Product Description

"Haunted" is a novel made up of stories: twenty-three of them to be precise. Twenty-two of the most horrifying, hilarious, mind-blowing, stomach-churning tales you'll ever encounter - sometimes all at once. They are told by the people who have all answered the ad headlined 'Artists Retreat: Abandon your life for three months'. They 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 theatre where they are utterly isolated from the outside world - and where heat and power and, most importantly, food are in increasingly short supply. And the more desperate the circumstances become, the more desperate the stories they tell - and the more devious their machinations become to make themselves the hero of the inevitable play/movie/non-fiction blockbuster that will certainly be made from their plight. "Haunted" is at one level a satire of reality television. 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14037 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-04
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Review
"* 'A triumph...A novel of exceptional originality...Wonderful...A remarkable book, the most original work of fiction this year' - Guardian * 'One of the most popular novelists in the world...His fiction hits a nerve...Haunted breaks new ground...it is by turns nauseating, darkly funny and brutaly graphic' - Observer * 'An immensely skilful writer' - Daily Telegraph * 'Deeply satirical, brutal and provocative, Haunted is harshly compulsive, eye-bleeding stuff' - I-D"

Daily Mail, Simon Shaw
I laughed until my ribs ached.

From the Publisher
The eagerly anticipated and completely outrageous new novel from the author of Fight Club - his biggest, darkest, most upsetting and hilarious novel yet.

Customer Reviews

An extreme and excellent collection of short stories
Palahniuk is a modern author and ‘Haunted’ is a very modern book. Filled with some of the most violent and graphic imagery I have read, this book is only for those with a strong constitution.

‘Haunted’ contains a set of short stories linked together by a group of would-be writers who have sacrificed 3 months of their life to a mysterious writer’s retreat. As time passes on at the retreat it soon becomes obvious that the people and the situation they find themselves in is anything but normal.

Each story surrounds one of the characters trapped at the retreat and in someway explains why they chose to be there. Many of the stories are excellent – truly thought provoking. Some do fall a bit flatter but the standard is as high as any collection of short stories I have read.

I must warn you that this book is dark, rude and very adult. It should only be read by those with an open mind, who are fans of more extreme novels. If you are this person you will find this book an excellent read.

Sammy Recommendation.

Excellent but I was left haunted by the ending
** THIS REVIEW CONTAINS NO SPOILERS **

Palahniuk is an excellent writer who tries to push boundaries of taste, thought and literature, and this is one of his best books.

Essentially this is a clever vehicle for a collection of short stories. The stories themselves are second to none and I would read them over the "Richard Bachman" (a young Steven King) collection of shorts even though many are similar. Obviously the tales are hauntingly scary, filled with lessons on modern life (what Palahniuk books don't?) and sometimes sickening.

However the entire premise trips over itself a few times and the overall narrative eventually leads nowhere. The ending is very disappointing and, in fact, the post script is more fascinating than novel's conclusion.

Overall this is one of Palahniuk's best books that will challenge you at first and will give you some great stories to shock others. But may leave you disappointed and wanting more.

Writers' Retreat- Abandon your life for three months
Haunted is a collection of 24 fictional short stories devised by the crazed and perverted mind of Chuck Palahniuk (Paula-Nick). Each story is special in many ways and ranging from touching to downright disgusting. Anyone easily offended or suffer from a weak stomach should definetly avoid this book. For example, the story simply titled "Guts" opens the book and has been making people faint and vomit around the world simply by reading it or having it read to them.
The darkest story however is "Exodus" and I won't even try and explain what it is about or I may not be able to have this review shown.
In some of Palahniuks previous books towards the end he seems to be out of steam and slowly glides towards the story's climax. Now in Haunted Chuck has 24 short stories so he can end it when he likes in order for the story to have its full effect.
Overall a very entertaining book and with the ability to make us stop and examine our own lives (read the story Slumming).