Haunted

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk is a novel made up of stories: Twenty-three 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.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Reading a Palahniuk novel is like getting zipped inside a boxer’s heavy bag while the author goes to work on you, pounding you until there is nothing left but a big bag of bones and blood and pain.” —The Miami Herald“To Palahniuk’s credit, there is something here to appall almost every sensibility. The author has a singular knack for coming up with inventive new ways to shock and degrade.”—The New York Post“Frequently entertaining [and] often appalling. . . . There are paragraphs here—entire pages, in fact—that are as disgusting as anything I’ve ever read. Truly vivid and harrowing (and often quite funny).”—Minneapolis Star Tribune“Summer reading for people who like their lit doused in bodily fluids.. . . Haunted has an anarchic sensibility that hurdles over the top.”—Time Out New York “Chuck Palahniuk is one of the most intriguing writers of our time. [Haunted ] is a blend of stories that are among the most horrifying, stomach-churning and mind-blowing tales ever encountered.” —Tucson Citizen“Chuck Palahniuk’s rightful place is among literary giants. He combines the masculinity of Ernest Hemingway, the satirical bent of Juvenal and the attitude of Lenny Bruce.” —Greensboro News & Record “To Palahniuk’s credit, there is something here to appall almost every sensibility. The author has a singular knack for coming up with inventive new ways to shock and degrade.” —New York Post “Funny, always on the edge of reality and bloodied by the profound horror of narcissism.” —Playboy “Place this bet in your time capsule: Chuck Palahniuk’s novels will be required reading in American literature classes 100 years from now.” —The Fort Myers News-Press “Palahniuk is as unique and colorful as ever.” —The Onion “Searing and honest. ...His nasty detail and unimaginably horrible scenarios will give some people nightmares. This creepy ?ction masterpiece could be the de?nitive novel of our time for its genre.” —The Cincinnati News Record “Chuck Palahniuk appears to be going around the bend. ...A satire of reality television–an effective one–but also an homage to horror stories and a meditation on pop culture.” —The Seattle Times “The most original work of ?ction this year.” —The Guardian (London) “Chuck Palahniuk is up to his old tricks. ...His prose is, as always, gorgeous.” —Entertainment Weekly “One part Canterbury Tales, one part Lord of the Flies, and 100 percent classic Palahniuk. ...[His] grisliest book yet.” —Broward—Palm Beach New Times

Unrelenting torture porn

Maybe this book just isn’t for me. The writing is actually quite impressive and the short stories from each character were vastly diverse and well written. They help paint the picture into why the characters got into the position they were in. They delve into darker philosophical musings that were interesting as well.

The downside was that most of the stories were incredibly grotesque. I can handle this type of writing to an extent but this was unrelenting. The main story was the same way so you didn’t get a chance to escape it.

The other part that I didn’t love was the actual story. For all the well written short stories, the main story dragged on and felt like a chore to get through most of the time. In the end I was left asking what was the point and that none of the characters changed in any way from their backstories.

The performance was well done and the writing I thought was still technically good. I liked the way he was able to weave the short stories into the main plot as a way to introduce character backstories. I just wish the main story was better in a way that made those stories feel more meaningful in the end.

incredibly grisly and tough to read but very deep

beautiful book on many topics that uses a really dark comedy and grisly backdrop. made me physically cringe at times but one of the best books I've read

You gotta Read this sh*t Definitely worth the type!

This was one of the best books I’ve definitely listen too or read! It was sooooo good. Starts off slow but after the first little story you are good to go! Great book recommend to anyone that has a strong stomach or that loves a good story.

Disturbing

There isn’t much that makes me squeamish.. this book though… certain scenes were difficult to get through. Definitely not for everyone.

Really worth it

I loved this audiobook! Brilliant story, excellent narration, and completely original. I've read a few of the author's other books, which are always great, but this one is the best.