Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk

Published by

Sarah Ann

on

July 2, 2010

Haunted is about an eccentric, diverse group of people who go to a “Writer’s Retreat,” where they are locked inside an abandoned theater for 90 days to write poetry, novels, and screenplays.

Except everyone in this particular group (I refer to them as the “crazies”) has experienced some type of horrific freak accident, and the Writer’s Retreat is their chance to share their horror stories with one another.

The first story is called “Guts,” shared by Saint Gut-Free. This disturbing story sets the tone for the entire book, and it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. I’ve never looked at swimming pools the same after reading Guts.

What makes Haunted particularly creepy is that none of its stories are too far-fetched. These are all freak accidents that could REALLY happen! The stories are backed by some pretty impressive scientific and factual explanations, and you can pick up on how excited the author got when he learned all this stuff. And, the details are gruesome and explicit to the point you might legitimately feel sick.

“Guts,” “Exodus,” and “The Nightmare Box” are my favorite stories in Haunted. They lingered in my mind forever. Another cool thing I noticed about this book is that it’s satirical, and pulls from a bunch of reality TV shows and classical literary works.

I’ve been reading Chuck Palahniuk from the very beginning, when Fight Club came out in 1996. He’s wildly creative and original, and I used to eat his books up when I was younger. His newer books are a little too out there for me to wrap my head around, but Palahniuk is special and unique.

I highly recommend Haunted, and some of his older titles, including Survivor (1999), Invisible Monsters (1999), and Choke (2001), which were my favorites back then.

Other titles by Chuck Palahniuk include:

What did you think about Haunted? Did you have any favorite stories?

I’ve always thought Chuck Palahniuk is genius after reading his novel, Choke, which is the first book I had read by him. Given the cult-classic popularity of the movie Fight Club, it continues to amaze me how people STILL haven’t a clue that it was the brilliant invention of Palahniuk!

Last Updated on February 17, 2026 by Sarah Ann

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