Haunted

I would honestly have just read the character stories and been happy with that. I don’t think the actual events that are happening is even needed since it gets repetitive and a bit boring there. The ending also completely caught me off guard and I’m not sure what that had to do with anything but I read this book for 8 hours straight so I definitely enjoyed the read :)

And I loved it. The stories were a mix of macabre and funny, but the story telling itself was clunky and it wasn’t a page turner. Still worth the read

This book is grotesque and disturbing, just for the sake of the shock. There are parts relevant to the stories but a lot of it was just gross or depraved for that visceral reaction. This book is a combination of short stories and a main tale. The some of the short stories are amazing. Others not so much. The main story was very disconnected from the side stories and overall the novel just wasn’t a cohesive novel. The characters fall flat and the central’s story just seems empty. It almost seems like the short stories were independently written and thrown in the book to be able to get published. The poetry is terrible and should have just been excluded. There were some memorable and shocking short stories I really loved but overall the novel just fell flat.

Thank you.

While not for those with weak stomachs or the easily offended,this really is a book that should not be ignored. I had searched lists of the scariest novels of all time only to find that this title appeared consistantly on many of them. Usually near the top. Yes there is some social commentary seeded within the pages and the characters(and stories) teeter within a realm of surrealism and the mundane,sanity and lunacy. The short stories are fantastic,often leaving you questioning and fearing their possibility. The connective narrative is full of over-the-top characters who go to great lengths to turn their situation (grotesquely)into infamousy thus fortune. The short stories themselves are more telling of each character then the intertwining story, as it reveals the origin of each characters respective nickname(ie; The Bag Lady).The back and forth between the stories broadens the understanding of the novel as a whole. A few of the shorts left my jaw dropped upon completion(exodus being my favorite in the bunch).Quick paced and often unnerving it is definately a great book if this is your type of read. Be aware that sensitive topics are tackled without mercy and oh yes.....lots and lots of " Guts" and gore!!

This book is the most disturbing and shocking book I've ever read. I was disgusted and appalled...it was great! I highly recommend this book. I didn't want to put it down.

One of the main themes of this book is that we are all, as humans, addicted to conflict, and our stories, no matter how good or bad they are, haunt us like ghosts. It comes as no surprise to me why Palahnuik would incorperate the stories of the characters ensnared in the trap that they've instinctively set for themselves. He's showing us human nature at a primitive level, with stories that would surely haunt nearly anyone had they experienced them themselves. The gore and the sex...whatever...it's there. Those are Chuck's words, his style, his thoughts. I think people are just jealous of his writing and philosophy. It is what they make it.

Reading all of the reviews about Haunted, I have to say that I am not surprised at how many people were sidetracked by the extreme amount of gore in this book. Yes, there is a lot, and in some instances, like the infamous "Guts," it can be quite hard to take. But why is it so hard to take? What is it about Palahniuk's writing that inspires people to faint at readings of his stories? What is so brilliant about this book is that it creates an illusion of having some sort of epic plot about a bunch of writers that want fame and fortune and will do anything to get it. But the book is clearly not about this plot; the anti-climactic ending is testament to that. It is about the short stories, and what as a whole they say. People get affected so deeply by a story like "Guts" because it could happen to anyone. That is why it is a perfect beginning to this collection. For the events in the other stories to happen to someone, they would have to have certain traits or social situations (rich, training in foot massage, gourmet cooking), but what is great is how similar these stories ultimately are to "Guts." At first, I thought Palahniuk was being a sloppy writer by having almost all of the voices of the various characters sound exactly like each other. But he's too good and creative of a writer to unconsciously do that. To me, this book is about the universality of human suffering and the lengths we go to in order to cope with that suffering. Everyone has had pain in their lives that is too painful or awkward to tell others, an "invisible carrot" as Palahinuk calls it. What these characters are doing is trying to get it out through their writing, which is a common and worthy method of dealing with this suffering. Of course, they go insane and eventually massacre each other, but that is because they are trying to force creativity and find they can only talk about themselves; there is no effort by any of the characters to go beyond their own pain and create something like Frankenstein or Dracula, which are both based on universal human fears. Instead, they must place the blame and monster status on someone really just like them, Mr. Whittier, and make the situation look as horrific as it can be in order to justify this artifical status. It is telling that the "villain," Mr. Whittier, is the only one that can write a story not about himself, and it is definitely one of the better and more creative stories in the collection. It is a great irony that the monster that the writers have been trying to manufacture instead of create, Mr. Whittier, is the most creative of all. Of all the short stories in this collection, perhaps my favorite is "Exodus." It is a story that has such an incredible emotional depth, and in that story more than most the gore serves the emotion so directly I actually think of it as one of the least shocking stories. The book has standout moments like this, but it is not about standout moments. It is about a collect

What is "Haunted" about? Well, on the surface its about a group of individuals dooped into joining a writer's retreat which is more than they bargained for. But, in fact is just what they need, in order for them to confront the deomons in their combined pasts. And end up finding their voice in the end and write their masterpieces, with some gruesome details, viscious immoral acts, as well as illegal (and I don't mean when you put the single crushed up sleeping pill in Mom's wine so you could sneek out to sleep with your boyfriend and get knocked up, no I'm talking about the time you accidently killed your mother with a vicodin overdose, so you could sneak out and get pregnant by your boyfriend) and self-depravating characters along the way. Or else it wouldn't be a Palanuik novel without. Deeper, its about reveling in other peoples misery. Hearing those most intimate embarasing details an loving every minute of it. We LOVE FAMINE, WAR, AND SUFFERING. And what's more WE LOVE HEARING ABOUT IT!!! We want to hear those horrible occurences from someone's life Those car crashes at the side of the road that we just can't help ourselves from slowing down and staring at. These stories that people have to say, we just can't stop from listening to. They are the equivalent to the deformed man at the video store, of the little girl wandering the mall with the skin grafts. They all have a story to tell, and we want to hear it. Not to mention that Palahnuik also breaches the "Blame" subject. How in out society we constantly seek scapegoats, someone to blame other than ourselves, because it couldn't possibly be OUR FAULT. Its not my fault I'm drunk and ran my car into that church bus full of orphans on their way back from the Cardinal game. Its the bartender's fault. And right now you all agree with me. Right? Then why does it keep happening? At the end of my review I'd just like to leave you with a quote from the book. And Chuck's quotes are the best. Am I right? "All those cures and remedies that claim to be 100% natural and therefore are 100% safe. Well, Cyanide is natural, so is arsenic." Thank you and have a great day.