Haunted
by Chuck Palahniuk
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Twenty-three stories chronicle the experiences of people who have answered an ad for an artist's retreat, believing that they will find a peaceful refuge, only to find themselves isolated and trapped in a cavernous old theater.Tags
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Responding to an add for a writers retreat, a group of damaged people harboring horrific secrets gather for three months of focused creation in an unknown location. Once there they discover they will be held against their will until the period is up so that they will have no distractions from the outside world. Seizing the opportunity, these fame-hungry publicity sluts decide to create an even more dramatic situation by strategically sabotaging their food and utility supply. Once they are discovered by the world malnourished and filthy, the will become media darlings and sell their life story for a tidy fortune.
In an ever-escalating progression of staged suffering, the contestants in this extremely dark and cynical version of survivor show more pass the time by revealing the stories of their lives. What circumstances have drawn them to this place? What are they each hiding from? All will be revealed in between removal of fingernails and spats of cannibalism.
Not for the faint of heart, these stories aim to be disturbing, picking away at all the greatest fears of mankind. All wrapped in deep layers of cynicism. Delicious. show less
In an ever-escalating progression of staged suffering, the contestants in this extremely dark and cynical version of survivor show more pass the time by revealing the stories of their lives. What circumstances have drawn them to this place? What are they each hiding from? All will be revealed in between removal of fingernails and spats of cannibalism.
Not for the faint of heart, these stories aim to be disturbing, picking away at all the greatest fears of mankind. All wrapped in deep layers of cynicism. Delicious. show less
My second of his in a short space of time, but I'm glad I read this, after the bla-ness of Fugitives & Refugees. This was sick, thought provoking, wonderfully dark, and really well written. I loved its format more than anything - how it was short stories but as part of a bigger picture. I just know some of them are going to come back to me for years - I'll forget that I read them in this book, & forever be convinced I knew someone who knew someone who knew someone who had their intestines sucked out of their anus whilst wanking at the bottom of a swimming pool...
Bunch of people, aspiring writers, answer an ad: spend three months locked away together, no contact at all with the outside world, completely top secret, just write. Of course, Palahniuk seems to think, no "normal" people would agree to such an idea, and as it turns out all of them have something to hide. And as they introduce themselves, one by one, and tell their stories, everything inside the house starts to go wrong...
Haunted is a satire on modern society (of course); the culture of victimization, the glorification of suffering, every bad thing human beings can do to each other and themselves for a place in the spotlight, a confirmation that they exist and that they matter. The need to create a villain to blame for everything we do show more ourselves. The house is equal parts Frankenstein, Masque of the Red Death and Big Brother, and soon turns into one of the grisliest stories this side of... well, I kept coming back to Bret Easton Ellis and Ryu Murakami. Both of whom, I'd have to say, do a better job, even if Palahniuk does his best to outsplatter anyone out there.
It's not that the stories themselves are lacking, but the framework gets boring. Our anti-heroes are a bunch of pathetic idiots, more than willing to mutilte themselves and be able to say "Hey, look, I'm the victim here!" when the TV cameras come. I couldn't care less about them as individuals, and while the gore is interesting, it also gets incredibly repetitive; we GET it, Chuck, they're all symbols of today's mentality, yada yada yada. Just not very convincing symbols. And there's always the danger of the double-edged irony; to make fun of our thirst for scandal, blood, pain and suffering, Palahniuk has to play to those exact desires. It's a bit like (though better than) Hostel in that way; any attempt to make gore fans choke on their precious gore is bound to fail more often than it succeeds.
No, the saving grace is mostly in the short stories they tell each other. Some of which are truly great - visceral, emotional, funny as hell - and are the reason I will investigate Palahniuk further. Haunted is less than the sum of its parts, but some of those parts are pretty damn choice. show less
Haunted is a satire on modern society (of course); the culture of victimization, the glorification of suffering, every bad thing human beings can do to each other and themselves for a place in the spotlight, a confirmation that they exist and that they matter. The need to create a villain to blame for everything we do show more ourselves. The house is equal parts Frankenstein, Masque of the Red Death and Big Brother, and soon turns into one of the grisliest stories this side of... well, I kept coming back to Bret Easton Ellis and Ryu Murakami. Both of whom, I'd have to say, do a better job, even if Palahniuk does his best to outsplatter anyone out there.
