Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk (2006-05-04)

Haunted takes you places where you never wanted to go, and once you get there you never want to leave. The characters are vivid. The plot is realistic. The world created is as real as this one. That's what makes it so scary. You get to know the characters, to feel sorry for them, to hate them, to root for the bad guy, and there are plenty of them to choose from. There's something about hiding from the world for three months and killing those around you for fame that makes you not put this down for a hundred pages at a time.

Very bizarre, offbeat, but very good. Kept me reading to see what else was going to happen. I would have preferred a better ending, but overall, I recommend it. I am getting ready to read a previous novel of Palahniuk's, "Choke".

I was REALLY looking forward to reading this book. The first chapter was incredible, but it was all downhill from there. The chapters are usually split into three parts. A segment of the main story, a poem about one of the main characters, and then a short story written by the same character. You learn about the characters through the short stories. The problem with this structure is that some of the chapters dedicated to the characters don't happen until 3/4 of the way through the book, so as your reading the main story you have no connection or background to the characters.

This book is also gratuitous in it's use of disturbing imagery. I'm a 27 year old man, so I don't mind violence and stomach churning passages, but only if they're relevant to the story and not just disturbing for disturbance's sake.

I would not recommend.

Although I've read reviews that claim that Haunted is entirely unrealistic and stupid, I don't think that Palahniuk is attempting to create something realistic in his story of a writer's retreat gone bad. I personally loved Haunted, and thought that it was an interesting take on the human want to magnify pain and suffering to gain sympathy. If you're looking for an interesting or different read, look no further.

The story is neither scary nor suspenseful. It is certainly original, bloody, unpredictable, and bizarre. There is a message about humanity's desperation for meaning cloaked in lots of talk about decaying bodies. The individual tales of the characters are creative, and I admire the author's ability to come up with so many strange stories in one novel. Yet, I was disappointed and happy when I came to the end of the book.

Some of the short stories were pretty good. But the main story could have been much better. I agree with some of the other reviewers in that the author may have been better served in just releasing as a set of short stories.

I really enjoyed reading this book, as the stories were all very interesting and well crafted. Sometimes the formula and the repetitive nature of the poems got to me, but not enough to dislike the book.

This book was really difficult for me to get into. The narrative, while mysterious and bold and even downright insane, is at times overshadowed by the prose, which I found to be a bit wordy and could have used some serious editing. I think because of the prose I was unable to fully immerse in the stories here. Also, there were some moments that just felt too fantastical (like a sister getting pregnant from sperm in a pool). While I usually can go along with the fantastical, it didn't seem to work as effectively here. I would have liked to see this book only with the stories of each individual character, as the interrupting chapters didn't really help me get to know the characters and it was actually quite confusing.

Chuck Palahniuk is undoubtedly a genius. While the book is well-written and incredibly imaginative, I can't give it more than 2 stars because it made me almost vomit on a couple of occasions and gave me some pretty gnarly nightmares as well. I've read most of his books and I enjoyed them all but this one was just a smidge too disturbing/disgusting for me.

This was a vile and disgusting read and quite frankly, I hate this book. While I'll admit the characters, style and the structure was cleverly written (along with the plot initially), I think the author wasn't so much interested in scaring (or creeping out) the reader as making them simply nauseous. DISCLAIMER: I only made it half way through and just gave up when the characters started hacking off their limbs - seriously. Maybe the novel picked up from there - but personally by that point - I could care less.

I do enjoy the horror genre (hence the reason I bought the novel in the first place) and like the usual authors like Stephen King, Clive Barker, Lovecraft and various misc authors who contribute to horror story collections, but I don't care for this type of horror. To be fair, Clive Barker gets very graphic in his stuff, but the difference is he still tries to creep out the reader and there is the usual supernatural elements involved.

PLOT SUMMARY: The plot without giving away anything is about a guy who gets a group of aspiring writers to agree to isolate themselves from society for the sake of nurturing their budding literary talents. It turns out to be a bit of a con or trick and the guy who organizes this event, locks himself and the writers into some old abandoned theater building in a totally unknown location, with no view of the outside, no ability to escape and a limited supply of food. During the course of the book, there are flashback stories where each of the characters reflects on their past history. It's not a bad plot, but apparently the "horror" genre means cannibalism, hacked off limbs, animals consuming human parts and other just disgusting scenes. If you like that stuff in your movies (like slasher flicks), then go for it.... this is the book for you. If you like more traditional horror - steer totally clear of this piece of trash.

