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Pork Pie Hat
When a graduate student with a passion for jazz arrived in New York to discover that a legendary saxophonist he had assumed long dead is not only still alive but playing in an East Village club, he spends night after night in awe-struck attendance.And when the legend grants him an interview on Halloween, he jumps at the opportunity. What unfolds is an endless night filled with an extraordinary story told by a dying master: a story centered upon the Halloween night of his eleventh year, a white woman screaming in a shanty town, a killer and an unidentified man fleeing with a strange bundle in his arms.
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First published January 11, 2000
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About the author
Peter Straub
259 books4,201 followersPeter Straub was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Gordon Anthony Straub and Elvena (Nilsestuen) Straub.
Straub read voraciously from an early age, but his literary interests did not please his parents; his father hoped that he would grow up to be a professional athlete, while his mother wanted him to be a Lutheran minister. He attended Milwaukee Country Day School on a scholarship, and, during his time there, began writing.
Straub earned an honors BA in English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1965, and an MA at Columbia University a year later. He briefly taught English at Milwaukee Country Day, then moved to Dublin, Ireland, in 1969 to work on a PhD, and to start writing professionally
After mixed success with two attempts at literary mainstream novels in the mid-1970s ("Marriages" and "Under Venus"), Straub dabbled in the supernatural for the first time with "Julia" (1975). He then wrote "If You Could See Me Now" (1977), and came to widespread public attention with his fifth novel, "Ghost Story" (1979), which was a critical success and was later adapted into a 1981 film. Several horror novels followed, with growing success, including "The Talisman" and "Black House", two fantasy-horror collaborations with Straub's long-time friend and fellow author Stephen King.
In addition to his many novels, he published several works of poetry during his lifetime.
In 1966, Straub married Susan Bitker.They had two children; their daughter, Emma Straub, is also a novelist. The family lived in Dublin from 1969 to 1972, in London from 1972 to 1979, and in the New York City area from 1979 onwards.
Straub died on September 4, 2022, aged 79, from complications of a broken hip. At the time of his death, he and his wife lived in Brooklyn (New York City).
Straub read voraciously from an early age, but his literary interests did not please his parents; his father hoped that he would grow up to be a professional athlete, while his mother wanted him to be a Lutheran minister. He attended Milwaukee Country Day School on a scholarship, and, during his time there, began writing.
Straub earned an honors BA in English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1965, and an MA at Columbia University a year later. He briefly taught English at Milwaukee Country Day, then moved to Dublin, Ireland, in 1969 to work on a PhD, and to start writing professionally
After mixed success with two attempts at literary mainstream novels in the mid-1970s ("Marriages" and "Under Venus"), Straub dabbled in the supernatural for the first time with "Julia" (1975). He then wrote "If You Could See Me Now" (1977), and came to widespread public attention with his fifth novel, "Ghost Story" (1979), which was a critical success and was later adapted into a 1981 film. Several horror novels followed, with growing success, including "The Talisman" and "Black House", two fantasy-horror collaborations with Straub's long-time friend and fellow author Stephen King.
In addition to his many novels, he published several works of poetry during his lifetime.
In 1966, Straub married Susan Bitker.They had two children; their daughter, Emma Straub, is also a novelist. The family lived in Dublin from 1969 to 1972, in London from 1972 to 1979, and in the New York City area from 1979 onwards.
Straub died on September 4, 2022, aged 79, from complications of a broken hip. At the time of his death, he and his wife lived in Brooklyn (New York City).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 119 reviews
June 3, 2020
This novella, which I read in a single immersive setting, proved to be disarmingly compelling. A jazz-loving student comes across one of his idols, Pork Pie Hat performing at a local bar. The student takes the opportunity to interview the living legend and then goes along to share the creepy unsettling Halloween story that Pork Pie Hat told him. A story set in the deep South, a story of 2 boys looking for some real scares and finding a lot more. The novella works well, because even as you read the chiller tale, you know the original narrator is a very unreliable source and have to take everything with a pinch of salt. Nice read. 8 out of 12.
Read
September 10, 2022Great command of the prose and direction of the story. Great characters; dialogue…reading about music/jazz/musicians was just kinda dry for me. A little boring.
