Are his details on cat scratch fever, brain injuries, and homeless millionaires (among other things) legit, or did he just pull it from his rich (very rich) imagination? I’m not going to risk spoiling that magic trick by looking up how it’s done. He is either a master researcher or a slick huckster. Palahniuk has a way of going into an absurd level of detail on strange, esoteric topics. Soon the artists start dropping like flies, but not before telling some shocking, disgusting, and/or brutal stories. The group embraces their fucked up situation thinking the indignities and injuries they suffer will make a good story for when they are rescued. Clogged toilets – now you have to let us go. Their panic is soon replaced with hardship when they all simultaneously and independently decide to sabotage their (relatively) comfy little quarter-year home. They immediately panic, begging to be released and threatening the old man. They’re locked into a huge old theater by (and along with) their patron, Mr. It turns out that the “without distraction” part was more of a curse than a blessing. What a world.Ī group of pseudonym-labeled creative types answer a mysterious ad for a “writers’ retreat” in which they are asked to give up 3 months of their lives -all expenses paid – to focus on their craft without distraction.

Then I read the dang thing! Now you get to read about me reading about it. I’d been meaning to get around to it, but I put it off and forgot about it until I found it at a rad non-profit bookshop in Chicago ( Open Books). Chuck Palahniuk’s “ Haunted” has been on my radar for a while now.

Looks like it’s about time for another book review from the ol’ Danger.

Haunted short stories chuck palahniuk