# Stories that caused you to have a "HOLY CRAP!" moment...



## Jon King (Sep 10, 2010)

Have you ever read a story or book that, at some point in the narrative, you realize what's REALLY going on, and it causes you to exclaim "Holy Crap!" (or equivalent--that's just mine). I'm not talking necessarily about a twist, but more of the shift in perception of the story that makes it take on a completely different dimension for you as the reader.

For me, the obvious example (and I doubt I'm alone here) is Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." If you've never read this short story, take ten minutes and do so here:
http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lotry.html

The moment you realize what is actually going on is like a kick in the gut...and then you start to really feel what you've been reading up to that point, and even going back to reread it with the new knowledge. And (alluding to another thread floating around here), if I'd gone back and read the ending first, the entire experience would have been totally ruined.

Let's hear yours. I'd love to find some new stories that shock and surprise me.

One thing, though: PLEASE REFRAIN from spoilers. Just tell us the story and hint at how it made you feel. We want that feeling, too.


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## James Everington (Dec 25, 2010)

You're right on The Lottery...

Another one for me was 'The Big Nowhere' by James Ellroy; without wanting to give away too much, there's a death in there that's total unexpected.


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## mistyd107 (May 22, 2009)

For me the book I finished late last night would definitely qualify. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one


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## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

I'd put LIFE OF PI in that bucket. And THE LITTLE STRANGER. Shades of that movie THE SIXTH SENSE.








(I think everyone's already read this.)










(Great ghost story!)


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## WestofMars (Sep 16, 2009)

I know I read one recently but I'm darned if I can recall what it was. I'm told Trevor's Song holds one for many people. I *think* that's a compliment.


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## Pinworms (Oct 20, 2010)

I'll agree with Life of Pi.  I thought it was a pretty mediocre book, up until the reveal.  The last part of the book just made me want to reread it all over again.


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## Emily King (Jun 9, 2009)

mistyd107 said:


> For me the book I finished late last night would definitely qualify. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one


A little bit of irony here is that the OP is my hubby.  I'm sure I have books that qualify, but I'd have to think about it a bit more.


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## purplepen79 (May 6, 2010)

This book left me reeling. I didn't get what was really going till the very end. I literally felt a bit batbombs and off center the whole evening after I finished _The Double Bind_. I had entered the fictional world of this book so completely that it was a very disorienting experience to have the literary rug pulled out from under me.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

The last Fever book by Karen Marie Moning. The last scene in the last book, what a kick in the gut! I think the title is Dreamfever, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 13, 2011)

The end of Brighton Rock by Graham Greene is probably the best ending ever- it's a twist that extends beyond the end of the book (I like to think of it as 3D for the novel).


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## AnnetteL (Jul 14, 2010)

I felt like the last person on the planet to read Orson Scott Card's _Ender's Game_, but that did it for me, definitely.

Most recently, Dan Wells's _Mr. Monster_ did it for me, roughly halfway through. (You'll want to read the first in the series before this one, _I Am Not a Serial Killer._ That one had me jumping and freaking out, but in a different way.)


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## mistyd107 (May 22, 2009)

Emily King said:


> A little bit of irony here is that the OP is my hubby.  I'm sure I have books that qualify, but I'd have to think about it a bit more.


LOL


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

A certain person's beheading in A Game of Thrones. Yeah. Not expecting that.


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## Stephen T. Harper (Dec 20, 2010)

"The Blue Hotel" - a short story by Stephen Crane.  Not sure if the reveal is "holy crap!" or not, but it's a great piece writing.  An obnoxious stranger walks into a frontier hotel bar and tells all the patrons that one of them is going to kill him (or something close to that.)  Seems crazy, but then the story's still got to play out.


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## J.K. Arauz (Jan 10, 2011)

Haha! I remember reading the Lottery in my high school English class and saying "What the hell!?" the moment I realized what was happening. It's fantastic story telling.

Anyone read The Wasp Factory by Ian Banks? It had one scarring/haunting moment that I still haven't been able to get out of my head, but the "Holy crap!" moment comes later and boy did it change the entire novel. I love those kind of books that force you to reread it to understand what was really happening after a realization like that.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Bleekness said:


> Oh oh! I know that one! Yes that was a surprise. But then, for me, that was outdone by book three and a dinner party served up by some allies.
> 
> Wish that guy would finish book four already.


Saw the dinner party coming a mile away. Waaaay too many tiny clues.


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## Vianka Van Bokkem (Aug 26, 2010)

The first page of the "Lovely Bones".





Vianka Van Bokkem


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## Jon King (Sep 10, 2010)

Half-Orc said:


> Saw the dinner party coming a mile away. Waaaay too many tiny clues.


Actually, I now remember another story about a dinner party that gave me a version of this, too...


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## mayfire (Nov 11, 2010)

Three come to mind immediately: _Lord of the Flies _ by william Golding, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce, and "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The last two are short stories.


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## SidneyW (Aug 6, 2010)

Don't know that any are on Kindle yet, but the stories of Charles Birkin often have that kind of effect.


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## Stephen T. Harper (Dec 20, 2010)

mayfire said:


> Three come to mind immediately: _Lord of the Flies _ by william Golding, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce, and "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The last two are short stories.


Owl Creek Bridge was made into a particularly good "Twilight Zone" episode. Not terribly relevant, I suppose, but that show did specialize in "Holy Crap!" moments.


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## mattposner (Oct 28, 2010)

I had a holy crap moment on Saturday while reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It was a very surprising plot twist.

http://www.amazon.com/Curious-Incident-Dog-Night-Time-ebook/dp/B000FC1MCS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1295303724&sr=1-1


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## RobynB (Jan 4, 2011)

Oooh, love this thread! I agree with Life of Pi, Double Bind (totally with you on that one -- left me reeling as well), and the first page of The Lovely Bones. I'll add the ending of My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult to the list.


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 13, 2011)

mayfire said:


> Three come to mind immediately: _Lord of the Flies _ by william Golding, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce, and "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The last two are short stories.


I love the Ambrose Bierce citation. Chickamauga is another holy crap moment all the way through- it doesn't have a huge plot twist, but the whole thing is dark enough to shock all the way through.


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## ginaf20697 (Jan 31, 2009)

Half-Orc said:


> A certain person's beheading in A Game of Thrones. Yeah. Not expecting that.


I think the real HOLY CRAP! moment came much sooner than that.


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## Jon King (Sep 10, 2010)

The Scott Nicholson entry is actually coming up next on my list to read and review.

And Annette, you're not the last person to read Ender's Game...also on my list.  I can't believe I missed it when I was younger.

I love that I'm not the only one to experience this.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)




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## James Everington (Dec 25, 2010)

Phil Edwards said:


> I love the Ambrose Bierce citation. Chickamauga is another holy crap moment all the way through- it doesn't have a huge plot twist, but the whole thing is dark enough to shock all the way through.


Interesting how people react differently... I saw that Ambrose Bierce one coming a mile off!


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## stephaniedray (Jan 12, 2011)

I had this reaction while reading Philippa Gregory's WIDEACRE. As I was reading it, I just kept thinking "What is GOING ON here? This can't be what I'm reading!" But wow, talk about an unexpected twist of an anti-heroine. This woman would have eaten Scarlett O'Hara's liver. I loved it.


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## Russell Brooks (Dec 23, 2010)

Most of Joseph Finder's books made me say "Holy Freakin' Crap!"


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## purplepen79 (May 6, 2010)

Half-Orc said:


> A certain person's beheading in A Game of Thrones. Yeah. Not expecting that.


I got so upset at that point in the book I quit reading it for a day. Which is really difficult with one of George RR Martin's books.

@RobynB
Glad to read someone else feels that way about _The Double Bind_.


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## Indy (Jun 7, 2010)

Let's see.  Ok in the Iliad, the stupid blabbermouth kid that actually (in today's translation), meant to call Hercules a pussy and well, Hercules just sort of backhanded him, like "dude, yer pissin' me off here."  Just a light little backhand, nothing special except that he was dead immediately.    Most of the combat descriptions had me chuckling a little but that, plus the one dude that got hit so hard his eyeballs flew out of his skull, shocked me somewhat.  

The ending of The Monk.  Wow.  And just when you thought it was over, well, WOW.  Nope.  I think it was made even better by having to scramble all through the boring parts in the first half of it, wondering who the hell cares about spanish bandits and why this whiny dude's love life is anything to write home about?  

At least several twists and turns in The Satanic Verses had me scratching my head.  I had to put it down several times and pick it up a day later to see if I could think clearly this time.

Oh yeah and Dalglish's little evil witch girl talking about what she did to her father, I forget what book it's in.  That little gal gave me nightmares.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Indy said:


> Oh yeah and Dalglish's little evil witch girl talking about what she did to her father, I forget what book it's in. That little gal gave me nightmares.


I'm guessing that'd be Tessanna, and it's from Cost of Betrayal. And I'm shamelessly giggling over here.


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

A Richard Laymon book, the title of which doesn't come to me. In one moment a whole new light is cast on the main character and how deep she is in some nasty business.


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## happycats (Jan 19, 2011)

Half-Orc said:


> A certain person's beheading in A Game of Thrones. Yeah. Not expecting that.


YES! I totally agree with you! How could that have happened?


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

happycats said:


> YES! I totally agree with you! How could that have happened?


A believe a certain brat who I really, really wanted to die was the reason...


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## lorezskyline (Apr 19, 2010)

Wasp Factory which someone else mentioned.
Also Fight Club cant tell you why if you haven't read it and lastly the first Robin Hobb Farseer book Assasins Apprentice someone not being what they seem to be (although admitidly on this one a lot of my friends said they saw it coming maybe i'm the only one who missed it!).  Was so shocked on the reveal.