October 25, 2022
“Most people will tell you growing up means you stop believing in Halloween things — I’m telling you the reverse. You start to grow up when you understand that the stuff that scares you is part of the air you breathe.”
Halloween is the holiday dedicated to our fears. No matter how much we try to tame it, try to turn it into kid’s stuff with costumes and candy and carved pumpkins, it remains a day sacred to the Dark that terrorizes. This novella acknowledges that fact.
Pork Pie Hat puts us in the hotel room of a legendary old jazz man on Halloween. He never performs on that night, never leaves his room. As he sips his gin he tells of the Halloween of his 11th year, what he did and what he saw — a horror more real and terrible than the spooks and ghouls and vampires that we use as surrogates for our real monsters.
Halloween is the holiday dedicated to our fears. No matter how much we try to tame it, try to turn it into kid’s stuff with costumes and candy and carved pumpkins, it remains a day sacred to the Dark that terrorizes. This novella acknowledges that fact.
Pork Pie Hat puts us in the hotel room of a legendary old jazz man on Halloween. He never performs on that night, never leaves his room. As he sips his gin he tells of the Halloween of his 11th year, what he did and what he saw — a horror more real and terrible than the spooks and ghouls and vampires that we use as surrogates for our real monsters.
November 17, 2025
Going through my shelves and rereading books I can’t remember and revisiting this one was a disappointment. I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as my review from the first time indicated. Definitely going to put it aside to donate for someone else to enjoy!
October 18, 2022
Not sure how to rate this. Somewhere between a 4 and a 5. I expected this to be a straightforward supernatural Halloween story, it’s totally different from that. The less you know going into this, the better. A very good novella. May not be for everyone but I dug it quite a bit.
September 18, 2017
3.5 stars - an interesting little book that toys with the boundaries between perceived childish horror and real adult fears & prejudices
October 31, 2017
2.5 out of 5 stars
A pretty average enjoyable Halloween novella.
Just OK for me—it's not bad, but nothing about it really stood out or blew my mind.
A pretty average enjoyable Halloween novella.
Just OK for me—it's not bad, but nothing about it really stood out or blew my mind.
October 30, 2010
I had read this quite some time ago, though I couldn't tell you how. It might have been in Cemetery Dance Magazine—hell, it might have been an audio title. But I remember it.
Straub tells a story of a man who plays tenor sax like it's playing him, and drinks gin as casually as breathing air.
The voice for the story is a man who discovers Hat, this musician, and in looking into him discovers there isn't much out there about the man. So he sets out to interview Hat.
During the interview, he realizes that Hat functions on a higher level. He cleans up the interview (of all the Hat-isms, vernacular, and other colorful language) and it plays well in the leading publications with excerpts cited regularly.
But part of the interview never gets any play. It is Hat's own childhood Halloween story. One that has haunted him into adulthood.
That part of the interview is a story of childhood friendships, local history, perceptions and reality and how a man deals with the truth of a thing.
In the final pages, the story that has been told by the narrator is stood on end. Another layer is revealed which changes the things you thought you knew. This is Psych 101 with Hat as a case study.
Straub tells a story of a man who plays tenor sax like it's playing him, and drinks gin as casually as breathing air.
The voice for the story is a man who discovers Hat, this musician, and in looking into him discovers there isn't much out there about the man. So he sets out to interview Hat.
During the interview, he realizes that Hat functions on a higher level. He cleans up the interview (of all the Hat-isms, vernacular, and other colorful language) and it plays well in the leading publications with excerpts cited regularly.
But part of the interview never gets any play. It is Hat's own childhood Halloween story. One that has haunted him into adulthood.
That part of the interview is a story of childhood friendships, local history, perceptions and reality and how a man deals with the truth of a thing.
In the final pages, the story that has been told by the narrator is stood on end. Another layer is revealed which changes the things you thought you knew. This is Psych 101 with Hat as a case study.
July 4, 2017
I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong. It was just a LOT of exposition. Being broken up by actual conversation would have made it flow easier for me. The ending was fine. I drew some conclusions I think the author wanted me to. Just was kind so-so for me overall.
