Take a photo of a barcode or cover
As for the short stories... First of all, I don't think the book's format worked. All the stories were very clearly written by the same person; all the characters have the exact same writing style. I also didn't think the stories gelled very well with the main narrative, and the shifts between them felt abrupt, but that might just be a personal preference. That said, I overall preferred the short stories to the main narrative, though I still can't say I liked them, mainly because of how disturbing some of the content was. And while I obviously understand that disturbing is what Palahniuk was going for here, there are much more refined ways of going about it. Haunted is a book devoid of subtlety, with the vast majority of the disturbing scenes and situations mentioned seeming tacked-on for shock value. To give an example, one scene mentions child pornography, a subject disturbing in and on itself without need for further detail; despite this, Palahniuk not only offers further detail, but chooses to portray particularly grotesque instances of it for no reason other than to shock and repulse. This happens throughout the book: every single time he's given the chance, he crosses the line from "disturbing" to "gratuitous".
It's all gross-out and incredibly distasteful, as well as juvenile, like a teenage boy trying to make you squirm by coming up with the most vile shit he can conjure up.
I rarely DNF books, especially one I've been meaning to read for so long, but if I'm going to read a book that makes me feel bad and puts horrible shit in my mind, it better have something to offer in return. This doesn't, and I just don't feel like putting myself through anymore of it.
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Excrement, Medical trauma, Murder
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment
If you want something like this book but good, check out the stories of Edogawa Ranpo, particularly the story 'the Red Chamber.'
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder