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'If you forget, I'll come after you. If you forget God help you.' Alison warned him twenty years ago. Before the endless days and nights of fear came to Arden, Wisconsin, twenty years ago to the day. Now Miles has returned, but the townspeople have not forgotten what happened when the two lovers swore their oath, nor has Miles forgotten.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1977
106 people are currently reading
1887 people want to read
About the author
Peter Straub
258 books4,198 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 155 reviews
August 27, 2022
"Evil is what we call the force we can discover when we send our minds as far as they can go: when the mind crumbles before something bigger, harder than itself, unknowable and hostile."
Initial Thoughts
If You Could See Me Now is one of the early works from one of the true masters of horror fiction, Peter Straub, that I hadn't heard a lot about. Unlike his first venture into the world of the supernatural in Julia, his next book is certainly not as well known. The lack of movie adaptation for that.
Straub is really well known for his work with his good friend Stephen King, but after reading a number of his solo books he's become one of my favourite authors, particularly in the horror genre. His style is very different, especially when compared to the extreme horror that seems to be flooding the market. He adopts a more literary approach focusing on atmosphere and tone as he carefully works away at the readers psyche with careful incisions as oppose to smashing them over the head with a sledgehammer. It's something I've really begun to appreciate. Needless to say I had pretty high expectations going into this one.
The Story
A big theme with Peter Straub, certainly in the novels I've read, is how the past impacts on the present. Particularly events of a sinister and horrific variety. If You Could See Me Now is no exception. We begin with an idyllic memory from our protagonist's past. Miles Teargarden fondly recalls skinny dipping with the object of his childhood obsession, Allison Greening, although the recollection is somewhat hazy and there is an undercurrent of something not being quite right. A pact made is made between the pair to meet back up in their hometown as adults , with Miles hoping for another round of naked swimming, on a fast approaching date. This gives us the basic set up for the story. But as always with Straub there is always far more lurking beneath the surface than what appears.
From Miles' arrival in Arden, Wisconsin, something is immediately off. He is out of place with the picturesque rural setting and is met with mild hostility from the locals that builds throughout the course of the story. The presence of a serial killer steadily working their way through the youth of the town certainly doesn't help matters. Not with our boy Miles being the prime suspect. With the date of his meeting with the enigmatic Alison slowly approaching we have a ticking time-bomb as things keep getting stranger.
"Malevolence surrounded me. Not just nature’s famous Darwinian indifference, but active actual hostility. It was the most primitive apprehension of evil I had ever known. I was a fragile human life on the verge of being crushed by immense forces, by forces of huge and impersonal evil."
The Writing
If Straub's writing were a woman, it would be Megan Fox. I mean I'm absolutely in love with it. It's so detailed and layered as he weaves a tantalising story and slowly builds the tension and suspense all the way to a satisfying conclusion. But this book is like Megan Fox in the early years, maybe with a set of braces on her pearly whites, showing a lot of promise but still a work in progress. Don't get me wrong. The writing is very, very good. But Straub still hasn't established that trademark voice we see in full effect when he released the amazingGhost Story.
Some might find the pacing a little slow. But trust me, you've just got to accept that with Straub as he is building something that takes time and effort that's subtle but certainly worth the wait. And once things got started in the second part I was fully immersed in the mystery and itching to find out what the hell was going on.
"everything has to go smash before it can get better, there has to be total chaos before there can be total freedom, there has to be murder before there can be true life."
The Characters
Characters, the heart of any good story. Straub has a talent for developing different but realistic characters and throwing them into unique situations that usually chew them up and spit them back out. He's not quite on Stephen King level, but I have absolutely no problem getting invested in his characters and their plights.
I felt Miles Teargarden was a character who embodied Straub's own personality and traits. A teacher who was an aspiring author, it felt like Straub was writing himself into the narrative. Despite not being immediately likeable he was fascinating nonetheless and presents the reader with an unreliable narrator that adds to the mystery and tension. Right from the start it's made clear this guy has issues when he admits to having hallucinations of smells that aren't actually there and has gaps in his memory.
The remaining characters provide a stark contrast to Miles as he struggles to interact with them and faces outright hostility from his cousin Duane. He does not struggle to interact with his cousin's young daughter Alison Updahl but that gets extremely weird with the introduction of her peculiar boyfriend Zack. On reflection, there is some really strong character work from the Straubmeister here.
Final Thoughts
I'll finish things off by saying that this is a solid book that I really enjoyed. Particularly considering it was Straub's second foray in the supernatural genre. Is it as accomplished as Ghost Story or Koko, which came later in his career? Absolutely not. But this was an author just getting into the swing of things. I recognised a lot of aspects with regard to the narrative structure that would serve him well in later novels.
Straub effectively tackles how the mysteries of the past eventually reveal themselves in the present and how secrets that are locked away begin to distort and alter memories. There's also a good amount of foreshadowing thrown in that this author can do better than anyone else. Sorry to draw reference to Stephen King again (he is my favourite author) but I sometimes criticise him for blatantly telling the reader stuff, whereas Straub seeds subtle elements in that at first appear unrelated but at the conclusion come together perfectly. I really should have covered this in the writing section! See I really can't stop talking about the guys writing.
My only criticism is that the end could have been a little more in-depth. The build up is quite slow and then all of a sudden it gets a bit messy when we get a pretty wild finale. It's not like Straub to rush things. But I felt he did a little bit here.
Still, overall a really enjoyable read and one I would definitely recommend. Would I start out with this novel if reading Straub for the first time? I actually wouldn't have a problem if you did. It's not as heavy as his standout books (Ghost Story/Koko/The Throat), and gives you a real taste of what this guy's about. Plus it always nice to start somewhere near the beginning. So stop reading reviews and start reading Peter Straub! Thank me for it later.
Thanks for reading. Cheers!
October 10, 2021
”The Midwest is the place for ghosts, I realized, the truest place for them; they could throng up these wide empty Main Streets and populate the fields. I could almost feel them around me.”
If You Could See Me Now is Peter Straub’s second foray into the horror world. At the time of its writing, he was still a mostly unknown author, with Ghost Story still a couple years off. However, despite being an early effort, Straub’s writing feels polished and confident, as good as ever. Many of the hallmarks of what makes a Peter Straub book are here: elegant prose, themes of loss, with the heart of the book centered on an unhealed wound from the past. This is part gothic-esque ghost story, part murder mystery, part meditation on loss, and an examination of obsession. It’s entertaining and very readable, though not without flaws.
Miles Teagarden is a professor of English Literature in New York, who travels back to his hometown of Arden, Wisconsin, ostensibly to write a book on the work of DH Lawrence, but his real reason for the journey lies twenty years in the past. Miles had made a pact with his one true love, Alison Greening, that they would both return to this place, a rock quarry, exactly twenty years in the future. His return trip is less than pleasant; he is not remembered fondly by the community, and is given a frosty hello by just about all of the locals. And to make it all worse, some young girls are turning up mutilated and dead in his wake. Miles is also haunted by visions of Alison along the way, and the line between what is real and what isn’t becomes blurred.
”If there is another world, a world of spirit, who is to say that its touch may shake us to our boots, that its heat may not come to us as the cold of quarry water?”
First off, the writing here is wonderful. This is always the case with Straub, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how well developed his writing was in the early days of his career. The imagery is wonderful, dark and sometimes creepy. I really enjoyed seeing Miles navigate his old community, despite how he’s being treated. The local-yokel vibes are heavy here, and I found that to be entertaining. But are they justified? Questions will be answered. Miles comes off initially as a pretty unlikable and unsympathetic character, which can be a problem. We have a first person narrative for most of the book, so we are forced to spend virtually all of our time in Miles’s head, so if you need to have a likable main character, there may be some disappointment for you. However, if you stick with it, the character of Miles does evolve.
The book builds wonderfully as the past and present converge. Miles’s obsession with Alison becomes more and more clear as we build towards the climax. While I feel the end worked, it did leave me with a few questions. After a perfectly paced build, the end came and went very quickly, and even felt a tad rushed. I only wish Straub had taken the time and care with the end that he had taken with literally the rest of the novel. Other than that, I have very few complaints. The book had some very good interludes involving interviews with some of the characters that surrounded Miles that I really enjoyed.
I think this book will satisfy fans of multiple genres; horror fans as well as crime readers. It isn’t a perfect novel, but Straub was coming dangerously close to perfecting his formula for horror, and I believe he would all but achieve that with his next novel, Ghost Story.
A worthwhile read for sure.
If You Could See Me Now is Peter Straub’s second foray into the horror world. At the time of its writing, he was still a mostly unknown author, with Ghost Story still a couple years off. However, despite being an early effort, Straub’s writing feels polished and confident, as good as ever. Many of the hallmarks of what makes a Peter Straub book are here: elegant prose, themes of loss, with the heart of the book centered on an unhealed wound from the past. This is part gothic-esque ghost story, part murder mystery, part meditation on loss, and an examination of obsession. It’s entertaining and very readable, though not without flaws.
Miles Teagarden is a professor of English Literature in New York, who travels back to his hometown of Arden, Wisconsin, ostensibly to write a book on the work of DH Lawrence, but his real reason for the journey lies twenty years in the past. Miles had made a pact with his one true love, Alison Greening, that they would both return to this place, a rock quarry, exactly twenty years in the future. His return trip is less than pleasant; he is not remembered fondly by the community, and is given a frosty hello by just about all of the locals. And to make it all worse, some young girls are turning up mutilated and dead in his wake. Miles is also haunted by visions of Alison along the way, and the line between what is real and what isn’t becomes blurred.
