To dye, or to just give up

Every time recently that I've dyed my hair, it comes out waaay too dark. It's supposed to be a medium red shade, but no matter what the box claims, my hair has been turning this dark reddish black, almost. And let me tell you, it does not look good on me at all. Remember when Ashlee Simpson had black hair, and with her pale skin, somehow it made her eyes look completely fucked up? Yeah, that's kinda how this dark hair looks on me, except my makeup is tasteful. I can't even blame trying new brands or shades, because some of these incidents have occured when I used a shade that I've used before with good results. What the fuck!?

I don't know if I should keep trying or just fucking give up and let it be its natural gross browny-grey color. What do you think? Has anyone that reads this had this kind of problem? I'm starting to think my hair is just fucked up.