October 14, 2021
A college student interviews a black jazz musician and is told about his night of horror one Halloween when he was eleven years old. Well-written novella with interesting characters and a disturbing plot.
September 13, 2024
Pork Pie Hat, Peter Straub, 2000, 148 pages, ISBN 9781587672323
A good story. Not for children.
A good story. Not for children.
July 3, 2017
3,5 stars, rounded to 4
This book was a surprised. I received it in the June 2017 box of The Nocturnal Reader, which was Stephen King themed. Having no prior experience with Peter Straub's books, I thought I would perhaps enjoyed King's better since I was more familiar with his work and style. Turns out Pork Pie Hat was, in my humble opinion, the better of the two.
I started this book with the impression that it was going to be a ghost story. This story is indeed about ghosts, but of a different, much scarier kind. It's about the ghosts from the past, but also about systemic antiblackness and colorism which are still very much alive today. And so the book gave me shivers because the horrors it ponders, there's no doubt they actually happened to people differently named.
I hesitate to comment on the themes of the story. They are important, and I can't say I didn't like the story, but Peter Straub and I are both white (or so I assume). I understand that I must not be too eager to pat people on the back for writing stories of marginalized folks' sufferings. I'm sure this novella won't come accross as new or shocking to any Black reader out there, and perhaps it'll just feel a bit too bitter in the end. In fact, I'll say that while I was engrossed with the story and the character of Hat, perhaps presenting Hat's past as sort of a mystery to solve was not the best route. Once I got to the mystery part, I predicted what was happening. On top of that, our narrator doesn't seem to necessarily have learned anything. While antiblackness is presented as the horror element, it might feels a bit removed, a bit too safe for white readers because it is presented as something that happened in the past and no link seems to be made with the present. There's also something involving the main character's family that didn't completely sit right with me. Basically, white folks can afford to gasp in horror reading Pork Pie Hat while distancing themselves.
Otherwise, the writing is pretty good. It was easy to capture each scene in my mind. I also liked the integration of Jazz as something coming from Black people, as a great but often devalued outlet, and how people like Hat often fade from memory. I liked how things like surpersticiousness and ghost stories are depicted as a way to cope with greater horrors.
This book was a surprised. I received it in the June 2017 box of The Nocturnal Reader, which was Stephen King themed. Having no prior experience with Peter Straub's books, I thought I would perhaps enjoyed King's better since I was more familiar with his work and style. Turns out Pork Pie Hat was, in my humble opinion, the better of the two.
I started this book with the impression that it was going to be a ghost story. This story is indeed about ghosts, but of a different, much scarier kind. It's about the ghosts from the past, but also about systemic antiblackness and colorism which are still very much alive today. And so the book gave me shivers because the horrors it ponders, there's no doubt they actually happened to people differently named.
I hesitate to comment on the themes of the story. They are important, and I can't say I didn't like the story, but Peter Straub and I are both white (or so I assume). I understand that I must not be too eager to pat people on the back for writing stories of marginalized folks' sufferings. I'm sure this novella won't come accross as new or shocking to any Black reader out there, and perhaps it'll just feel a bit too bitter in the end. In fact, I'll say that while I was engrossed with the story and the character of Hat, perhaps presenting Hat's past as sort of a mystery to solve was not the best route. Once I got to the mystery part, I predicted what was happening. On top of that, our narrator doesn't seem to necessarily have learned anything. While antiblackness is presented as the horror element, it might feels a bit removed, a bit too safe for white readers because it is presented as something that happened in the past and no link seems to be made with the present. There's also something involving the main character's family that didn't completely sit right with me. Basically, white folks can afford to gasp in horror reading Pork Pie Hat while distancing themselves.
Otherwise, the writing is pretty good. It was easy to capture each scene in my mind. I also liked the integration of Jazz as something coming from Black people, as a great but often devalued outlet, and how people like Hat often fade from memory. I liked how things like surpersticiousness and ghost stories are depicted as a way to cope with greater horrors.