I picked up Haunted and Bret Easton Ellis' Lunar Park at the same time, and read them sequentially. Being a fan of the horror genre, I was not disappointed by either book. Haunted is a bit darker than the author's usual works... Lullaby, Fight Club, etc. but is a great read if you've got the stomach for it.(Think "Choked")My teenager has read a few of Palahniuk's titles, but this is one I wouldn't pass on to anyone but adults.

Funny Haunted and Lunar Park released together. Coincidence? Or something more sinister?

Definitely one of my favorite CP novels, the plot is dark (of course) and the writing is well done. The reader really gets engaged, despite the fact that the characters are terrible human beings no one would want to be associated with. The layout of the book is a little different from other CP novels, in that, while it has an overarching story, there are a lot of little side tales (each more disturbing than the last). While definitely not for the faint of heart, I really enjoyed this book and will likely add it to my collection of novels I like to revist from time to time.

I am typically prepared to be somewhat horrified and grossed out by the grotesques in his world, but this was way too much. No one in the story had any redeeming qualities, I hated them all to the bitter end. I finished it because I kept thinking that something would happen at the end to make reading all the horrible things worth it, but no...bad book, bad ending.

Please remove from pending list. I order too many books to review each. Additionally, individual's tastes differ and my opinion of a book should have no bearing on anyone elses. If enough people like it, it will make the best seller list.

I have read most of this book, hopeful that something will change to make me like it...right now I'm 60 pages from the end (nearly 400 pages in all), and I just don't see the point. Some of the character back stories were good, but I just don't get the over arching plot at all...once they're trapped in the theater, there just seems to have odd things happen with little to no explanation, the poems about the characters are, well, stupid, and I really mean stupid!
I read Fight Club, Damed and Doomed, and liked them, Chuck Palahniuk really has layed an egg with Haunted! There literally is no point to the main plot, and I'm not kidding no point at all!
Don't waste your time with this book it's useless, like I said, I'm nearly done and I feel like I've totally wasted my time. Come on Chuck, get back to what you do great and redeem yourself please, I'm waiting.

Couldn't finish it because it got really boring really fast. There's a really boring story about a girl who is about to be on the news. Chuck, the author, rattles off a bunch of news terms, describes really douche baggy people, and then the girl who's annoying who waited to be on this news show gets bumped off because they're out of time, and it ends with her being in love with the douche who bumped her off the show even thought there was no build up between the characters, it was just Chuck talking about terminology in live TV. WHAT? That's not a story. What just happened?

The first story was okay. It's about a boy who likes to wank it and gets his ass sucked into a pool. Seriously. Nothing else happens.

I tried reading another book by Chuck called Invisible Monsters, but I got sick of him talking about Torpedo breasts in a plot that took to long to take off and decided to just give up on this author.

These stories that I read were just stories. No new knowledge was gained. They didn't make me think. And none of them were scary. Is a book called Haunted supposed to be scary?

Like lemmings to the sea, best seller groupies flocked to the bookstores to buy this ripoff. The first story had some shock value, but the book went steadily down hill after that. The short stories are weak, the narration excruciatingly boring. If you really want thrills I suggest the telephone directory.

Normally, even when I dislike a book, I push through until the very end. There have been two novels that I have not been able to do this, and it is based off of my values. A novel by Orson Scott Card (a known homophobe, misogynist, and racist), and this novel by Chuck Palahnuik are the only two books in the last ten years that I hated so much I couldn't finish them. The problem I had with this book is that there was no redemption. The characters were caricatures of the worst, most despicable and terrible people ever, and there was not one small bit of sweetness to keep me interested in reading. Orson Scott Card ended up in the trash. Although I did not enjoy Haunted, Chuck Pahalnuik writes very skillfully-this novel simply was not to my taste.

Having read Diary before this book, I was looking forward to another exciting and unpredictable Palahniuk novel. However, I was very disappointed.

This book started out good, the gruesome stories grabbed my attention and made me want to read further, but the characters' actions turn it into a rather boring read, at least for me. I lost interest when the actions went from realistic/believable, to fake and far-fetched.

