Haunted

By: Chuck Palahniuk

Narrated by: Scott Brick, Marc Cashman, Erik Davies, Kimberly Farr

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk is a novel made up of stories: 23 of them, to be precise. Twenty-three of the most horrifying, hilarious, mind-blowing, stomach-churning tales you'll ever encounter, sometimes all at once. They are told by people who have answered an ad headlined "Writers' Retreat: Abandon Your Life for Three Months", and who are led to believe that here they will leave behind all the distractions of "real life" that are keeping them from creating the masterpiece that is in them. But "here" turns out to be a cavernous and ornate old theater where they are utterly isolated from the outside world, and where heat and power and, most important, food are in increasingly short supply. And the more desperate the circumstances become, the more extreme the stories they tell, and the more devious their machinations become to make themselves the hero of the inevitable play/movie/nonfiction blockbuster that will surely be made from their plight.

Haunted is on one level a satire of reality television: The Real World meets Alive. It draws from a great literary tradition, The Canterbury Tales, The Decameron, the English storytellers in the Villa Diodati who produced, among other works, Frankenstein, to tell an utterly contemporary tale of people desperate that their story be told at any cost. Appallingly entertaining, Haunted is Chuck Palahniuk at his finest, which means his most extreme and his most provocative.

©2005 Chuck Palahniuk (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[The stories] consistently, powerfully transcend their macabre premises to showcase the heart beating beneath the horrors." (Publishers Weekly)

Hard to rate. Some great short stories, but...

Well I've read/listened to Chuck's other books and I really like his gritty style. I'm not a prude nor do I have problems with his graphic content. All of the other reviews are correct when they warn you about the vileness and depravity of the characters and the over-the-top grossness in some of the stories. This doesn't bother me. That being said, I loved many of the short stories in the book, but there is an overlying story that tries to bundle it all together into a "novel" and not just a book of short stories. That part was tedious and so totally unbelievable as to be insulting. I was frustrated because of these stupid characters and probably won't recommend this book to anyone, even folks who have liked other Chuck Palahniuk novels. I can't say that I liked a single "person" in this book. There wasn't a single character that I felt anything but contempt for. If this were a book of just the short stories, I would have liked it much more and recommended it to others. The "writers retreat" portion made it hard to listen to and I almost didn't finish it on several occasions. I plowed through to the end to see if there was any reason to do so...there wasn't <sigh>.

By the way--if you aren't familiar with this author, this is NOT the book to start on. Try a different one and see if you like his style, then you can try this book if you really want to.

Disturbing but riveting

Would you listen to Haunted again? Why?

I got this to play in my car during a road trip with my 19 year old daughter. She is a huge fan of Palahniuk and wanted us to have something to listen too during a long boring drive. Disturbingly riveting the story provides a very interesting story of a "team" of anti-heros who are strangely confronted with weird conflicts. For some weird reason, it reminds me of Watchmen, the hugely popular graphic novel.

We did experience technical difficulties and was unable to finish the book because the second half would never download. Still curious how it ends.

The least helpful review of “Haunted”

So, my experience with Palahniuk’s work: I read “Fight Club” in the nighties. I was blown away! I have since read and listened to it at least 5 times. It remains in my top ten all time favorite novels ever. I have also read about 4-5 of his other novels, but none of them moved me the way fight club did, and I haven’t given his other works much thought.

Then I heard (and it’s not a rumor) that there were people who passed out during a live reading of his short story, “Guts.” This has happened more than once... multiple times! Who can hear about that and not want to listen to that short story? “Guts” is the first short story in this... collection? ...novel? ...let’s go with book... and when I heard it I understand why people fainted. My body was clenched up and queasy the whole time. Few stories have ever given me this involuntary physical reaction. This book is worth the credit for that alone.

However, the rest of the book was also fantastic. Other reviewers have said that the overall story that ties the short stories together wasn’t all that great. Those reviewers are wrong. I hesitate to call this a collection because it works so well as a novel. A very awesome novel. Maybe the best Chuck has ever written... including “Fight Club.”