January 5, 2018
I got this book in my Nocturnal Readers Box. This book is very short at 148 pages. I’m on the fence on how to rate it. This book wasn’t offensive, so it can’t get a 2, but it was a pretty slow, mostly boring and not at all scary read. The writing wasn’t spectacular, but the story was slightly intriguing. I kept trying to figure out what Hat saw on Halloween. I’m giving this book 3 stars and a unhaul for keeping me interested enough to keep reading.
This book is written in first person and we never really meet our narrator. He is a young man in college when the story begins. He is obsessed with Jazz music and is highly fascinated by a Jazz musician by the name of Hat. He is usually seen with a Pork Pie Hat, always dressed nice and carrying his saxophone.
When our narrator was working on his Masters he learned that the Hat was still alive and was playing in town. He never missed a single set. Toward the end of Hats run in town, our narrator convinces Hat to allow him an interview. Hat agrees.
Our narrator comes well prepared with pads of paper and pens and many rolls of extra film for his recorder. Hats story of his last Halloween at age 11 begins.
That is the entire book. Did Hat tell the truth about his childhood? Why did he choose to tell that story? Why did it take so long for our narrator to fact check what he heard? Why did he not continue with school and become a jazz writer? There are things I want to know.
It was just okay. Do I recommend reading it? Not really. You won’t be missing out on anything.
This book is written in first person and we never really meet our narrator. He is a young man in college when the story begins. He is obsessed with Jazz music and is highly fascinated by a Jazz musician by the name of Hat. He is usually seen with a Pork Pie Hat, always dressed nice and carrying his saxophone.
When our narrator was working on his Masters he learned that the Hat was still alive and was playing in town. He never missed a single set. Toward the end of Hats run in town, our narrator convinces Hat to allow him an interview. Hat agrees.
Our narrator comes well prepared with pads of paper and pens and many rolls of extra film for his recorder. Hats story of his last Halloween at age 11 begins.
That is the entire book. Did Hat tell the truth about his childhood? Why did he choose to tell that story? Why did it take so long for our narrator to fact check what he heard? Why did he not continue with school and become a jazz writer? There are things I want to know.
It was just okay. Do I recommend reading it? Not really. You won’t be missing out on anything.
July 2, 2020
An eerily simply written novel about a jazz musician's mysterious past that is gripping and fascinating. The simple almost journalistic style somehow heightened the chilling nature of the story but also served to rivet one's attention - it's a real hair-raising page-turner, as, simply put, the reader wants to find out what happens next, what new insights will be revealed.
I especially enjoyed the portrayal of and references to life in NY in around the 50s or 60s. I could see what he was writing about instantly.
I recommend this book to anyone looking for an excellent scary story - it's very well-written and probably could be read in a day by most readers. You will still be turning over aspects of the plot afterwards -- going back to review clues dropped in passing and so forth. It is that interesting.
Here are a few quotes:
"From Sheridan Square radiated out an unimaginable wealth... of cafes, bars, restaurants, record shops, bookstores, and jazz clubs."
"...after my seminar the next day, I went down to Sam Goody's and bought five of Hat's records, all I could afford."
"Now that I am the age he was then, I see that most of what is called information is interpretation, and interpretation is always partial."
"Hat left school in the fourth grade, and his language, though precise, was casual. To add to these difficulties, Hat employed a private language of his own, a code to ensure that he could be understood only by the people he wished to understand him."
"...these days, I'm as interested in classical music as in jazz."
I especially enjoyed the portrayal of and references to life in NY in around the 50s or 60s. I could see what he was writing about instantly.
I recommend this book to anyone looking for an excellent scary story - it's very well-written and probably could be read in a day by most readers. You will still be turning over aspects of the plot afterwards -- going back to review clues dropped in passing and so forth. It is that interesting.
Here are a few quotes:
"From Sheridan Square radiated out an unimaginable wealth... of cafes, bars, restaurants, record shops, bookstores, and jazz clubs."
"...after my seminar the next day, I went down to Sam Goody's and bought five of Hat's records, all I could afford."
"Now that I am the age he was then, I see that most of what is called information is interpretation, and interpretation is always partial."
"Hat left school in the fourth grade, and his language, though precise, was casual. To add to these difficulties, Hat employed a private language of his own, a code to ensure that he could be understood only by the people he wished to understand him."
