The Haunted

The Haunted is a fast paced ghost story with like-able characters. It was much creepier than I expected and just different enough from the run of the mill haunted house stories. Dan Butler's narration was great. He managed different voices for the characters which is something that grates on me with other narrators.

Almost everything, from the writing, the characters, the plot, and the narration was all great. But what I really liked was how personal this book felt. One of Little's best, that's for sure.

No I have not, but I will now.

This book was a lot of fun to read, despite it's bleakness. Bentley Little is, however, known for his sense of humor. Do not look for that here. This is a book that is dark, bleak, and full of despair as the Perry family loses control of their average, every day lives.

The story is about an innocent family haunted by their new house, but it reminded me of self-abuse spinning out of control, the unknown anger and angst of adolescence, the fear and desperation of a child stuck in a family haunted by its past and current abuses. This book is about what's not in your control, and how what's good and average can turn to bad and abnormal at any time.

(Spoiler alert:) The reactions of the family to these disturbing scenarios seemed extremely unrealistic. The reluctance to communicate between family members and the refusal to wake others when things went bump in the night seemed less than plausible. I get that the presence in the house drew them in... made them do things they weren't quite aware of but all were in possession of their mental faculties most of the time. The sudden bursts of rough sexual acts caught me off guard and left a sleazy aftertaste. The ultimate climax of the book just didn't seem to follow the flow of the story.

The almost constant repetition of certain bits of dialogue became obnoxious. "I'll kill you both..." and "take off your pants" were repeated so often I found myself rolling my eyes each time, thinking that the author must consider the reader/listener awfully inept at recalling plot points. Also... the writer's expressions could use a bit of diversity. Another expression that grew old entirely too fast was "persue/follow this line of questioning."

No. I will always be an occasional listener of horror fiction.

During dialogue, the narrator's tone never seemed to match the mood of the context. When a character cried out in panic, anger, lust, or fear the narrator sounded bland, bored, or conveying the exact opposite emotion.

Rick, the owner of the print shop. He was really only an occasional distraction who served little purpose in the overall plot, other than to convey Claire's distaste for Julian's friends.

There were excellently written thrills and incredibly bizarre moments that made my nose pinch with revulsion and disgust. Bentley's capability to write gruesome or thrilling fiction is unquestioned. I was properly scared a number of times... but I was able to predict the ending about an hour and a half before the book's conclusion and found myself so disappointed to be proven right.

Absolutely, if any of my friends read horror. I've read a lot of 'haunted house' stories over the years, and this one managed to be fresh and interesting and really captured my imagination.

I wouldn't really compare it, personally. It's different enough, to me at least, to stand alone.

I don't think I've heard any of his other readings...

Oh man... I'm a writer and naming my own stuff is hard enough, I don't think I'd think of anything better. This title suits the book perfectly, and was certainly enough to make me buy it without a second thought (the author's name helped, too!).

I'm a Bentley Little fan. Occasionally his stories go off on strange tangents that to me feel like they fit with the rest of the story, but this is NOT one of those books. I'll be listening to this one again, no doubt about it.

Based upon reviews, I expected some truly scary, King-esque spookiness. Besides a couple of noted scenes, the scariest aspects I found in this novel was the complete lack of communication of the family and, that, despite being a full-time lawyer with a work-from-home husband, the wife still did ALL of the housework and laundry. There was also a bit too much political ranting for my taste (whether the writer leans right or left, I prefer my horror, scifi, etc to be politics free, escapist fare.) Finally, I felt the culmination very slap-dash and unbelievable.

But, there were a few spine-tingling scenes and the narrator did an excellent job bringing the characters to life, so I gave this 3 stars.

I liked alot of things about this book. i love the story, their was plenty of twists turns and scares along the way. the Narrater was great and the ending was sad but still really kool.

i liked all of the characters in their own different ways

if your thinking about getting this book, dont hesitate. its worth the money and if you love horror and a good story then its the perfect read for you.

I love a good, scary ghost story. The problem is that so few of them are downright scary. I've been burned time and time again by stories that hint at the creepy or take you right up to the edge of something scary, but can't pull the trigger. "The Haunted" remained in my Wish List for some time because of this.

You can imagine my delight, then, that when I finally took the plunge and downloaded the book, I found "The Haunted" fulfilled its scary promise. In addition to being scary, Bentley Little gives us characters we can relate to and root for. A haunted house story (and believe me, that's not a spoiler) means very little if we can't be bothered to care for its victims. We care a great deal for these victims, as Little has made them real people, with real pain and real joy.

Although I found the conclusion a little unsatisfying, this was largely offset by the powerful emotional reaction the author is able to elicit. "The Haunted" is not perfect, but it is very, very good. A must-read for those who, like me, are always on the hunt for a good, scary ghost story.

Yes! I loved it and when I finished it, I purchased it for a friend as a gift.

Julian was my favorite character. He evolved completely from start to finish, but one thing was constant - his desire to protect his family.

Julian again, although Dan Butler did a fantastic job with every character.

Julian's actions at the end of the book. You'll have to experience that for yourself to find out if you agree with me.

Why can I not find more Bentley Little on Audible? I hope Audible is working feverishly to make all his books available for download.

I was surprised didn't see anything coming . Very very good !!! I want more

Anyone who would enjoy finding a hyperbolic political diatribe in the middle of what is presumably a ghost story. If I wanted the author's political opinions, I would hope to read them in an editorial - not a work of fiction.

No - I didn't bother finishing this one.

The narrator seemed fine.

exasperation