”If there is another world, a world of spirit, who is to say that its touch may shake us to our boots, that its heat may not come to us as the cold of quarry water?”
First off, the writing here is wonderful. This is always the case with Straub, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how well developed his writing was in the early days of his career. The imagery is wonderful, dark and sometimes creepy. I really enjoyed seeing Miles navigate his old community, despite how he’s being treated. The local-yokel vibes are heavy here, and I found that to be entertaining. But are they justified? Questions will be answered. Miles comes off initially as a pretty unlikable and unsympathetic character, which can be a problem. We have a first person narrative for most of the book, so we are forced to spend virtually all of our time in Miles’s head, so if you need to have a likable main character, there may be some disappointment for you. However, if you stick with it, the character of Miles does evolve.
The book builds wonderfully as the past and present converge. Miles’s obsession with Alison becomes more and more clear as we build towards the climax. While I feel the end worked, it did leave me with a few questions. After a perfectly paced build, the end came and went very quickly, and even felt a tad rushed. I only wish Straub had taken the time and care with the end that he had taken with literally the rest of the novel. Other than that, I have very few complaints. The book had some very good interludes involving interviews with some of the characters that surrounded Miles that I really enjoyed.
I think this book will satisfy fans of multiple genres; horror fans as well as crime readers. It isn’t a perfect novel, but Straub was coming dangerously close to perfecting his formula for horror, and I believe he would all but achieve that with his next novel, Ghost Story.
A worthwhile read for sure.
October 24, 2011
This is quite an improvement from Julia, which was Straub's first novel of the supernatural. For my taste, Julia relied too much on gothic tropes and was uncannily similar to Rosemary's Baby to truly stand own on its own merit. In If You Could See Me Now Straub has improved his style and found a voice of his own, with which he estabilishes atmosphere of subtle dread and a creepy, eerie mood.
At heart, it's a simple tale. At the age of 13, Miles Teagarden made a pact with his cousin, Alison Greening. They promised each other to meet again in 20 years, in the same place. The promised twenty years have passed, and Miles escaped his crumbling life and returns to the small rural town of Arden, Wisconsin, only to find that he is not at all welcome by its inhabitants, and that something is very, very wrong...
To say more would spoil the plot. The small town setting works splendidly; characters are deftly drawn, easily identifiable and memorable. Fear is subtle and builds slowly, but steadily; the only thing that doesn't fully work are the police procedurals, a trope which Straub will adopt in his later works, such as The Hellfire Club and his Blue Rose Trilogy. If it was up to me, I'd slim them down and focus on the drama of the townsfolk; but for whatever might bore the reader and slow the novel down, Straub more than makes up in the cloncluding sequences, which are beautifully written, dramatic and tense, and leave the reader with a sense of satisfaction. Straub provides enough twists and turns to maintain the suspense and mounts the emotions and terror accordingly; If You Could See Me Now is a novel worth finishing.
At heart, it's a simple tale. At the age of 13, Miles Teagarden made a pact with his cousin, Alison Greening. They promised each other to meet again in 20 years, in the same place. The promised twenty years have passed, and Miles escaped his crumbling life and returns to the small rural town of Arden, Wisconsin, only to find that he is not at all welcome by its inhabitants, and that something is very, very wrong...
To say more would spoil the plot. The small town setting works splendidly; characters are deftly drawn, easily identifiable and memorable. Fear is subtle and builds slowly, but steadily; the only thing that doesn't fully work are the police procedurals, a trope which Straub will adopt in his later works, such as The Hellfire Club and his Blue Rose Trilogy. If it was up to me, I'd slim them down and focus on the drama of the townsfolk; but for whatever might bore the reader and slow the novel down, Straub more than makes up in the cloncluding sequences, which are beautifully written, dramatic and tense, and leave the reader with a sense of satisfaction. Straub provides enough twists and turns to maintain the suspense and mounts the emotions and terror accordingly; If You Could See Me Now is a novel worth finishing.
February 2, 2016
Good, very good, dangerously close to great. This was by far the best Straub book I've read. For some reason when a lot of the popular genre authors started out back in the 70s, they had the ability to tell a coherent compelling story in 300 to 400 pages easily. With years came verbosity, which isn't always welcome, at least for me. I appreciate concision and compactness, I think it may even take a greater skill to execute. Anyway...back to the book. Originally written in 1977 (the nice trade paperback edition I read reissued recently) this is a notably undated story about a haunting, structured so cleverly that not until the very end will you know if this is psychological or physical in nature. It's also a murder mystery, a thriller, a love story/a tale of obsession and a family drama, all to a various degree. Exceptionally well written, this was an absolutely riveting read, even in spite of the minor detractors. Such as...the main character, Miles, isn't particularly likeable and somewhat too incestuous for one's liking at that. The local yokel theme was laid on a tad too thickly at times, although the small town mentality was most likely an accurate representation and a timeless one at that, the classic case study on an ingroup bias, the narrow minded distrust of anyone/thing different, the burning hatred of any sort of demonstrable intelligence/education and urban residents in general, etc. The dynamics are fairly stereotypical, but here rendered so well that they perfectly convey the claustrophobic disquieting gloomy atmosphere. Had this been a movie, the ideal tag line would read You can't go home again. Literally. But Miles is going home, because the date he's set twenty years ago with the love of his life (his cousin, see...incestuous) is coming up and the fact that she's been dead all this time will stop neither of them. Absolutely riveting read, the suspense is taut and maintained throughout, the descriptions are vivid and expressive, this one is tough to put down and easy to recommend. Very entertaining read.
