The Haunted

By: Bentley Little

Narrated by: Dan Butler

Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

The Perry family's new house is perfect - except for the weird behavior of the neighbors, and that odd smell coming from a dark corner in the basement. Pity no one warned the family about the house. Now it's too late. Because the darkness at the bottom of the basement stairs is rising.

©2012 Bentley Little (P)2012 AudioGO

Surprisingly Graphic

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I'm no prude,but I would lessen some of the more sexually explicit, and more evil sce[nes. That scene with the mother hanging her children was a bit much.

What was most disappointing about Bentley Little’s story?

Like I said before. I think the story could have been just as good, if not better without all of the sex aand graphic violence. I actually thought it was a YA novel before the sudden switch.

What does Dan Butler bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He did bring life to the characters, expressing every family member endividually.

Could you see The Haunted being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

It problably could. But, I don't know what the rating would be. Not sure it would be one I personally seet[

Any additional comments?

No, To be honest, I haven't finished the book It was just getting too graphic but I do intent[[to return, about 3/4 done.[[

WOW!

This book was really good. There was some sexual content which I thought was crude and I started to think the book was just dragging. Then, I got into the ending chapters and HOLY CRAP! The ending and epilogue were really touching. So much so that it brought tears to my eyes. Seriously. I would highly recommend this book!

Excellent Scary Story

This book perfectly fulfilled my itch to hear an engrossing, spine tingling ghost story. Well written with constant forward movement, this story covers all bases and lacks any major plot holes. It's terrifying, gory, sad, and at times 'R' rated. Very clever and modern for the old "move into a new house" angle - not typical in the slightest.

New Fan!

I am a new Bentley Little fan. As an avid reader of horror and paranormal stories, I loved this novel by Bentley Little. It is very well written, with characters that are well developed and that you get to know intimately over the course of the story and a plot that takes you on a twisting journey of discovery with vivid gruesome detail. I listened to this book on Audible and loved the added suspense that the narrator brought to the story. I was mesmerized by the story and could not wait to get to the gripping finale. This is the third novel by Bentley Little that I have purchased within the last two months and it will not be my last.

Very creeeepy.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Haunted?

At the house-warming party...the noise the "man" made...imagine the noise from "The Thing"...the orignal... creeeepy.

Who was the most memorable character of The Haunted and why?

The entire family was memorable.

Could’ve been good but the ending..

Great haunted house book. Narration was fine. Story had some moving parts to it. Would’ve liked if the storyline was narrowed and developed a bit more. However it would’ve been overlooked if the ending wasn’t such a huge waste of the build up!!!

Twists and turns / enthralling!

I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy this at first, then as the chapters moved on, I could not stop listening. The writer was thorough in his descriptions, I could imagine everything the reader was describing in perfect detail. I would warn though that some descriptions can be triggering to some. This is a very adult oriented story and would not / should not be read as a bedtime story to your children. It had everything, murder, mayhem, strong descriptive sexual content. A true haunting horror story!

Full of suspense and imagery, but...

This book is full of suspense. However, there are some graphic and sometimes brutal sex scenes that are unnecessary and don't really add to the story, in my opinion. That being said, the detail and imagery put one right there. A good thriller that will keep the reader/listener on their toes.

Disappointing ending

Definitely a huge let down on how the story ended after the intensity of the story I was expecting a big climax...great book though.

Numerous subplots never resolved

What I admired about the book: This was an noble attempt to dive deep into a modern family's traumatic experience knowing they are living in a haunted house and put a magnifying glass into those quiet personal moments and inner reflections that you would never see in a horror movie or TV series, which tend to focus more on the impact of the actual scares. Each of the four family members have their own arcs and personal demons they are struggling with and each in turn have their own experiences and reasons for not wanting to share what's happening to them. These reasons and personalized hauntings feel very justified and make you care about and relate to them. While there are instances of frustration with the character's decisions, you mostly understand and support what they are doing and why. There is very little of the traditional horror story cliché of the character's always making the worst possible choices.