I got the book 2 years ago shortly after it came out, and I've been trying to finish it ever since. I'm not even halfway through, and it's almost a chore to read.

3.5/5

Chuck Palahniuk is definitely known for his offbeat and sometimes disturbing stories. This book is certainly both of those things. I think Palahniuk is completely brilliant and I very much admire him; I’m not completely sure how I feel about this one though.

Haunted is quite complex, so I’ll do my best to describe it. The book is made up of 23 short stories inside of one larger story. The larger story is this: a group of people responded to an ad for a “writer’s retreat” in which they would abandon their lives for three months and create their masterpiece. None of the characters knew what to expect, they just boarded a bus and wound up at an old abandoned theater, at this retreat, run by an elderly man named Mr. Whittier.

Each chapter of this story is followed by a free verse poem about one of the people, then some sort of story about their life that they are telling the rest of the group. All of these stories are disturbing and unusual, brilliant and shocking.

As for the main story... as time goes on, the people are increasingly growing more disturbed and insane. Some of them begin dying, and cutting off their own fingers and toes. They ruin the food and break the heater, all in hopes of being discovered by the outside world, and then becoming famous by having movies and shows created about their experience. They appear to be locked up and victimized, but we soon discover they are really prisoners of themselves.

The premise of this story is absolutely fascinating. The book is shocking, grotesque, and extremely unique. It is provocative, bizarre and unusual, as Palahniuk almost always is. With that said, I think the format of the book was interesting and the writing was brilliant. Palahniuk did not let me down there. However, something about this book just didn’t completely click with me. It wasn’t as gripping as some of his others, and that may be a result of the character’s short stories intersplicing so often into the main story. While the short stories were fascinating (I particularly enjoyed “The Nightmare Box”), it disrupted the flow of the main story. This book is intense and disturbing, but an interesting read. If you have not read Palahniuk before, I wouldn’t recommend this being your first. I adore his novel Invisible Monsters, and would highly recommend checking that one out if you are interested in his work. I must admit, I was a little bit disappointed with this one, though I did enjoy it for the most part.

All in all, I’d say be prepared for a disturbing read! It is not recommended for the faint of heart. If you are already a fan of Palahniuk, then I’d say: read it. If you have not read any of his books before though, I would not recommend starting with this one. Instead, try Invisible Monsters.

"Haunted" is not Chuck Palahniuk's best work, which is not as big of a negative statement as it sounds. Palahniuk is a master of weird, finding new and creative ways to draw the reader in to the dark and twisted worlds he builds. One real strength of this book is the format. Told partly through a series of flashbacks about each character, the main plot actually moves rather slowly, but it's hardly noticeable. The story is a meditation on the nature of fame and the lengths people will go to achieve it, while also following people who want to escape their pasts. They all have secrets and they all are strangely proud of their wicked histories. The book lacks a real Palahniuk twist at the end, but each vignette has it's own complexity and misdirection. As I said, there are better Palahniuk books-- "Choke," "Invisible Monsters," "Survivor," and of course "Fight Club" are superior. "Haunted" is dark, it's funny, it's gross, and for someone working through the Palahniuk library, it's a solid second-tier book that is worth your time.

REVIEWED: Haunted: A Novel
WRITTEN BY: Chuck Palahniuk
PUBLISHED: 2006

HAUNTED is a collection of short stories that, interrelated, compose the greater make-up of a full-size novel, as each story is the flashback of one of the characters. Chuck Palahniuk is best known as the author of "FIGHT CLUB" which became the Fincher masterpiece movie in 1999. HAUNTED is often lauded on the "best of" lists of modern horror literature. Coupled with the fact that I'm a Palahniuk fan, and I was excited to jump into this. Unfortunately, this book just didn't work that well for me.

The plot revolves around a group of writers who become locked inside an abandoned movie theatre by their mysterious benefactor. However, instead of trying to escape, they each decide that the more horrific they make their own circumstances, then the greater story they will have to tell (and, by proxy, notoriety) once they are rescued. Thus, they destroy their own food, sabotage the heating and plumbing, and invent villains amongst themselves, almost like a "Lord of the Flies" for adults.

Each character's flashback is a short story of itself, and Palahniuk doesn't hold back when going through the gambit of the most perverse and horrific scenarios one would dare to imagine. Indeed, in the book's afterword Palahniuk details how on a book tour, there was a rash of people who fainted after he read excerpts of the stories.