June 18, 2019
This was a reread, but it might as well have been a first read for all I discovered this time around.
I feel like I said something similar when reviewing Peter Straub’s previous novel, Julia, another book that took maturation on my part to fully “get”.
If You Could See Me Now is an improvement on all that made Julia so fine. It’s a horror novel of the quiet sort, dealing in gothic ideas and places. And like Julia, it’s about the past’s impact on the present, and the ghosts—literal and figurative—that haunt.
I really can’t find anything I disliked about this story. It’s Peter Straub, after all, and even before Ghost Story he was writing high-class literary horror.
I feel like I said something similar when reviewing Peter Straub’s previous novel, Julia, another book that took maturation on my part to fully “get”.
If You Could See Me Now is an improvement on all that made Julia so fine. It’s a horror novel of the quiet sort, dealing in gothic ideas and places. And like Julia, it’s about the past’s impact on the present, and the ghosts—literal and figurative—that haunt.
I really can’t find anything I disliked about this story. It’s Peter Straub, after all, and even before Ghost Story he was writing high-class literary horror.
September 16, 2022
Absolutely loved this! Couldn’t stop reading. Hope to have a full review up soon. Till then—my highest recommendations!
February 16, 2025
At the start I loved Straub’s writing and found the story intriguing. I felt I was potentially reading a slightly unreliable narrative (aren’t those the best). The main character makes mention of being referred to as trouble and a liar yet comes across as relatively put together; writing his dissertation. This was the hook that grabbed me. However, it petered out-pardon the pun. Not enough was happening. Not enough happened for slightly too long and I just lost interesting.
September 25, 2015
A pleasure, as always. Straub's stories never fail to be psychologically intricate, tense, disquieting, and yet satisfying at the same time.
April 16, 2011
Picked up a 30-year-old paperback copy of this ghost story at a library used-book sale and read most of it during a three-day trip to Los Angeles. It’s that kind of book. Straub managed huge sales and a movie adaptation with his next novel, “Ghost Story,” but he must have improved as a writer by then, as “If You Could See Me” suffers from stereotyped characters, mangled metaphysics and prose varying from choppy to purple. The Wisconsin setting initially intrigued me because I once lived in Madison, but Straub's treatment of the state degenerates into hackneyed ridicule of small-town attitudes.
February 21, 2018
I struggled with character motivation through the whole thing. Everyone seems kind of nuts, but no one is satisfying as a madman. Everyone seems pretty bad, but no one is satisfying as a bad guy.
May 30, 2014
This was very difficult to get through. From the moment I started reading it, I found it akin to walking through mud. Very thick, sticky mud. With heavy shoes and thick socks, all covered and stinking with mud. Not a pleasant experience. My problem isn't so much with the *way* it is written - Peter Straub is actually quite a good writer, in terms of style. He does know something about *putting* a story together - it is just the actual plot of the story itself, and the characters that I couldn't handle. The animosity the local town folk have for the main character grated on me all the way through. His pompous arrogant attitude towards them grated on me even more. The cave-man attitude towards rape floored me.
I'm giving the book two stars, simply for the fact that Straub really isn't a bad writer, but perhaps books in this kind of genre aren't something that I will be seeking to read again. Which is a shame, as I used to love Stephen King novels as a high school kid. Maybe I just outgrew the supernatural, or it simply outgrew me.
I'm giving the book two stars, simply for the fact that Straub really isn't a bad writer, but perhaps books in this kind of genre aren't something that I will be seeking to read again. Which is a shame, as I used to love Stephen King novels as a high school kid. Maybe I just outgrew the supernatural, or it simply outgrew me.
October 4, 2022
An early Straub, but still packed full of his later sensibilities. This one's a slow, sometimes very slow, burn, another in his examinations of broken men trying to find a way to a semblance of reality but prevented from doing so by a sense of spiritual unease.
Its a nasty story in many ways, a tale of the brutal legacy of a decades old rape and murder and its effect on the community when more murders start to be committed. The protagonist isn't really likeable, and neither are most of the other main characters, but it builds, boy does it build, and the final scenes are brilliantly imagined with some of Straub's most powerful writing.
He would go on to bigger things with Ghost Story and Shadowland soon after, but this early work shows he was already a force to be reckoned with in the genre. Top notch stuff.