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## ChrisPhilbrook (Jan 18, 2011)

The Lottery is a terrific kick in the junk.

Had to read that for a few different college English courses, and everytime it's great.


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## Sunset (Nov 10, 2010)

Harry Potter when Dumbledore died.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

ChrisPhilbrook said:


> The Lottery is a terrific kick in the junk.
> 
> Had to read that for a few different college English courses, and everytime it's great.


The lottery didn't surprise me in the slightest. I mean, why else were the kids gathering rocks? I read it as a freshman in high school, and while I loved the story, I wasn't surprised. Instead, I spent half an hour trying to figure out a solid explanation as to WHY they would have started such a custom, eventually coming up with a little history line, coincidences, escaped criminals, etc. I was a little odd...


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Half-Orc said:


> The lottery didn't surprise me in the slightest. I mean, why else were the kids gathering rocks? I read it as a freshman in high school, and while I loved the story, I wasn't surprised. Instead, I spent half an hour trying to figure out a solid explanation as to WHY they would have started such a custom, eventually coming up with a little history line, coincidences, escaped criminals, etc. I was a little odd...


Sacrifice to the gods for a good crop/fortune combining with society needing a scapegoat and to spill blood.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

MichelleR said:


> Sacrifice to the gods for a good crop/fortune combining with society needing a scapegoat and to spill blood.


See, that's all well and good to say that, but HOW would that start? I understood the REASON. The reason is simple, but often relied on too much. When would, in colonial America, people decide to just ritually sacrifice someone? Why stones? And how would the crop connection be made? And there was no scapegoat part. It was all random, with guilt not a factor. And of course, the mentioning of all the robes, rituals, all of course forgotten...if they weren't puritans, then what god did they worship? If I'd read Lovecraft by that time, I'd probably have blamed Cthulhu.


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## William L.K. (Aug 5, 2010)

This thread is bringing back a wonderful memory. The first time I read _The Lottery _ I was in HS English class. And yes, it was also the very first time I had a "Holy Crap" moment when reading.

I will never forget that feeling. It amazed me that I could be so caught up in a story and then, BAM!~you get smacked in another direction. I started writing after this experience, and that's way over 20 years ago.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

The ending of Christopher Moore's _Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal_ was quite a kick in the gut for me. Not the very end, but the end of Biff's "gospel", where I'd been set up to expect one ending that would have been sort of clever and maybe mildly satisfying, depending on how it was handled; but instead something quite different happened that for me was ultimately much more powerful and effective.

Another one that was not necessarily a specific moment but more the sum total of several moments, was Terry Pratchett's _Only You Can Save Mankind_. I mainly read this YA novel because it was by Pratchett, even though the description sounded so-so to me and probably truly better for a 12-year-old boy than someone my age. I was very pleasantly surprised to discover quite a bit of depth both in terms of character and story, and ultimately a moment or two where I may have shed a tear.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Half-Orc said:


> See, that's all well and good to say that, but HOW would that start? I understood the REASON. The reason is simple, but often relied on too much. When would, in colonial America, people decide to just ritually sacrifice someone? Why stones? And how would the crop connection be made? And there was no scapegoat part. It was all random, with guilt not a factor. And of course, the mentioning of all the robes, rituals, all of course forgotten...if they weren't puritans, then what god did they worship? If I'd read Lovecraft by that time, I'd probably have blamed Cthulhu.


Paganism. See Stephen King's Children of The Corn and Thomas Tryon's Secret of Harvest Home. Could be a goddess thing. It's also about being doing things because they've always done it, long after the meaning is lost.


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## Indy (Jun 7, 2010)

Half-Orc said:


> I'm guessing that'd be Tessanna, and it's from Cost of Betrayal. And I'm shamelessly giggling over here.


The look on my husband's face was interesting when I told him the content of those nightmares. I had to describe the reason, because he was close to suggesting some therapy. Then of course, he says well, the kindle has struck again. He thinks the author is in need of some counselling, and that I need a break from reading now and then.


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## mayfire (Nov 11, 2010)

So, how do you define a "Holy Crap!" moment? It's interesting how the responses here vary so much. Some seem to see it as surprise, some horror, some enlightenment. Ah, the wonder of reading!


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## Mike McIntyre (Jan 19, 2011)

MichelleR said:


>


I agree with this one...Maybe the greatest twist in recent fiction. Too bad the movie didn't measure up to the book.


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## no_caffiene (Jan 14, 2011)

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows". I said "Holy crap! Harry is a Horcrux!" I hope i didn't spoil the ending for anyone..


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## DYB (Aug 8, 2009)

How about "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?"  Did you ever think Nurse Ratchet would do that to our hero?

Scott Sigler's "Infected" had about a dozen "holy crap, he did not just do that!" moments.  I couldn't get through the sequel, which was awful and mostly had "what crap!" moments.


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

Shutter  Island  by  Dennis Lehane.. Needed  to  reread  it  because I needed to  see it with different  eyes.


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