It's not that the stories themselves are lacking, but the framework gets boring. Our anti-heroes are a bunch of pathetic idiots, more than willing to mutilte themselves and be able to say "Hey, look, I'm the victim here!" when the TV cameras come. I couldn't care less about them as individuals, and while the gore is interesting, it also gets incredibly repetitive; we GET it, Chuck, they're all symbols of today's mentality, yada yada yada. Just not very convincing symbols. And there's always the danger of the double-edged irony; to make fun of our thirst for scandal, blood, pain and suffering, Palahniuk has to play to those exact desires. It's a bit like (though better than) Hostel in that way; any attempt to make gore fans choke on their precious gore is bound to fail more often than it succeeds.
No, the saving grace is mostly in the short stories they tell each other. Some of which are truly great - visceral, emotional, funny as hell - and are the reason I will investigate Palahniuk further. Haunted is less than the sum of its parts, but some of those parts are pretty damn choice. show less
What can I say about Haunted? I could recite an analysis of its structure, a number of short stories tied together by a main narrative about seventeen people on the run from something, with stories to tell, locked up together in an abandoned building for the amusement of a kid with progeria and far too much money to spend. I could talk about the disgusting premises for some of the short stories: intestines sucked down in the pool filter while masturbating, biblethumpers melting in boiling water, the gruesome murder of private detectives, nightmare boxes and other delightful themes. I could talk about the horrors of people mutilating themselves to make sure that when they're found, they'll have stories to tell far worse than the one show more they're living. Of toes, fingers, noses hacked off for fame and fortune. I could talk about the metaphors on the surface and those a few levels down. About humanity's need to suffer in order to feel like life is worth living. They're all worthy topics of discussion and review, but in the end what this boils down to is a very disturbing dissection of the human spirit in all its ugly voraciousness: we are what maims, we are what kills. We are our own suffering. show less
I tried. I really did, and I still really want to read this book. But I am one of the most squeamish people you will ever meet, and I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I love the plot, the layout, the whole idea—I have been waiting to read this book. I loved seeing 5-star reviews of people saying this book was disgusting and couldn’t wait to see for myself.
I am super invested in the first chapter. But then “Guts” hits. I listened until there were only 2 minutes left in the chapter before the room started swimming and I had to hit the floor.
I still felt like I was going to pass out just thinking about the horror I’ve witnessed (so kudos to Palahniuk for an expert level of disgust in his writing. If you love show more this kind of thing and have a strong stomach, I cannot recommend this book to you enough. For real). I felt so sick that I decided I needed to stop reading right then before this happened again. No matter how cool the book sounds, I know it’s not worth it because fainting SUCKS and I am the wimpiest kind of wimp to the extent where my body shuts down when it hears something it doesn’t like. Let me tell you, it did *not* like “Guts.”
I officially decided to DNF, the most painful kind of self care. I figured why not google a synopsis, because I am interested in the story, but I won’t ever be able to read it! Of course, what immediately pops up are dozens of articles all about this one legendary short story that has made 73 people (and counting) faint at readings. Hmm. Perhaps I would have liked to know this earlier. Perhaps I still would have read it…but at least I would know it was a big mistake for me ahead of time. show less
I am super invested in the first chapter. But then “Guts” hits. I listened until there were only 2 minutes left in the chapter before the room started swimming and I had to hit the floor.
I still felt like I was going to pass out just thinking about the horror I’ve witnessed (so kudos to Palahniuk for an expert level of disgust in his writing. If you love show more this kind of thing and have a strong stomach, I cannot recommend this book to you enough. For real). I felt so sick that I decided I needed to stop reading right then before this happened again. No matter how cool the book sounds, I know it’s not worth it because fainting SUCKS and I am the wimpiest kind of wimp to the extent where my body shuts down when it hears something it doesn’t like. Let me tell you, it did *not* like “Guts.”