Its a nasty story in many ways, a tale of the brutal legacy of a decades old rape and murder and its effect on the community when more murders start to be committed. The protagonist isn't really likeable, and neither are most of the other main characters, but it builds, boy does it build, and the final scenes are brilliantly imagined with some of Straub's most powerful writing.
He would go on to bigger things with Ghost Story and Shadowland soon after, but this early work shows he was already a force to be reckoned with in the genre. Top notch stuff.
August 30, 2021
This is dark. Nearly got impatient on when this would transform into a supernatural/paranormal.
Chapter breaks would do wonders on that last leg there.
Chapter breaks would do wonders on that last leg there.
February 22, 2021
I quite enjoyed this dark little read. ‘If You Could See Me Now’ was the 2nd horror/supernatural fiction Straub wrote (Julia being the first) and although both Julia & IYCSMN share a gothic vein with malicious female spirits, this novel shows a clear improvement and development in his writing whereas Julia struck me as too inconsistent and at times clumsily written. Reading both for comparison’s sake was interesting and you can easily see what a great author Straub was to become.
A short summary of the novel: Miles returns to a farming valley where he spent his childhood summers too write his dissertation (or so we’re told) but finds that his return reawakens the darker memories of his past where he was suspected of having drowned his cousin Alison (they were attacked while skinny dipping). Before she passed away, they made an oath to meet again in 20 years, and that day is just around the corner. The town is not a friendly one, as it is in the midst of a string of murder/rape of its teenage girls, & Miles, who has a dark past immediately falls under suspicion. Chock full of dark secrets, tension, town mob mentality, gray characters and dysfunctional family dynamics, this read ended up flying by for me. Absolutely worth a read if you haven’t picked this up before.
A short summary of the novel: Miles returns to a farming valley where he spent his childhood summers too write his dissertation (or so we’re told) but finds that his return reawakens the darker memories of his past where he was suspected of having drowned his cousin Alison (they were attacked while skinny dipping). Before she passed away, they made an oath to meet again in 20 years, and that day is just around the corner. The town is not a friendly one, as it is in the midst of a string of murder/rape of its teenage girls, & Miles, who has a dark past immediately falls under suspicion. Chock full of dark secrets, tension, town mob mentality, gray characters and dysfunctional family dynamics, this read ended up flying by for me. Absolutely worth a read if you haven’t picked this up before.
May 29, 2015
Hey, if they’ll publish it more than once, it’s gotta be good, right? This 1977 book was just re-released and I was sufficiently intrigued by the premise, Mr. King’s quote, and the wildly variant reviews on Goodreads to give it a try.
First, I’d like to take a look at the re-designed cover. Not that this has any bearing on the content of the book itself, but I do think it’s interesting to see how changing audiences and reception of certain genres affects the way a book looks. Cuz I definitely judge books by their covers—ain’t nobody got time to read the synopses of EVERYTHING that’s coming out—and designers know their audience. If you like (or dislike) a certain kind of book, it can become easy to instantly form an opinion about a book based on its design elements. I don’t think I’d be wrong to say that the colors, typefaces, images, and design are definitely influential in your snap decision on whether to pick up this book or that book in the store.
It’s definitely more modern, with a cool, dark green background and that mysterious girl facing away from us in some body of water. It’s got that large, elongated, sans-serif font that identifies it at once as a thriller. Most of the other older editions have all-type treatments, or something close to it, but those all feel a lot more masculine to me. Besides the first edition cover(s if you’re including the technically-more-first British edition) which are just too 70s for me to understand who they are trying to be marketed to, there is the mass market which ties to the Ghost Story mass (and a couple other Straub books too, I think), and then there is a reprint from 2000, which has a very manly cover that is dark and blunt and red. Especially when compared side by side, the 2015 cover really feels geared towards women who enjoy reading thriller/mystery books. And hey, in today’s market, that is definitely the audience that will be interested in this book.
I actually enjoyed this more than the other Straub books I’ve read. Weirdly, although this is one of his older books and the bulk of the book is set in the mid-1950s, it felt very modern, as though it could be set in a small Midwestern town in 2015. The one detail that threw me was that main character Miles had to hire an older lady to come cook and clean for him every day—that is a very 50s detail.
This book really sits deep in the wedge of the uncanny. I spent a lot of the book trying to decide whether or not something supernatural was occurring; Miles is certainly a case study for unreliable narrators. I couldn’t quite trust him throughout the book because his memories were so different from everyone else’s and he definitely goes a bit crazy about the past, but Straub navigates that uncertainty well. It was sort of like seeing the whole story through one of those funhouse mirrors. You are seeing everything that is there, it just might be distorted and unrecognizable depending on where it is in the mirror. You have to move around to remind yourself what your body is supposed to look like.
