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Haunted: A Novel Audiobook
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(3.00) - 39,662 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
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.
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"Pretty disturbing, but this seems to be the general consensus. Nevertheless, I was oddly hooked from beginning to end, no matter how many times I had to shut the book for a few minutes and just attempt to clear my head. Not for the faint-hearted, that's for sure. Again... DISTURBING"
— Catherine (4 out of 5 stars)
Haunted Listener Reviews
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" Huge piece of crap. Made no sense. It attempted to be intellectual in its presentation of the characters and store line with random mini stories intermixed. All it accomplished was a scattered story with unnecessary asides. I give it a "eh". "
— Philip, 2/3/2014 -
" Dark, gory, and funny. I'm impressed with how Palahniuk tied multiple short stories into his entire novel and made it cohesive. "
— Gregory, 1/24/2014 -
" This was perhaps Palahniuk's worst novel for me. Thinking back on it, I can hardly remember the plot, but I remember really not enjoying it. "
— Heather, 1/23/2014 -
" I feel like the premise of this book was BE AS SHOCKING AS POSSIBLE! I mean, the book comes with an 'epilogue' that basically brags about how many people have passed out during public readings. Let's see, someone masturbates with a pool jet and gets his organs sucked out, a woman passes out and they eat her ass because they think she's dead but then she wakes up and takes a bite before bleeding to death, a man cuts off his penis with a cleaver and another man goes to eat it but he chokes on it and dies...could you TRY HARDER for shock value?! That being said, there are some less gruesome, more gut-wrenching stories, specifically the story of Mrs Clark and her daughter Cassandra. Other stories are simply ironic or funny. There is a message about human behavior woven throughout all of these stories, though it's one we've heard before. So...it's interesting, I suppose, and perhaps might be disgusting at times...but it's nothing as new or shocking as the author would like you to believe. Any B-horror flick does that job just as well without shoving a pseudo-message down your throat. "
— Lauren, 1/10/2014 -
" If you can stomach the first story, the rest of the book is a breeze. "
— Shanna, 12/31/2013 -
" One word: eurgh. "
— Courtney, 12/24/2013 -
" some great short stories in here, but i found the general story inbetween tedious. "
— Robin, 12/20/2013 -
" Chuck Palahnuik is a demented, sick human being and I cannot wait to read whatever he writes as soon as it is out "
— Luke, 12/13/2013 -
" Bloody amazing, so original and throughly gross at the same time. I've already been and bought more Chuck Palahniuk books - would strongly recommend! "
— rach, 12/2/2013 -
" So amazing, portrays society in a beautiful and dark way. "
— Kate, 11/30/2013 -
" This is the most disturbing book I've ever read. A horror story that has no supernatural monsters. A horror story of a reality that consumes this world we live in. If your offended easily or grossed out do not read this book. I'm glad I did but doubt I'll read it again. "
— Willy, 11/11/2013 -
" I really don't like how palahniuk rambles. "
— Lucas, 8/31/2013 -
" Really creepy, graphic, slightly scaring and I can't make up my mind on if this was a good thing. "
— Aszalea, 8/17/2013 -
" Just about the most ridiculous, boring thing I've ever attempted to read. I stopped half way through. Awkwardly written, hackeneyed characters, stupid premise...Just...Stupid. "
— Jess, 7/7/2013 -
" I loved how it told each persons story to give you. Back ground on them then tied back in to the main story. I don't know if I am just one of those "young people" that love him but he always keeps my attention. I have loved everyone of his books right up until rant. "
— October, 4/7/2013 -
" The poems weren't amazing, but the style was worth it. I liked the literary references, and the absolute horror that was injected into all of the everyday situations. Like Stephen King with a sledgehammer of reality. "
— Bp516, 3/23/2013 -
" people love hating palahniuk and i mostly hear how subversive this book is, and how it is shock/gore horror at its worst. but, any book that can make you tighten your sphincter as your read over a disembowelment is a.o.k in my eyes. "
— Colin, 2/28/2013 -
" I like that CP goes somewhere with these short stories that he wont or cant go with his novels. Very gritty and brutal. "
— Jerman, 12/17/2012 -
" Several of the short stories within are awesome and entertaining. The overall book is pretty sick and twisted. I loved it. "
— Frank, 11/4/2012 -
" INSANE!!!! "
— Matt, 10/8/2012 -
" Gross. Not my favorite of Chuck's by a long shot. Lacks the more complex and witty story lines his other books have. "
— Rachel, 7/22/2012 -
" Only 3 outta 5 stars for me. There were a few short stories that were good, but overall, not well put together. Somewhat of a hard read to get involved with. Not what I would expect from Palahnuik. "
— Brent, 11/9/2011 -
" This book was excellent. It's plot is so creative and twisted, it's makes you cringe, yet you can't stop reading! I loved it. "
— Steph, 6/26/2011 -
" most horror filled stories I've encountered. "
— chad, 6/22/2011 -
" Gory, nerve-wrecking, disgusting, you name it.<br/>Some books gave you butterflies in your stomach, this book gave you pterodactyls "
— Rizal, 6/21/2011 -
" I loved this book. The short stories wound so neatly in to one final tale. Some of the characters you just feel for and others you want more of.<br/><br/>Read Gutless to truly understand what made it amazing.<br/><br/>And gross. "
— Micheal, 6/16/2011 -
" This wasn't my favorite Palahniuk book by far, however it was not the worst either. He always does a good job of surprising you in the end. He does this again here. It's worth reading..only if you can handle pedophilla, though..One story in here turns my stomach for that reason. "
— Emily, 6/16/2011 -
" Train wreck. The kind that you can't look away from but should. I do give Chuck credit sometimes for going beyond his tendencies of shock value but not this time for sure. "
— Michael, 6/15/2011 -
" This book teaches a reader what true horror really is. It is not a fiction genre but an emotion, which this book evokes. It is uniquely written, and the ideas are terrifying, repulsive, and great. "
— Patricia, 6/12/2011 -
" What a waste of time! I can imagine 13 - 14 years old me to enjoy it. Because when it comes to teens, as you know, gross is great. Unfortunately that's not the case for me anymore. So thank you. But no thank you. "
— Radim, 6/9/2011 -
" It was just too much. I love Palahniuk, but couldn't stomach this novel. "
— Emily, 6/5/2011 -
" It was so grotesquely descriptive that I couldn't finish it. There was some really sick and psychotic stuff in this book and that's really scary coming from me. "
— Dawn, 6/5/2011 -
" I loved this amazingly twisted book. I couldn't put it down. "
— Amanda, 5/23/2011 -
" Interesting premise. Some chapters are pretty fantastic. Just not a complete work - not his finest. "
— Darren, 5/17/2011
About Chuck Palahniuk
Chuck Palahniuk has been a nationally bestselling author since his first novel, 1996’s Fight Club, was made into the acclaimed David Fincher film of the same name. Twelve of his works have made the New York Times bestsellers list, and his work has sold millions of copies worldwide.