Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk – Reviewed by Guy Portman
A group of writers have been assembled by the conniving Mr Whittier to attend a writers’ group. The location is an isolated theatre with no access to the outside world. At first all seems well, but matters soon take a turn for the worse. The writers come to the realisation that they are trapped and facing an uncertain future.
The book is interspersed with poems and stories about the various writers, whose names define their very natures. There is Saint Gut-Free, Miss America, Chef Assassin, Miss Sneezy and the Reverend Godless, amongst others. Themes include victimisation, competitiveness and the media-obsessed nature of society. In one of the short stories intestines are sucked out of an anus by a swimming pool vacuum. Another sees several pages dedicated to a description of a dead girl in various stages of decay.
Haunted is a highly controversial and provocative work that horrifies, disgusts and amuses in equal measure. This reader was impressed by the author’s ability to adeptly dispense commentary on the human psyche.
