Fightstar interrupted, since Simpson was in the midst of a sold-out series of Wembley shows with Busted. "They Liked You Better When You Were Dead", released on 28 February 2005 after a brief UK promotional tour. It was a critical success, though Punknews.org reviewed it negatively. Alex Westaway, the band's lead guitarist and co-lyricist, drew its artwork (based on Edward Norton) for the booklet; the EP's lead single, "Palahniuk's Laughter", was inspired by David Fincher's film "Fight Club" (1999), which in turn was based on the novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. "Palahniuk's Laughter" received heavy rotation on music-video
Chuck Palahniuk the temporal end, after every few chapters. Exceptions to this narrative form, however, include the more linear "Choke" and "Diary". Often a major plot twist exists that is revealed near the end of the book, which relates in some way to this temporal end (what Palahniuk refers to as "the hidden gun"). His more linear works also include similar plot twists. Palahniuk says that his writing style has been influenced by authors such as the minimalist Tom Spanbauer (who taught Palahniuk in Portland from 1991 to 1996), Amy Hempel, Mark Richard, Denis Johnson, Thom Jones, Bret Easton Ellis and philosophers