Review: Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk

Unknown to Chuck Palahniuk at the time of release, perhaps it was a blessing that his original plan for Haunted was rejected by the publishing company. The author wanted to release Haunted as two books: first, the core narrative that connects all of the short story elements in Haunted; then, as a collection of short stories written by the characters in the book. Thankfully, the publisher realized that the only redeeming elements of Haunted come from select short stories contained within.

Haunted is built on two premises. One: the main narrative. A group of artists all respond to an ad telling them they will be given everything they need to create their great work without interference from the outside world. This, unfortunately for them, means locking them inside of an abandoned theater until everyone has created their masterwork. The second premise: each artist has a twisted story to tell about their past, with a very unusual poem as a lead in. Every character has their time to shine with a story that explains why they are the way they are.

The problem with Haunted is that it just tries to hard. Chuck Palahniuk is not afraid of pushing the boundaries of literature, but normally he does so with a skillful hand that justifies the change. Not so with Haunted. The main narrative is practically unbearable in its relentless torture and desperate tone that drip from every page. The writing is inconsistent and the character's seem to be acting in a poorly improvised morality play about trust and drive. And, for no reason other than he can, Palahniuk packs the novel with so many twists it ceases to make sense long before the final twists are revealed on the last few pages.

The shining beacon of Haunted are a select few short stories that are some of the best short horror fiction to come about in years. Perhaps the most famous, nee infamous, story is the one Chuck Palahniuk toured with to get the public interested in the novel: Guts. Guts tells the increasingly shameful stories of young men who did stupid things just to spice up masturbation. Relentless and disturbing, this story pulls no punches and will leave a very lasting impression. Perhaps even greater than Guts is Exodus. Director tells of a police office clerical worker who makes the mistake of purchasing anatomically correct dummies for sexual abuse cases. The profile of a woman simply pushed to far in a male and sexually dominated field is heart breaking and terrifying. The stories are mostly successful in defining the characters, though they do become repetitive in tone and style later on in the book. It's clear Palahniuk was attempting to create a modern Canterbury Tales with Haunted, and in a small way he succeeded in creating truly depraved, disturbing tales of corruption and hypocrisy.

Haunted is worth a read for any Chuck Palahniuk fan, but not much beyond that. The short stories are excellent as a whole, so perhaps with the recent paperback edition, it might be worth picking up and just reading the stories.