A sequence where a character is strapped to a bed and made to answer questions, or risk their face being amputated. They escape before any harm can come to them.
A hallucination sequence depicts the aftermath of a supposed suicide. While it's quite clear to the audience the character is still alive, the narrator is unaware and breaks down.
A hallucination sequence depicts the aftermath of a supposed suicide. The character witnessing it strongly considers taking their own life, but does not attempt it.
While no real children are harmed, several hallucination sequences depict the violent deaths of children. Characters are also deeply uncomfortable with killing off alien parasites posing as human children.
Fire and brimstone are used to burn parasites alive. A character is supposedly incinerated at the end of the book, but it's clear the narrator was lying.
A character rear-ends another car. When they assess the damage, they hallucinate having crushed someone in the process. Ultimately, no-one was actually hurt.
A torture sequence almost leads to a person's face being amputated without anesthetic, but is interrupted at the last second. Another character removes their own fingers, but it's painless and they pop right back into place afterwards.
A protagonist recalls the emotional abuse they suffered while living with their aunt and uncle, who raised them in their teenage years. A mother "abandons" her child, but only after realizing the child is not real and is in fact trying to kill her.
A Vietnam veteran suffers from PTSD, with his wife believing it to be the source of his violent temper. Amy, a protagonist, recalls the emotional abuse she suffered as a teen and the triggers that have followed her into adult life.
Multiple hallucination sequences where a character is lead to believe his friend has overdosed, including graphic descriptions of the (fake) body and pills around it. The character goes into shock and denial for the remainder of the chapter, until the real friend walks in alive and well.
While there's no possession in the typical sense, the antagonists are capable of making their victims believe untrue things very strongly, which compels them into dangerous behavior. The distinction may be pretty thin.
The setup involves the kidnapping of a young girl by someone presumed to be a predator. While the situation turns out to be more complicated, emotionally it hits the same.
While the main characters aren't homeless in this one, they *are* skirting the poverty line and the stress (and suicide rates) of unemployment and homelessness comes up frequently.
The antagonists are capable of making their victims experience vivid and detailed hallucinations, which they use to manipulate their actions and memories. Many of these ruses take a very, *very* long time for the characters to piece together and it's not always clear to the audience what's real or not.
As per usual, this book is written under the pretense that David - a main character - is the author and is writing about his own life. Early chapters of the book involve him directly speaking to readers, referencing appendixes that do not actually exist, and giving advice. Later chapters imply he has also been lying to the audience for a good chunk of the book.
A character goes on a date with a person pretending to be their partner. They kiss and almost have sex under these false pretenses. In addition, several references are made to pedophilia and bestiality, though none actually occurs in the story itself.
The characters investigate the kidnapping of a young girl, believed to have been taken by a predator. Several sequences of child-like parasites feigning extreme distress or pain. In addition, a main character recalls the emotional abuse she experienced at the hands of her aunt and uncle, and the triggers that remind her of the memory.
A character fears his daughter was kidnapped by a pedophile. While this is not actually the case and no pedophilia actually occurs, this fear is a major part of the book.