Haunted

Title: Haunted
Author: Chuck Palahniuk
Published: Originally in 2005, this edition by Vintage in 2006. I seem to have a lot of books by Vintage.
Genre: Chuck does scary stories
Pages: 404 + afterword.


Well well well. About a decade since I've become acquainted to Mr. Palahniuk's work by seeing Fight Club for the first time, and he finally makes me want to take a bath between my ears. Well played, Chuck. But not with Guts, the infamous story from this book, reading of which has caused over 70 people to faint. That one made me laugh out loud nigh hysterically. No, it was Speaking Bitterness, and also, to a lesser degree, Hot Potting. I was eating while I read the latter one. Not a good idea, that.

Soooo, Haunted. It's about a bunch of people saying goodbye to the world for three months, while they go on a writer's retreat to finally write That One Book Which Will Make Them Famous And Rich. Or, at least, that was the idea. What actually happens is very different. The book consists of short introductory poems of characters before they tell their big stories to the others while waiting for death or salvation. Between these the unnamed narrator tells what goes on at the retreat, which is, basically, a wave of mutilation.

This book is awesome. Chuck is awesome. I don't know where he pulls these ideas and stories from, but just when you think that the one you just read is the most horrifying/funny/gory thing you've read, on comes the next one. And the scariest thing is, it's all pretty much just... human nature. What a fucked-up bunch we are.


"And someday soon, any day now, the world will come open that door and rescue us. The world will listen. Starting on that sun-glorious day, the whole world is going to love us."