" "Haunted" is a novel made up of stories: twenty-three of them to be precise. Twenty-two of the most horrifying, hilarious, mind-blowing, stomach-churning tales you'll ever encounter - sometimes all at once. They are told by the people who have all answered the ad headlined 'Artists Retreat: Abandon your life for three months'. They are led to believe that here they will leave behind all the distractions of 'real life' that are keeping them from creating the masterpiece that is in them. But 'here' turns out to be a cavernous and ornate old theatre where they are utterly isolated from the outside world - and where heat and power and, most importantly, food are in increasingly short supply. And the more desperate the circumstances become, the more desperate the stories they tell - and the more devious their machinations become to make themselves the hero of the inevitable play/movie/non-fiction blockbuster that will certainly be made from their plight. "Haunted" is at one level a satire of reality television. It draws from a great literary tradition - "The Canterbury Tales", "The Decameron", the English storytellers in the Villa Diodati who produced, among other works, "Frankenstein" - to tell an utterly contemporary tale of people desperate that their story be told at any cost. Appallingly entertaining, "Haunted" is Chuck Palahniuk at his finest - which means his most extreme and his most provocative." - amazon.co.uk synopsis

Not for the faint hearted! I started to read this when I was feeling a bit ill, and I had to stop in the first few Chapters due to some gut-wrenching descriptive passages! I *will* read it eventually though!

I only joined Bookcrossing in July and have since been amassing books at an alarming rate! I'm not going to have time to read many of them soon, so I'm offering up some of the more popular ones as rings. I'm going to limit the participants to 15 (so it doesn't take *forever* to get back to me!), unless additional participants satisfy unfulfilled shipping preferences.

Participants:
bigcurlyloz
arturogrande (UK - Intl)
bilbi (France - Europe/Intl if needed)
deense (Australia - Intl)
Lazzulii (Australia - Intl)
fungirl503 (US - US)
tammysavala (US - US/Intl if needed) *i am skipping her as i'm sure she has too much to deal with*
fanclub (US - US/Intl if needed)
birmingham-rose (UK - pass on in person to)
juliako (UK - UK/anywhere)

How it works
- PM me to join and state your shipping preferences.
- When I have at least 5 people, I'll post the book to the first person.
- Please journal the book when it arrives and when you've sent it on.
- When you've read it, please PM the next person on the list for their address.
- Bear in mind other people want to read it, so don't put it at the bottom of your TBR pile (6 weeks is a reasonable timeframe imo)!
- The last person on the list is to send it back to me :-)

When I have enough participants I'll sort the order to suit as many people's postage preferences as possible.

This book arrived a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't had chance to journal it because my husband is quite seriously ill in hospital. I'm planning to start reading it this weekend.
Thanks, and sorry for the hold-up.

Wow - this is one SICK book - in the best possible way! I've read a few of Palahniuk's novels, and I think this is by far the best. It is a twisted tale, told by a number of people who hve signed up for three months for a writers' retreat, only to find themselves 'trapped' in an abandoned cinema.
The stories told by the characters about their own pasts alternate with the present day in the cinema, as they heap more tortures upon themselves and each other in an attempt to make the story of their ordeal more sellable.
Everything they do is done with an eye to how it would look on film and how it could be exaggerated.
It's a wicked nod to the current vogue for reality TV, and the idea that nothing is truly real unless someone is watching.
Most of the tales are sick and twisted in some way - 'Guts', 'Exodus' and 'Hot Potting' are particularly spectacular in their baroque nastiness - but their dazzling inventiveness and the careful crafting of Palahniuk's prose means 'Haunted' is much more than an book version of a video nasty.
It's certainly NOT for the faint hearted, and I wouldn't recommend anyone reads it while eating.

Thaks very much, bigcurlyloz, for sharing this. I'm sorry I've had it a bit longer than I should have, but it's now on its way to bilbi in France.

Received today ! I can start it this afternoon at the information desk of my library ;-)
Thanks

"Not for the faint hearted!" "gut-wrenching" "SICK book" : your journal entries sound really inviting ;-o

When I finished the first story, I was thinking "how would I stand to read the next ones ?" But I was too curious to understand what was happening to the "writers" to close the book. Moreover I was warned of the "sickness" of the text. So I carried on reading and it was a great read. It was terrible. It was as if I was a peeping-tom and just accept cannibalism as normal (sorry for the spoiler)... The only way for the people in there to get out is waiting for the press to save them ? TV Fame ! That reminds be so truly of real-TV and/or the shows of nasty confessions.
It's so cynical a book, so captivating and so sad at times.
Thanks for sharing this book.

Arrived today. Currently third on my TBR list, but I should start it by middle of next week! THANKS!

This was really hit and miss for me. I think overall that Palahniuk's short stories lack something his books have.

Will message the next person in the list for their addy!

RELEASE NOTES:

Finally getting this off to the next person on the list, sorry about the delay, i've not been well.
Cheers
D

I received the book today and luckily I finished my other book this morning so I can start this straight away.

I sent off the book yesterday. Not really sure if I liked or disliked the book yet, i think I'll need more time to really digest it.

the book came today. i am in the middle of a reading another book and when I am done I will start this book next. Thankyou for sending this book this way :) bigcurlyloz I am going to send you a PM I need to aked you something about sending the book on.

RELEASE NOTES:

going to fanclub

Well what can I saw about this book. I know I enjoyed the book, must mean I am one sick person LOL. I have to say I thought the swimming pool was funny to me...I thought some wried monster coming to get him then read and find out some thing else trying not to spoil any thing here. Why does the dog get blame for every thing...LOL This book is going to the next person.

Arrived in today's mail. I am in the middle of a book and will start this one as soon as I finish!

I can certainly agree with most of the above, and then some - sick, cynical, wickedly funny, disgusting, enthralling ... I enjoyed each of the short stories as a kind of micro-universe where Palahniuk explored different aspects of human nature outside the context of their actions in captivity. He never ceases to amaze me with his brilliant observations about people and the things that truly motivate them. I also thoroughly enjoy his wit/sarcasm and of course, the obscenely sick gore that act only as a backdrop to the real human drama playing out.

I already have an address for the next reader, so I will be mailing this out early this week. Thanks for sharing this ring with me!

Received this morning. I had totally forgotten about this one. I have a rather large pile of rings to get through at the moment, but will endevour to get to it asap....
Thanks for including me on this ring, not 100% sure what I am going to make of this book as it is totally different to what I would normally read...

***I was not sure of this book at all, Some of the short stories were quite entertaining, but others I think were a little too graphic for my liking. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of the ring ~ it was worth a try!
Will be passing onto Juliako ASAP...

Picked this up from birmingham-rose this afternoon - great excuse to meet at Hudsons for a tea and toasted tea-cake!

I've picked this up a few times but don't seem to be able to get into it - although did read a couple of the stories in the middle.

Thanks for sharing this! I'll get back to a "nice" book or two - sci-fi or thriller rather than horror seems to be the order iof the day for me!

Yey! My bookring made it home! Thank you to all the participants for keeping it moving and all your journal entries.

Hopefully my stomach will be strong enough to read this now!!

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

In the Lord Todd laundry - enjoy!!