I officially decided to DNF, the most painful kind of self care. I figured why not google a synopsis, because I am interested in the story, but I won’t ever be able to read it! Of course, what immediately pops up are dozens of articles all about this one legendary short story that has made 73 people (and counting) faint at readings. Hmm. Perhaps I would have liked to know this earlier. Perhaps I still would have read it…but at least I would know it was a big mistake for me ahead of time. show less
It would be naive to say that the graphic nature of this novel isn't one of its major draws, and that upsets a lot of people, understandably. Not everyone is into the weird, gross, and macabre. If you can handle it however, or are even-*gasp*-intrigued by the darker recesses of humanity, Haunted is a wonderful novel.
The framing story is enough to pique interest if you've not already heard of the novel for its short stories. A group of people, all different, most never identified by their real names, answer an ad for a writer's retreat out away from their lives and the rest of civilization for three months so they can focus their entire energy on producing their life's work.
Things, of course, aren't all they're cracked up to be, and the show more writers soon figure this out. Minor spoiler: Instead of banding together to formulate a plan to escape, they engage in self-sabotage, finding ways to make their already bad situation even worse, in the hopes that they will be rescued by some unknown entity, and their made-up story on how they were kidnapped, starved, and mutilated will generate enough buzz to make them all famous and soon production studios will be lining up to purchase the film rights.
While the writers don't ever do much writing during the framing chapters, each give way to a poem about a certain character and a short story by them. It's usually never clear when the story was written, and some are even just recited by the character telling it, but by that time you'll have realized that the actual writing process of these characters isn't the point, and never was.
None of the characters sound too different from each other in the way Chuck writes their stories, so some may understandably have an issue with that, but if you latch onto the increasingly sick and depraved stories these characters tell, you won't mind. You'll be wondering what awful story someone will tell next. It's more morbid satisfaction to me than meaningful literature, but I'm perfectly okay with that. They're all well-written, interesting, and so certifiably Chuck Palahniuk that I enjoyed this novel immensely.
My favorite of the short stories include the infamous Guts, that will make you pucker right up, Mrs. Clark's trilogy of stories surrounding The Nightmare Box, the horrifying and oddly sweet Exodus, the absurd Civil Twilight, and the graphic Hot Potting.
Don't miss this if you're an envelope-pushing Palahniuk fan, a fan of horror, or the absurd. Those aren't the only qualities this book has to offer, but don't kid yourself if they don't make it a little more morbidly exciting. show less
The framing story is enough to pique interest if you've not already heard of the novel for its short stories. A group of people, all different, most never identified by their real names, answer an ad for a writer's retreat out away from their lives and the rest of civilization for three months so they can focus their entire energy on producing their life's work.
Things, of course, aren't all they're cracked up to be, and the show more writers soon figure this out. Minor spoiler: Instead of banding together to formulate a plan to escape, they engage in self-sabotage, finding ways to make their already bad situation even worse, in the hopes that they will be rescued by some unknown entity, and their made-up story on how they were kidnapped, starved, and mutilated will generate enough buzz to make them all famous and soon production studios will be lining up to purchase the film rights.
While the writers don't ever do much writing during the framing chapters, each give way to a poem about a certain character and a short story by them. It's usually never clear when the story was written, and some are even just recited by the character telling it, but by that time you'll have realized that the actual writing process of these characters isn't the point, and never was.
None of the characters sound too different from each other in the way Chuck writes their stories, so some may understandably have an issue with that, but if you latch onto the increasingly sick and depraved stories these characters tell, you won't mind. You'll be wondering what awful story someone will tell next. It's more morbid satisfaction to me than meaningful literature, but I'm perfectly okay with that. They're all well-written, interesting, and so certifiably Chuck Palahniuk that I enjoyed this novel immensely.