The writing also feels more raw and untamed than Straub’s later works. It may not be as polished, but I think there is a truthfulness to the uneven quality of the writing and there are many truly beautiful passages and lines throughout. I enjoyed it, and it really feels like a book that could have a good sized audience this time around.
First, I’d like to take a look at the re-designed cover. Not that this has any bearing on the content of the book itself, but I do think it’s interesting to see how changing audiences and reception of certain genres affects the way a book looks. Cuz I definitely judge books by their covers—ain’t nobody got time to read the synopses of EVERYTHING that’s coming out—and designers know their audience. If you like (or dislike) a certain kind of book, it can become easy to instantly form an opinion about a book based on its design elements. I don’t think I’d be wrong to say that the colors, typefaces, images, and design are definitely influential in your snap decision on whether to pick up this book or that book in the store.
It’s definitely more modern, with a cool, dark green background and that mysterious girl facing away from us in some body of water. It’s got that large, elongated, sans-serif font that identifies it at once as a thriller. Most of the other older editions have all-type treatments, or something close to it, but those all feel a lot more masculine to me. Besides the first edition cover(s if you’re including the technically-more-first British edition) which are just too 70s for me to understand who they are trying to be marketed to, there is the mass market which ties to the Ghost Story mass (and a couple other Straub books too, I think), and then there is a reprint from 2000, which has a very manly cover that is dark and blunt and red. Especially when compared side by side, the 2015 cover really feels geared towards women who enjoy reading thriller/mystery books. And hey, in today’s market, that is definitely the audience that will be interested in this book.
I actually enjoyed this more than the other Straub books I’ve read. Weirdly, although this is one of his older books and the bulk of the book is set in the mid-1950s, it felt very modern, as though it could be set in a small Midwestern town in 2015. The one detail that threw me was that main character Miles had to hire an older lady to come cook and clean for him every day—that is a very 50s detail.
This book really sits deep in the wedge of the uncanny. I spent a lot of the book trying to decide whether or not something supernatural was occurring; Miles is certainly a case study for unreliable narrators. I couldn’t quite trust him throughout the book because his memories were so different from everyone else’s and he definitely goes a bit crazy about the past, but Straub navigates that uncertainty well. It was sort of like seeing the whole story through one of those funhouse mirrors. You are seeing everything that is there, it just might be distorted and unrecognizable depending on where it is in the mirror. You have to move around to remind yourself what your body is supposed to look like.
The writing also feels more raw and untamed than Straub’s later works. It may not be as polished, but I think there is a truthfulness to the uneven quality of the writing and there are many truly beautiful passages and lines throughout. I enjoyed it, and it really feels like a book that could have a good sized audience this time around.
October 31, 2014
Peter Straub's second foray into the horror genre, and i find it odd that I haven't read it, being such a big fan of his stuff when I was a teenager. Nowadays I prefer his later books, the Blue Rose trilogy and The Hellfire Club, big, chunky literate and literary thrillers with no supernatural element. Oddly enough, this book anticipates the move from horror to thriller in a few different ways, and even retains a certain amount of ambiguity about the ghost story element, up to a particular point. The blurb of my copy of the book manages to drop three spoilers in the space of two sentences, and then reiterates one of the spoilers just in case I was slow on the uptake. I shall endeavor to avoid doing something similar. Though I think the Goodreads blurb is similar so I don't know why I bother.
Miles Teagarden returns to his family's old home, ostensibly to write his thesis on DH Lawrence, but more likely to keep a childhood promise. Right off the bat, things go poorly for him. A girl has been murdered and strangers are greeted with suspicion, and Miles himself didn't have the best reputation when he left. Miles exacerbates the situation by being generally clueless, clumsy, rude, and not a little bit cracked in the head. Soon he is surrounded by hostile neighbours, including his cousin Duane. His only allies are an old great-aunt and Duane's teenage daughter. Another girl goes missing, suspicion and resentment turn into violence and rage, and one or two ugly secrets from the past, as is often the case in books like these, come back to haunt the guilty and the innocent alike.
Miles is an academic, so the book is mostly written in a rather purple, prolix style, which, in fairness, Straub pulls off very well, and it does heighten Miles' sense of alienation from the farmers and shopkeepers and housewives he collides with. As a character, you do want to reach into the book and slap a bit if sense into him, but it's clear that the style also conceals just how unhinged he has become. As a murder mystery it's a compelling read; as a ghost story, it's strange and chilling spooky. He just about manages to merge the two by the end, but this isn't his strongest book by any means, which isn't to say that it isn't worth a look.
Miles Teagarden returns to his family's old home, ostensibly to write his thesis on DH Lawrence, but more likely to keep a childhood promise. Right off the bat, things go poorly for him. A girl has been murdered and strangers are greeted with suspicion, and Miles himself didn't have the best reputation when he left. Miles exacerbates the situation by being generally clueless, clumsy, rude, and not a little bit cracked in the head. Soon he is surrounded by hostile neighbours, including his cousin Duane. His only allies are an old great-aunt and Duane's teenage daughter. Another girl goes missing, suspicion and resentment turn into violence and rage, and one or two ugly secrets from the past, as is often the case in books like these, come back to haunt the guilty and the innocent alike.
