Peter Straub, Horror Novelist, Dies at 79

[Richard Willis]

Story

One of my favorite writers. He died this week. They make a big deal out of his two novels with Stephen King, but in my opinion, the novels by him alone were superior:

Ghost Story
Julia
If You Could See Me Now
The Blue Rose Trilogy (Koko, Mystery and The Throat)
Mr. X
Lost Boy, Lost Girl
In the Night Room

and more

If any of you saw the movie adaptation of Ghost Story (1981), I recommend reading the book. It's about a malevolent shape shifter. That's her on this cover.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Ghost Story and Shadowlands are both terrific. And I read the Blue Rose Trilogy out of order years ago (not realizing The Throat had books that came before it), and even then I loved it. I picked up Koko on Kindle the other day with plans to reread the trilogy in order this time. Straub was terrific.

[Richard Willis]

A Guardian reaction, including comments from his friend Neil Gaiman.

Peter Straub, celebrated horror author, dies aged 79 | Books | The ...

[Richard Willis]

Right after reading Ghost Story, I read If You Could See Me Now, with this scary cover. A book that deserves more attention.

The synopsis on Amazon:

One summer night in 1955, a boy and his cousin plunge naked into the moonlit waters of a rural quarry. Only one of them emerges.
 
Just as he had promised he would on that fateful night two decades earlier, Miles Teagarden—now divorced and a struggling writer—returns to his family home in Arden, Wisconsin. But the landscape he once knew so well has turned eerie and threatening. In the small town, his erstwhile friends and rivals, even his blood relatives, view him with suspicion. Their paranoia seems justified when another beautiful blonde teenage girl goes missing—much as his cousin Alison did all those years ago. Miles feels a dark force is at work, gathering strength. As the anniversary of the tragic night approaches, he begins to fear that Alison will find a way to make their date . . .