My favorite of the short stories include the infamous Guts, that will make you pucker right up, Mrs. Clark's trilogy of stories surrounding The Nightmare Box, the horrifying and oddly sweet Exodus, the absurd Civil Twilight, and the graphic Hot Potting.
Don't miss this if you're an envelope-pushing Palahniuk fan, a fan of horror, or the absurd. Those aren't the only qualities this book has to offer, but don't kid yourself if they don't make it a little more morbidly exciting. show less
DNF'd at 100 pages.
i understand being edgy and weird for the sake of being edgy and weird but at least be GOOD at it, chuckles. remember that kid in class that would always turn his eyelids inside out to creep out the girls? that's exactly what this book feels like. gross for attention but not gross enough to actually be interesting.
these stories were at least more engrossing than diary-because they were too short to really drag on- but not enough for me to trudge through another 300 pages. if you wanna be alarmed and freaked out by how awful humans can be just turn on msnbc.
i understand being edgy and weird for the sake of being edgy and weird but at least be GOOD at it, chuckles. remember that kid in class that would always turn his eyelids inside out to creep out the girls? that's exactly what this book feels like. gross for attention but not gross enough to actually be interesting.
these stories were at least more engrossing than diary-because they were too short to really drag on- but not enough for me to trudge through another 300 pages. if you wanna be alarmed and freaked out by how awful humans can be just turn on msnbc.
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Published Reviews
Palahniuk's always been hammy, but in the past, speedster plots and glossy prose salvaged the sitcom shallowness. Here, Haunted's wonky framing device tries to hold together 23 tales (and 21 accompanying poems) that would've best been served without garnish.
added by CarlosMcRey
If books had aromas, this one would reek of "old potatoes melting into a black puddle under the kitchen sink."
added by CarlosMcRey
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Author Information
99+ Works 103,824 Members
Chuck Palahniuk was born in Pasco, Washington on February 21, 1962. He received a BA in journalism from the University of Oregon in 1986. Before becoming a full-time author, he worked as a journalist and as a diesel mechanic. He has written numerous novels including Survivor, Invisible Monsters, Lullaby, Diary, Haunted, Rant, Snuff, Pygmy, show more Tell-All, Damned, Doomed, Beautiful You, and Make Something Up: Stories You Can't Unread. Fight Club was made into a film by director David Fincher and Choke was made into a film by director Clark Gregg. He is also the author of Fugitives and Refugees, a nonfiction profile of Portland, Oregon, and the nonfiction collection Stranger Than Fiction. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Contains
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Haunted
- Original title
- Haunted
- Original publication date
- 2005
- People/Characters
- Brandon Whittier; Tess Clark; Saint Gut-Free; Mother Nature; Miss America; Evelyn Keyes (Lady Baglady) (show all 19); The Earl of Slander; Terry Fletcher (The Duke of Vandals); Director Denial; Reverend Godless; The Matchmaker; Sister Vigilante; Richard Talbott (Chef Assassin); Comrade Snarky; Eugene Denton (Agent Tattletale); The Missing Link; Claire Upton (The Countess Foresight); Miss Leroy (The Baroness Frostbite); Lisa Noonan (Miss Sneezy)
- Important places
- Oregon, USA
- Related movies
- Haunted (2010 | IMDb)
- First words
- This was supposed to be a writer's retreat. It was supposed to be safe.
An isolated writer's colony, where we could work,
run by an old, old dying man named Whittier,
until it wasn't.
And we supposed to wr... (show all)ite poetry. Pretty poetry.
This crowd of us, his gifted students,
locked away from the ordinary world for three months. - Quotations
- The difference between how you look and how you see yourself is enough to kill most people. (Mrs. Clark in “Post Production: A Story by Mrs. Clark")
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Now this is my life.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"We look forward to getting you back." - Original language
- English
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- 8,302
- Popularity
- 1,330
- Reviews
- 161
- Rating
- (3.40)
- Languages
- 13 — Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 42
- ASINs
- 12