Miles is an academic, so the book is mostly written in a rather purple, prolix style, which, in fairness, Straub pulls off very well, and it does heighten Miles' sense of alienation from the farmers and shopkeepers and housewives he collides with. As a character, you do want to reach into the book and slap a bit if sense into him, but it's clear that the style also conceals just how unhinged he has become. As a murder mystery it's a compelling read; as a ghost story, it's strange and chilling spooky. He just about manages to merge the two by the end, but this isn't his strongest book by any means, which isn't to say that it isn't worth a look.
November 13, 2020
If You Could See Me Now is one of those books I love even though I remember nothing else about it. I last read it years ago, as a teenager. Clearly it made a positive impression on me, but if three days ago you had offered me a million dollars to tell you anything about it – name of the protagonist, where it took place, how it ended, ANYTHING – I would’ve left empty-handed.
So, picking it up again this week, I was curious.
And now I remember why I loved it the first time around. Like a lot of Peter Straub’s work, it’s a horror novel in name only. There are definitely creepy parts, & while it’s ostensibly a ghost story, it’s also a treatise on toxic masculinity & some men’s fear of female sexuality written forty years before the #metoo movement.
The book hinges on a couple top-shelf, stone-cold, grade-A plot twists, so I’ll do what I can to entice you without spoiling things.
Miles Teagarden is returning to Arden, Wisconsin, after 20 years, to fulfill a promise to his cousin Alison. The two of them shared a bond when they were teens. They were close – probably a little too close, if you catch my meaning – & swore in the summer of 1955 to reconnect in Arden 20 years later.
Miles has fooled himself into thinking he’s returning to work on his dissertation, but we know he’s just marking time until Alison appears. And that’s a problem. Because Miles has arrived in town just as two teenage girls have turned up dead. There are hints that something terrible happened the night he & Alison made their promise to one another. We don’t know what it is, but as the present & the past intersect, he’s treated with suspicion & open hostility by the residents of Arden.
And this is where I have to get (more) cagey, because the heart of the book deals with Miles gradually uncovering the truth of what happened 20 years ago & how those events are inextricably connected to the present. Suffice it to say, Straub ratchets up the tension & the horror while also deftly critiquing the male attitudes that perpetuate violence against women.
So yes: I loved it then, & – by recognizing certain subtleties that escaped me as a teen – I love it even more now.
So, picking it up again this week, I was curious.
And now I remember why I loved it the first time around. Like a lot of Peter Straub’s work, it’s a horror novel in name only. There are definitely creepy parts, & while it’s ostensibly a ghost story, it’s also a treatise on toxic masculinity & some men’s fear of female sexuality written forty years before the #metoo movement.
The book hinges on a couple top-shelf, stone-cold, grade-A plot twists, so I’ll do what I can to entice you without spoiling things.
Miles Teagarden is returning to Arden, Wisconsin, after 20 years, to fulfill a promise to his cousin Alison. The two of them shared a bond when they were teens. They were close – probably a little too close, if you catch my meaning – & swore in the summer of 1955 to reconnect in Arden 20 years later.
Miles has fooled himself into thinking he’s returning to work on his dissertation, but we know he’s just marking time until Alison appears. And that’s a problem. Because Miles has arrived in town just as two teenage girls have turned up dead. There are hints that something terrible happened the night he & Alison made their promise to one another. We don’t know what it is, but as the present & the past intersect, he’s treated with suspicion & open hostility by the residents of Arden.
And this is where I have to get (more) cagey, because the heart of the book deals with Miles gradually uncovering the truth of what happened 20 years ago & how those events are inextricably connected to the present. Suffice it to say, Straub ratchets up the tension & the horror while also deftly critiquing the male attitudes that perpetuate violence against women.
So yes: I loved it then, & – by recognizing certain subtleties that escaped me as a teen – I love it even more now.
January 20, 2011
Peter Straub wrote If You Could See Me Now early in his career, spinning out an eerie, haunting tale of obsession and vengeance. The book opens with a vignette describing an erotic encounter between thirteen year old Miles Teagarden and his provocative cousin Alison, who seduces him into skinny dipping in a disused quarry. Twenty years later, college professor Miles convinces himself that he's returning to his boyhood home in the midwest to write a book in a quiet, peaceful place. That bit of self delusion begins to break down the moment he sets foot in town. Someone has been abducting, battering, and murdering young girls, and it takes Miles a few days to realize that his former buddies consider him a likely suspect. Now he must come to grips with his past, and with the memories that he's buried for so long.