"...these days, I'm as interested in classical music as in jazz."
July 13, 2017
Received this is my Nocturnal Readers Box this month and my, isn't it a pretty hardback? It's got nice black and white drawings on some pages and it's got musical borders round the edge of each page. Thumbs up on the presentation, Cemetary Dance.
This was a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. It's not got huge amounts to do with Jazz. Which in my eyes is a good thing. I absolutely love music, it's probably the other thing I do when I'm not reading or exacerbating my drinking problem, but I dislike stories focused around music. Dunno why, just doesn't appeal to me. I put off reading Stephen King's Revival for ages because I thought it was about music, and absolutely loved it when it turned out to be about 10-15% of the story.
I've shaved a star off and maybe would shave another half star off because it's got a bit of an ambiguous ending and a few unanswered questions (by design) that again, I don't really go for.
There are many short books I wish were longer. This is not one of them. That's not a dig, it's genuinely the perfect length for the story it tells.
You could do a lot worse than to waste a couple of hours with this. If it's at all indicative of the rest of Straub's work, I'll be sure to pick some more up sharpish.
Free point fife stahz
This was a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. It's not got huge amounts to do with Jazz. Which in my eyes is a good thing. I absolutely love music, it's probably the other thing I do when I'm not reading or exacerbating my drinking problem, but I dislike stories focused around music. Dunno why, just doesn't appeal to me. I put off reading Stephen King's Revival for ages because I thought it was about music, and absolutely loved it when it turned out to be about 10-15% of the story.
I've shaved a star off and maybe would shave another half star off because it's got a bit of an ambiguous ending and a few unanswered questions (by design) that again, I don't really go for.
There are many short books I wish were longer. This is not one of them. That's not a dig, it's genuinely the perfect length for the story it tells.
You could do a lot worse than to waste a couple of hours with this. If it's at all indicative of the rest of Straub's work, I'll be sure to pick some more up sharpish.
Free point fife stahz
July 26, 2008
This is a wonderfully dark novella. A college student in NYC interviews an ageing jazz veteran, Hat, who relates a thrilling and horrifying story from his childhood in a black community in Mississippi in the early 20th century. This recollection alone is gripping enough, but the final few pages of the book, wherein the narrator uncovers certain lacunae in Hat’s story that force you to reexamine everything you have read, imbues his recollection with new and frightening layers of meaning.
But, hair-raising qualities aside, the real reason to read this novella is the grim, awesome character Straub creates in Hat, a man who, the narrator warns us early on, functions on a far higher level.
But, hair-raising qualities aside, the real reason to read this novella is the grim, awesome character Straub creates in Hat, a man who, the narrator warns us early on, functions on a far higher level.
November 27, 2015
A very simple story that might have been too slow in another writer's hands. The narrator meets a jazz musician of uncommon talent and persuades him to do an interview. In that interview, the musician, known as "Pork Pie Hat," reveals a horrific experience that he had when he was eleven. Further investigation turns up that some of Hat's story was true, but not all, and what was left out is probably more horrific than what was revealed.
I read this pretty much in one sitting. It's a short novella but I'll give it high marks.
I read this pretty much in one sitting. It's a short novella but I'll give it high marks.
March 29, 2013
This is the first Straub I've read. Picked it out on a whim, thought it would be more connected to jazz. Goodbye, Pork Pie Hat is such a beautiful wistful and melancholy tune. I'm not sure if Straub wanted to catch the mood of that Mingus tune with this book. If so, I am only halfway convinced he did. Certainly not in writing style. Perhaps in story line.
After hearing Hat, a jazz saxophonist, play in a small NY club, the narrator can find little written record about him and sets out to interview and write about his life. But Hat is an elusive character who never reveals much about himself, and even then only elements of the truth.
One long story that the narrator chooses to omit from his writings concerns Halloween night in a small southern town when Hat was eleven. This is a story that could tramuatize any eleven-year-old. I won't retell it here, it wasn't scary, but it was compelling. In the end, it reveals more than what Hat likely intended to tell. It was an interesting ending.