Although the book is a satirical view of culture and human motivation, I feel the author sacrificed absorbing writing for shock and absurdity. It's very intelligent, but also felt "preachy," and though the characters represented all different backgrounds, they mostly were each cut from the same cloth: selfish, troubled, and redundant.

What else can I say? Palahniuk is a master, and the critics adore this book. I just found it too self-serving and not the escape into imagination that I usually seek when reading fiction literature.

Three-and-a-Half out of Five stars

Previous to reading "Haunted", I had enjoyed "Fight Club", and my dentist had also recommended this book (my dentist not realizing that a guy who writes like Palahniuk can actually attain mainstream success). & so I decided to check it out. I knew it was going to be disturbing and yes indeed -- The content often made me feel queasy and I had to read this novel in stages. However, even in its darkest moments, the through line remains comical -- Humour being necessary as a counterpoint to the horror. Yes the proceedings are grim, but the thread of glee never retreats -- Even in the most dire of circumstances. The funny names of the quirky group of losers provides levity. The plot-situation comes to resemble "Gilligan's Island" meets "The Manson Family". Within "Haunted's" style of writing, Palahniuk has found the magic formula of accessibility -- in the guise of Patrick Bateman of "American Psycho" wearing a Kurt Vonnegut mask (and speaking with Vonnegut's folksy wit as well).

Ultimately the message of this book is clear: People create and are responsible for the pain, drama and self-sabotage with which they fill their lives. Most would rather wallow in that negativity than take the necessary actions towards maintaining at least serenity, if not actual happiness, in their respective existences. In "Haunted" -- The writer's workshop will be the salvation of the aspirants (some of whom, it is revealed, end up at Mr. Whittier's nightmarish retreat to repay karmic debts). Their fantasy of success is maintained even as things start to go drastically wrong and then downward spiral. When it seems that all hope is lost -- Suddenly the victims are presented with an escape route. Yet instead of grabbing onto the brass ring -- They choose to retreat back into darkness. Within this scenario, Palahniuk's "Weltanschauung" comes into sharp focus -- The supposed aspiring writers reject success, choosing instead to stagnate in the oblivion of their unrealized ambition.

I do respect Palahniuk as a writer, but after reading "Haunted", I need to take a break from his work for the time being. His forte / vein of gold is writing about the fears within the dark corners of our collective unconscious -- In a way that a commercial horror film, that usually relies heavily on a flashier type of sensationalism, will never be able to achieve. In the novel's afterword, Palahniuk tells the reader that the reason that he writes is because with books, there are no limits to restrict where the author's imagination can go -- As opposed to a more commercial product, like a film or a Broadway play, that must be automatically toned down in order to reach the largest audience possible.

Stephen C. Bird, Author of "Any Resemblance To A Coincidence Is Accidental"

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT
This is the third Palahniuk novel I have read after Fight Club and Pygmy. I am currently reading Damned. Because of these previous and current positive experiences, it will not be my last. However, if Haunted had been my first trip into his uniquely twisted world, I doubt I would give any more of my bucks to Chuck. Haunted is essentially a short story collection with a very weak and silly (in a bad way) linking thread. I realize Chuck is writing satire, but he should have at least ATTEMPTED to keep things remotely believable. We are supposed to accept that within a mere couple of weeks of being locked in a "writers' retreat" at the mercy of a twisted progeria-suffering teen, that 20 odd people would begin to mutilate themselves and commit murders in order to increase the drama of their situation and thereby increase their fame and fortune upon release. Not ONE of the characters balks at this ridiculous behavior. Like I said, I know it is satire, but come on...
The stories themselves are mostly entertaining, or at least readable, but Chuck, like a 14 year old boy trying to gross out his big sister, always goes for the gag reflex. It's a pretty cheap way to get a reaction. When a story about a masturbating boy who has to gnaw off his own intestine is the lead-in story, you know the author has absolutely no sense of subtlety. These are some of the sickest stories ever put on paper. A little of that goes a long way. Chuck gives us cannibalism, infanticide, pedophilia, torture, self mutilation, etc. etc. etc. There is so much of that sort of thing it loses its shock value after a while and becomes quite tedious.
Palahniuk should have ditched the framing structure entirely and tried for a little subtlety here and there.