I’m reading through a 6 part collection called Creature Feature. It’s free for Amazon Prime members and features 6 stories from 6 fairly well known and popular authors. Grady Hendrix, Joe Hill, Jason Mott, Paul Tremblay and Chandler Baker!
I read Joe Hill contribution today “The Pram”. Which deals with some heavy stuff surrounding child/pregnancy loss (not a spoiler you find that out on page one). There aren’t a ton of reviews on Goodreads right now but the 1 and 2 star ones are complaining that it needs a TW.
I always put a warning for obvious stuff in my reviews. I don’t know if anyone sees or benefits from them but I still do it.
I personally don’t think it’s the responsibility of the author to put a warning up. I’m not even why I feel this way considering I add them. So I can’t even defend my position here.
I also don’t think a book deserves one star just because someone was triggered. It’s not like it will hurt Joe Hill but still!
by LittleCricket_
19 Comments
I wouldn’t be mad at content warnings in general, like they do for films, even though I think they’d largely be a waste of time & resources, but I don’t think it’s even realistic to put specific trigger warnings on every single book published.
The only time I would see the sense in trigger warnings is if it’s specific to suicide, as there’s multiple scientific studies done that people on the edge can be triggered by even the mention of it in media.
The first time I saw a TW at the start of a book (and I can’t remember which one it was now) I did think it was a bit odd – it’s a book, do we do that now? But on reflection, the TWs aren’t directed at me. I am (thankfully) free of things in my past that I may be triggered on or by, and anything that may make me uncomfortable isn’t going to send me into a panic attack (for example). it was made more evident for me when I had had people recommend the TV show Yellowstone to me – not one of those people (who know I’m a horse girl) thought to warn me about the horse dying in the first 90 seconds of the show, which was confronting when I wasn’t expecting it.
I feel that a content warning would be a good thing for those who may want to or need to filter by content.
I kinda wish I knew about TWs before I read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, I wouldn’t have been so surprised or sick in some places. It’s a great book and really well written, but I couldn’t finish the rest of the trilogy because I figured there would be more of the same.
I think it’s a matter of reader expectations, if something is going to be off color I sorta get it. But I think it’s pretty unnecessary in something like a horror novel where those sorts of things are what is expected going into it.
Unlike visual or audio media you can exercise a level of control when reading by skimming or skipping portions that make you uncomfortable with minimal effort. So I think TWs are a bit overkill.
There was a study done back in 2019? 2020? (~~I believe~~ it was replicated by other researchers later on, and they all had similar findings) about the effects/usefulness of trigger warnings.
*[Edit: the original study has been replicated 20+ times. I’ve linked to a meta-analysis of all these studies further down in my post]*
Basically. The study concluded that the emotional impact on the reader was the same, regardless of the trigger warning. In some cases, the trigger warning itself was triggering. And maybe even harmful because trigger warnings can fuel avoidance.
Sometimes, the use of trigger warnings feels excessive – I’ve seen people put a trigger warning for rape because the word rape was said. There’s a [website where you can see every possible trigger warning a book may have](https://triggerwarningdatabase.com/masterlist-tw/). And I can’t help but find myself thinking, “Do we really need to put a trigger warning *for this*?” (Examples: gentrification, homelessness, poverty, asthma, cheating, divorce, grief).
I understand adding a trigger warning if the book revolves around that specific trigger and it’s discussed in graphic detail, but otherwise 🤷🏻
ETA: [Here’s a link to a study done on the studies of trigger warnings!](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21677026231186625#sec-4)
I typed “trigger warnings” so much they don’t even seem like real words anymore 😵💫
Anyways. TL;DR
>From the meta-analysis study
>> “Conclusion:
>> Existing research on content warnings, content notes, and trigger warnings suggests that they are fruitless, although **they do reliably induce a period of uncomfortable anticipation**. Although many questions warrant further investigation, *trigger warnings should not be used as a mental-health tool*.”
Edit: Added information.
Edit: Formatting
That’s a weird one for me too. While I’m the type of person to avoid any media with certain common triggers, so it would directly benefit me, I find it isn’t too hard to just help myself via reviews or very clinical summaries beforehand so I’m prepared if it’s that important to me that I want to watch/read something despite knowing. I know there’s perhaps some argument to be made that it shouldn’t be my onus to do that and they should warn people, but I haven’t usually had a problem with it coming out of nowhere. I do tend to avoid a lot of adult media though!
There’s that whole high horse about adults reading YA and not adult fiction, but I do find I have an easier time when I know the general range of graphicness I’m signing up for in a book, and I think sub genre as well makes that even easier. Then again, there are some wild things in midgrade and YA that I read as a young kid—hell, even in elementary school they had kids suddenly dying in grief type books, kidnapping, etc. I can’t imagine that’s changed all that much.
The thing is, from what I have experienced personally with trigger warnings and what I think has been semi researched? (edit: yup someone else here posted the studies. I thought I remembered that!!) is trigger warnings just put me on edge. Especially piled on, for every little thing. The overall tone of a book can change my reaction to things so much, I can’t judge things by trigger warnings alone, so I wind up investigating anyway! I might as well just be left to my own devices to look things up and be responsible with myself and make my own decisions, which I thankfully an capable of doing as an adult. And for teens/kids… I think the same thing would happen if their books were trigger warning filled too right? You tell kids that “oh this will mess you up, this is something bad” and suddenly they are instilled with a fear of that. Same thing happened to us generation that was raised to fear playing outside. We all got put on anxiety meds before adulthood without anything even happening to us! lol
I think resources for people who need trigger warnings are great. Fantastic. I would love more of them. A big database with full specifics. But I prefer they be for me to find and handle myself elsewhere, not before everything, so that I’m constantly on edge. I’m very aware what’s in most media. And I don’t like it! lol I avoid most things and read reviews of things that actually interest me, or I stick to my YA. And I’m fine with that!
