 12 Witches History of a Persecution Paperback by Nigel Cawthorne Amazon "Just reading about all of the horrible ways innocent people were killed on the basis of being suspected witches, and the historical images of said torture is terrifying. It's a really terrifying, but ultimately interesting book." – Alta Hatcher, Facebook Get it on Amazon 13 The Road Out of Hell by Anthony Flacco Amazon "It's about the Wineville chicken coop murders, from the point of view of Sanford Clark." – libertyc45a5036d5" Get it on Amazon 14 Communion by Whitley Strieber Amazon "It's written by someone who claims to have been repeatedly abducted by aliens. I actually couldn't finish it because it scared me so badly." – Sanj Leone, Facebook Get it on Amazon 15 Columbine by Dave Cullen Amazon "Reading through the book as it takes you step-by-step through what happened is chilling. I had night terrors for weeks after reading it." – Elizabeth Langley, Facebook Get it on Amazon 16 Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer Amazon "The book starts with the story of brothers who killed a woman and her baby because God commanded it, and it goes deep into the Mormon fundamentalist communities who still practice polygamy. I remember being completely terrified and extremely angry when I read this book." – allisonstull Get it on Hive 17 The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule Amazon "The author worked alone next to Ted Bundy at a suicide hotline in the middle of the night, and was writing a true crime book on the side before she realised it was about her 'friend', Ted." – kerronjeanb Get it on Amazon Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity. 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