That's not to say that cliffhangers can't be useful when well-used. They build suspense, they pick up the pacing of the story, and when used sparingly (as they should be!), they lend power and emphasis to the event.
In literary terms, most chapters have exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution, just like a short story. A cliffhanger is a chapter in which you end with the climax (the resolution is moved to a subsequent chapter).
Suspense writers use them more frequently than other types, and a skillful thriller author knows how to walk the cliffhanger line, using just enough of them to not tire the reader too much.
Rookie writers tend to overuse cliffhanger chapter endings. Christopher Paolini published his first book, Eragon, when he was still a teen. The kid was a helluva storyteller, but not an especially accomplished writer (he's 41 now, but I haven't read anything of his since the Eragon series, so I have no idea if he's gained any literary chops since then; I assume he probably has). Anyway he used the OUT COLD BLACKOUT in two or three chapters of Eragon; the main character gets knocked on the head, and everything goes black. He continued the trend in later books in the series. To be fair, his age isn't really relevant - rookie writers of all ages do it. But, because of Paolini, whenever any writer ends a chapter with everything going black, it's like (apologies for the cliche) nails on a chalkboard.
It's gotten so bad that I don't even like the SLEEP BLACKOUT variation, where the chapter ends with the character falling asleep (which technically isn't a cliffhanger).
Well, today I discovered another cliffhanger ending that is nearly as bad as the POV character getting knocked unconscious. It's the SEDUCTION BLACKOUT. In this type of chapter, the narrative builds up to a character initiating a seduction, and the author concludes the chapter with that initiation, leaving the rest to the reader's imagination. It's a form of literary premature ejaculation, where the climax is not (ahem) the climax.
In this case, the culprit is not a rookie writer, but a seasoned one, and it's in what many people consider the author's masterpiece. But she died before it was completed, so she gets a pass. It's in Irène Némirovsky's book Suite Française:
“Don’t cry,” she said very quietly, her voice faltering. “Only children cry. You’re a man. When a man is unhappy he knows what he needs …”She waited for a response but he said nothing and lowered his eyes. His mouth was closed and sad, but his nose wrinkled and his nostrils quivered slightly. So she said in a very quiet voice, “Love …”
Némirovsky was murdered in the Holocaust before she could finish her book, so it feels a little insensitive to criticize, particularly because she might well have fixed the problem if she hadn't been denied the opportunity. But, I don't like the fact that the seducer is probably in her 30s, and the seducee is a 17-year-old boy who ran away to join the French army (imagine people's attitudes if the sexes had been swapped). And, I hated how she ended this chapter, but it does give the reader a moment to ponder the implications. The desperation of the characters is palpable, as they find comfort in each other, despite the terror of their situation (they are in an inn, and a detachment of the German army is celebrating the armistice just one floor below them).
For what it's worth, I once saw a variation of this cliffhanger, which I'm calling the RAPE BLACKOUT, in a stage production of A Streetcar Named Desire, and it was one of the most effective scene ends I've seen. Stanley drops Stella onto the bed, reaches up to the pull chain for the bare bulb hanging just above them, pulls the chain, and the stage went black. It was breathtakingly well done and far more effective than if they had portrayed any of the violence that was to follow.
It is possible for BLACKOUT cliffhangers to be used effectively, but for goodness' sake, use them carefully and sparingly.
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