Trigger warnings bother me. That’s a selfish and heartless thing to say, but there it is. Trigger warnings, at worst, give away plot twists, and at best give away plot development. I’m sorry you’ve been through shit in your life. But that’s your shit to deal with. Just like my shit is mine. If you’re reading something and it starts to trigger bad emotions, stop reading.
I like the idea of trigger warnings being a communal service. Resources like doesthedogdie or storygraph allowing trigger warnings to be tagged are great. When I review books I typically talk about the things that could be triggering
However, I think it should be up to the author if they want those on their books and I do not think publishers should control putting trigger warnings in book.
Lastly, trigger warnings as a concept are for people who might be triggered as in those that the material could cause real harm for. They aren’t for reader comfortability or marketing. Art should challenge and horror especially should confront and make uncomfortable. I think there’s a real commodification and conflation of trigger warnings with content warnings as a way to sanitize art and make it more digestible and easier to consume. That I’d prefer not to see happen.
Gonna say something controversial. But considering a lot of books have blank pages in them before book starts you can have trigger warnings on of those. Also trigger warning are not spoilers. saying hey this book has animal abuse in it is not spoiling any specific scene just says there is something the reader may need to prepare for.
Here is why books don’t need trigger warnings. If something triggers you then close the book and stop reading.
For my two cents, I do not feel that trigger warnings are useful due to the fact that in the current American culture nearly anything can be considered a trigger. Traumatic things, non-traumatic things, of all stripes are often considered triggers. Most books have some sort of conflict point that can be considered a trigger, either an event or fact of life that drives the plot.
Not a fan of trigger warnings mostly because the research says they don’t do anything. Someone already linked to a meta-analysis study, but it only amplifies people’s anxiety and doesn’t necessarily stop them from reading the material.
I personally don’t understand trigger warnings. If someone is triggered by rape surely they would be triggered by the mention of it in the trigger warning right?
They help some and hurt nobody. It’s a non-question, they should be industry standard the same as movies.
I think responsibility falls on the reader. It’s impossible to make a comprehensive trigger warning list because trauma is highly individual. I have some specific triggers that come up frequently in literature (e.g., parental death). It’s my responsibility to pick my reads according to my current level of ability. Once I realize how a book is going it’s my job to determine if I can continue reading it or if I should DNF.
[Does the Dog Die](https://www.doesthedogdie.com/) is a great site for anyone with triggers. They have a lot of content warnings for TV, movies and books.
I think it’s a nice service if the author is willing to provide it, but I’m not sure how helpful mandatory warnings would be. Some triggers are situational. For example, a reader who’s sensitive to parental death may be OK reading about it in certain contexts. This is why I look to Goodreads reviews for trigger warnings. Often they have enough context to help me make a decision without being too spoilery.
Trigger warnings are being abused as a form of censorship these days. It feels like the people who are calling it out aren’t even the ones getting triggered.
I don’t personally need trigger warnings; nothing I read is going to send me into a dissociative fugue, cause me to relive the worst day of my life, or otherwise result in a marked and immediate decline in my mental health (as opposed to just making me feel unpleasant but temporary and manageable emotions). That said, I know folks for whom the opposite is the case, and I’m supportive of trigger warnings for their sake, if not my own.
That said, I’m generally okay with the idea that readers should be managing their own triggers when it comes to their personal reading decisions, but I also think publishers should be making that information accessible (if not to the reader directly, then to librarians and educators who might be in a position to recommend or require specific books from a professional standpoint). If you’re a publisher marketing a book as book club fiction or compiling materials for something like the AR program, content warnings should be part of the supplemental material that you’re already putting together anyway; they’re no more spoilery than the discussion questions that get tacked on at the end of the novel, and they’re at least as useful. Likewise, if you’re assigning mandatory reading in a class or work setting, or if you’re coordinating a large group reading (for instance, city-wide One Book initiatives) you should be making trigger warnings available, even if that just means directing folks to existing resources/review sites where the information is available. Casual readers can always opt out of accessing that information if they don’t want it.
For the record, you can read my “should” here as a statement about what I believe would be ethically and morally appropriate. I don’t think content warnings need to be legal obligations.
I’m the kind of person that avoids trigger warnings because I like to go into books and movies blind.
However- I think people who say “books shouldn’t contain trigger warnings because they can give away plot elements” are being needlessly contrarian. The section of a review or the page in a book that lists trigger warnings will always, always be labeled. It would be SO incredibly simple to just skip over it. It’s not even an inconvenience. However, the presence of a trigger warning list could be incredibly helpful to some people. It’s like saying that stairs shouldn’t have railings because you personally never use them.
I don’t think they need to be printed in books, BUT I support and occasionally use supplemental resources that do (reviews, doesthedogdie, etc).
People are also talking about how trigger warning lists are useless because people can have innocuous trigger warnings. That is not true. I promise you that just about every person with an usual trigger is extremely aware that their trigger is unusual. You can’t cover everything that could trigger someone, but that doesn’t mean it’s useless to cover the common things.
Like, sexual assault doesn’t trigger me, but I occasionally check for that tw when buying a book just because I don’t like reading about it.