Well enough written novella, good autumn afternoon read, if you're in the mood for a modern southern tale.
After hearing Hat, a jazz saxophonist, play in a small NY club, the narrator can find little written record about him and sets out to interview and write about his life. But Hat is an elusive character who never reveals much about himself, and even then only elements of the truth.
One long story that the narrator chooses to omit from his writings concerns Halloween night in a small southern town when Hat was eleven. This is a story that could tramuatize any eleven-year-old. I won't retell it here, it wasn't scary, but it was compelling. In the end, it reveals more than what Hat likely intended to tell. It was an interesting ending.
Well enough written novella, good autumn afternoon read, if you're in the mood for a modern southern tale.
September 13, 2022
Porkpie Hat (1994) is one of the most accomplished pieces of fiction produced by a U.S. horror writer in the 1990s. It approaches both historical and family trauma (and failed recovery therefrom) with bold and challenging choices of point of view.
Straub has always been accomplished at defamiliarization, distancing and estranging both his protagonists and his readers. His books, with knotty crimes at their core, set many traps to thwart readers. Solving "the case" through analysis of subjective impressions and recollections (as well as subjective recollections of skewed and partial impressions) can become discoraging in a story of typical Straubian length, say 600 to 700 pages.
But not so with "Porkpie Hat," a modest novella of under 100 pages, with no words wasted.
The character Hat, interviewed by the narrator, has a profound self-interest in telling his story wrong: to keep shielding himself from its full implications after half a century.
Straub has always been accomplished at defamiliarization, distancing and estranging both his protagonists and his readers. His books, with knotty crimes at their core, set many traps to thwart readers. Solving "the case" through analysis of subjective impressions and recollections (as well as subjective recollections of skewed and partial impressions) can become discoraging in a story of typical Straubian length, say 600 to 700 pages.
But not so with "Porkpie Hat," a modest novella of under 100 pages, with no words wasted.
The character Hat, interviewed by the narrator, has a profound self-interest in telling his story wrong: to keep shielding himself from its full implications after half a century.
January 28, 2018
Just three stars for me. But I am contemplating a reread for Halloween (the main “incident” happens on Halloween and it has great spooky ambience). It’s also nice and short with an ambiguous ending ... but the ending now makes me want to go back and read it again with an idea of what I think really happened. What Hat really saw/witnessed. I may like this and give more stars on a second read. TBD.
September 12, 2023
I read this novella within a collection - October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween. I feel compelled to review it separately. Suspenseful and twisting, and writing that pulls the reader deeply into the story. This one will stay with me, and I’m sure that I’ll read it again.
February 22, 2015
I've never been disappointed by anything of Peter Straub's, and this is no exception. A great little read.
April 6, 2024
A quick read and quite scary at times.
After a Jazz Saxophone legend dies, a man publishes an interview with that legend but omits one story that was part of it.
This book is that story told by Straub with the master style he's known for.
After a Jazz Saxophone legend dies, a man publishes an interview with that legend but omits one story that was part of it.
This book is that story told by Straub with the master style he's known for.
October 7, 2017
This was my first time reading anything by Peter Straub and wow! I’m creeped out and I can’t get this story out of my head. Perfect short story to read for Halloween.
September 5, 2018
Ugh, this book was so bland. Despite being only 148 pages, it was a struggle to get through. I don't know exactly what it is about this story that I didn't care for. Just not my cup of tea I guess.
December 14, 2019
Spooky little novella, very fun to read.
June 14, 2020
Total sucker for Halloween stories! Gripping and page turning! Very well done.
February 3, 2022
I was misled into thinking this would be a short-story collection but it's a delightnovella ella. Don't miss it. It's a wonderful character study, a wonderful little mystery, beautifully written and generally worth owning in hardcover.
October 23, 2022
New book review up!
In this episode, Connie and I review Peter Straub's underrated Halloween classic, Pork Pie Hat!
https://youtu.be/ItyHpqGzXzA
In this episode, Connie and I review Peter Straub's underrated Halloween classic, Pork Pie Hat!
https://youtu.be/ItyHpqGzXzA
Displaying 1 - 30 of 119 reviews