Much to my relief, the story quickly sped through the denial and trying to ponder rational explanations phase directly into knowing the house is haunted and trying to cope phase. Most of the book is the family trying to coincide with and placate the entity and then trying to figure out how to get out when things get worse, all while trying as best they can to carry on with their daily lives. They only share fragments of their personal experiences with each other as their armor begins to crack, worried about upsetting each other, as they desperately try to keep things as normal as possible even within their inner circle. I admired that aspect of the family's restraint. It felt, not necessarily wise, but more realistic, to bottle up their concerns for the sake of the common good.

At its heart, this book is more about a very close knit family fighting for each other and trying to survive a traumatic experience than it is just another spooky tale. The love this family shares is clearly what the author intended to represent the best defense against an entity hellbent on destroying their lives and getting them to turn on each other.

What I disliked: About a third of the way through the book I began to worry that because there was so much going on most of the subplots would not be addressed again or resolved. Boy was I right. Here's a quick list of plotlines that were brought up and never resolved: (Minor spoilers)

The secret compartment in the garage and what it contained.

The letter slipped through the mail slot addressed to the boys and its contents.

The cause of death of the homeless man.

The entity's constant attempts to prevent them into looking into the homeless man's past.

The inability to contact any of the house's previous owners and the realtor's bitter unwillingness to help them.

The very frequent and very detailed seemingly abnormal amount of rough sexual encounters that happen within the house by numerous characters, (It's hinted that the dead homeless man was a pervert or sexually obsessed but it is never confirmed, nor does it explain why his past would impact the actions of the present day characters.)

There are other unresolved plot threads, such as (spoilers) the cause of death of the elderly neighbor, the reasons behind Lynch's actions, and the disappearance of the grandfather, but those I'm more willing to forgive because their going unresolved adds to the spookiness factor. The ones I listed above all seemed relevant to the mystery of what was causing the haunting and how it originated but they were never addressed again, which makes me wonder why they were brought up at all, other than for minor scares and discomfort.

The biggest subplot that I felt wasn't fully explored was (spoilers) the death of the couple's first child. which was hinted at and finally revealed close to the end of the story, I understand it was there because the guilt of the incident weighed on the parent's minds, gave the entity something to feed on and torment them with, and added an extra layer of fiery passion in Julian and Claire's determination to protect their kids. What confused me is that for some reason the kids don't seem to be aware they had a sibling, as they never make reference to it, and the author never gives a reason as to why the parent's haven't told them. The other adult characters who would have known never make reference to it either. The omission for some reason stood out very large in my mind, and I expected it to have a specific reason behind it. I expected the parent's shedding their guilt as to what happened and informing their kids about it was going to be used as some kind of final act of repentant truth that they use to defeat the entity, but once again, it was never brought up again in any meaningful way again after it was revealed. Even in the epilogue when the children are older it was never referenced. I don't necessarily feel the parents were obligated to tell them, but it felt like wasted potential. It kind of felt awkward like a piece that didn't fit the puzzle but was forced in anyway.

My biggest gripe is how the story meandered. I feel this book needed a better editor. There are numerous instances of the characters going about their daily lives, flirting in DVD stores, gossiping about their neighbor's affairs, going to movies, having lunch, watching TV, making constant pop culture references, that have nothing at all to do with the story. I suppose this was done, as I mentioned before, to try to illustrate how the characters attempted to lead a life as close to normal as they could given their situation, and that life was still going on as normal outside their house, but it happened far too often.

There came a point in the second half of the book when Claire, the mother, was researching the history of the town and there were about four different very long, very detailed flashbacks about tragedies and murders that had happened on their street or in close proximity to where their house would eventually stand. This bolstered the notion that the entity had been there a long time, and while the stories were interesting and well written, they all could have been condensed into something much shorter or at least two could have been eliminated all together and the reader still would have understood the point. All together they really felt like unnecessary padding.

This is a good book, but not a great one. It is overlong and has kind of a downer, somewhat rushed, unsatisfactory ending. I feel the author's heart was in the right place focusing on the inner workings of the family dynamic. These did feel like real people with real problems and they were very likable. The writing style was sharp and clean and I would consider reading more of his stuff.

The narrator was a solid choice. He had a kind of youthful, intellectual energy that reminded me of a college student telling an awesome story with enthusiastic sincerity. Like if you were going to here about a supposedly true ghost story, you'd want to hear it from someone who seemed credible, and this felt like that.