It’s everything other reviewers have said, extremely gross, perverted, profane, and at times down right depressing, but Palahniuk makes the perverted, profane, and gross poetic with his pros. He writes flawlessly. Never pulling punches and never letting up. He’s at once whimsical and deadpan at the same time. I don’t know how he pulls it off. He never tells you what he can show you. At times it feels like you’re in a slow motion car wreck and there’s no way to stop it. There’s one scene (I went back and looked it comes at 8 hours 41 minutes and 10 seconds in the book) where I found myself covering my face with my hand and thinking, “no no no no no no no” the whole time unable to stop listening. This never happens to me, people!

So, yeah. I highly recommend this to horror fans who really want to be disturbed. Who legitimately want to hear something that will freak them out.

Horrific, disgusting, and yet, comedically strange

As you can tell from the other reviews written on this title, this is some of Palahniuk's best work. It's grotesque, blunt, and haunting but it's also the writing and thoughts that no one has the courage to write. Like the title, it's the haunting reality of life and people at their worst which is hard for some to stomach. If you're someone that can laugh at the gore of Quentin Tarantino or even the extremes of the Final Destination films, this book is for you. It hits more in the reality realm, where these events could occur but we don't want to believe that they could.

Additionally, if you are a fan of the Canterbury Tales or the style of how it was written, this book is almost an exact darker copy. It goes from short stories and poetry to an overall arching story that's just as gross and interesting. My only critique of all of it being that it was hard to follow which character was whom. I almost found myself making a list and a brief summary of each person as the story went along, simply because of the use of aliases. Regardless, it was still an amazing and interesting novel. The time flew by, even if it was perhaps the strangest book I had ever read.

WARNING: I highly suggest listening to the sample before you purchase or use a credit on this title! It will give you a feeling for what you're getting into and if you can stomach the whole thing. Be warned!

Literary Cynical Icy Horror

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is a book that is recommended with reservation and only to a certain kind of friend. Palahniuk's coldly removed writing style is not for every taste but he does bring a sly perspective to, shall we say, unsavory moments. But it's so interesting and unique that I do sing its virtues to various pals. Then, of course, I would sit back and wait for the inevitable phone call from them asking why in the world I would recommend this book. This is based solely on the gang busters opening 'short story' GUTS. I just tell them that this story is a litmus test and stomaching it (ha pun) means you are worthy to continue reading. If you can get through that you can get through anything.

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Who was your favorite character and why?

Its hard to like any character in this book and I don't think they're meant to like. The main framework of the writers on the retreat is full of horrid people with nary a redeeming virtue. But I do love the odd names they're given even though this further serves to remove you from them. It has an icy dehumanizing effect... but that's probably a good thing because considering what these characters do to themselves you'd probably never finish it if you cared about them.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

There were a variety of narrators, many of whom are faves such as Scott Brick, but I liked them all.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me nauseous but I think that's the point!

Any additional comments?

I loved the structure from framework narrative, to poem, to personal short stories written by the authors on the retrea

Both disgusting and genius

Any additional comments?

Be prepared when you read this; Palahniuk writes about every demented nightmare you could possibly think of and more. The style of writing challenges reality, keeping you guessing and shocked. It all just felt like a really screwed up bad dream. Hard to listen at times as it may be, tucked in between the body gore, murder and political cringe, there lies brilliance. Irony and twisted endings, as well as imagery that constantly questions lucidity. Again, don't read this if you have a weak stomach. But if you can handle the darkest story around, give it a try.

Beyond fiction.

Too honest to be fake. Loved it immensely. Would recommend to everyone without any reservation.

Makes you wince. Loved it.

Interesting story arc over some wicked tales and creative retellings. Not for the squeamish but even then I would recommend.

Challenge Accepted

I decided to get it when one reviewer said it was like the author was daring you to keep reading to the end. Yeah, he kind of was. But it was a funny book -- if you have a sick sense of humor like I do. If you like Chuck you'll probably like this one.

I hesitate to review books I love....

But I feel I should at least try. It's difficult to put into words exactly how brilliant this book is on so many levels, and even more difficult to recommend to the masses. That being said, if you're are here to be enlightened, not just entertained...if you aren't easily offended by every single taboo that can be conjured and brought to light through the power of your own imagination, PLEASE BUY THIS BOOK! And if you do, and you won't or can't appreciate one of the greatest satirists since Mark Twain, PLEASE, just leave...don't post a negative review and keep others from the thrill of this amazing ride. Thank you, and ENJOY!