With the mastery for which he's now renowned, Straub intersperses the supernatural with the mundane, transforming the merely threatening with the terrifying and inescapable. Some of the choices that Miles makes are more than questionable, unless you accept the idea that he's fated to behave exactly as he does. It's easy to become immersed in the dreamlike ambience of this novel, and just when you and Miles are certain about who's committing the murders, you're yanked in another direction entirely. In If You Could See Me Now, it seems you can go home again, but you'll wish you hadn't.
With the mastery for which he's now renowned, Straub intersperses the supernatural with the mundane, transforming the merely threatening with the terrifying and inescapable. Some of the choices that Miles makes are more than questionable, unless you accept the idea that he's fated to behave exactly as he does. It's easy to become immersed in the dreamlike ambience of this novel, and just when you and Miles are certain about who's committing the murders, you're yanked in another direction entirely. In If You Could See Me Now, it seems you can go home again, but you'll wish you hadn't.
October 20, 2007
Creepy, this book will slowly but steadily work its way into your head.
June 1, 2021
"There can exist between two people a kind of deep connection."
It has some moments reminiscent of Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me and Frank Norris' McTeague. The novel reads with the exciting intensity of Jim Thompson's crime noir thrillers but then lags off into the stilting boredom of Theodore Dreiser and Frank Norris' Naturalism.
It has some moments reminiscent of Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me and Frank Norris' McTeague. The novel reads with the exciting intensity of Jim Thompson's crime noir thrillers but then lags off into the stilting boredom of Theodore Dreiser and Frank Norris' Naturalism.
October 25, 2013
The Basics
Miles hasn’t been back to the family farm in Arden, Wisconsin in twenty years. He left behind a reputation as a troublemaker, but he feels Arden is the place to be no matter how the locals hate him. Because he has to keep a promise he made all those years ago.
My Thoughts
Let’s start with Miles. He is the main focus and our narrator, and he shapes everything we see. To the point that I wonder if he is even remotely reliable. There’s a moment around the halfway point that will have you questioning him, and throughout the entire, wild ride, Miles will seem iffy after that, if he wasn’t already to begin with. To me, this is proof positive that Straub knew what he was doing. He knew the story he wanted to tell, one in which even the audience will start to wonder if the angry, hateful locals don’t have a point about Miles.
It’s a wonderful ride to take for that reason. Everyone seems guilty, untrustworthy, and yet so is the very person telling the tale. It lends the story an air of the truly mysterious and suspicious. Straub, I’m learning as I read his work, is a master of tone. And not just with the mystery he puts forth in this novel, but with the way he sets up Miles as this haughty know-it-all faced with a town of plebeians that plague him. The point isn’t who we, the reader, should side with but rather wanting only to see how this butting of heads will go, knowing all the while that it will be explosive.
My one nitpick would be that the book doesn’t really end. It just stops. Like Straub decided he was done writing. That was all he had, so that was it. While the line it ends on is fairly symbolic of Miles’s journey and has a touch of dark comedy to it, it felt kind of cheap after all we just went through.
Straub brings class to horror unlike anyone I’ve ever read. He has literary tricks up his sleeve that will keep sophisticated readers happy throughout. I’m extra happy he’s chosen horror as his go-to genre.
Final Rating
4.5/5
Miles hasn’t been back to the family farm in Arden, Wisconsin in twenty years. He left behind a reputation as a troublemaker, but he feels Arden is the place to be no matter how the locals hate him. Because he has to keep a promise he made all those years ago.
My Thoughts
Let’s start with Miles. He is the main focus and our narrator, and he shapes everything we see. To the point that I wonder if he is even remotely reliable. There’s a moment around the halfway point that will have you questioning him, and throughout the entire, wild ride, Miles will seem iffy after that, if he wasn’t already to begin with. To me, this is proof positive that Straub knew what he was doing. He knew the story he wanted to tell, one in which even the audience will start to wonder if the angry, hateful locals don’t have a point about Miles.
It’s a wonderful ride to take for that reason. Everyone seems guilty, untrustworthy, and yet so is the very person telling the tale. It lends the story an air of the truly mysterious and suspicious. Straub, I’m learning as I read his work, is a master of tone. And not just with the mystery he puts forth in this novel, but with the way he sets up Miles as this haughty know-it-all faced with a town of plebeians that plague him. The point isn’t who we, the reader, should side with but rather wanting only to see how this butting of heads will go, knowing all the while that it will be explosive.
My one nitpick would be that the book doesn’t really end. It just stops. Like Straub decided he was done writing. That was all he had, so that was it. While the line it ends on is fairly symbolic of Miles’s journey and has a touch of dark comedy to it, it felt kind of cheap after all we just went through.
Straub brings class to horror unlike anyone I’ve ever read. He has literary tricks up his sleeve that will keep sophisticated readers happy throughout. I’m extra happy he’s chosen horror as his go-to genre.
Final Rating
4.5/5
Read
September 28, 2022Re-read. Since hearing of the recent passing of Mr. Straub, I want to re-read this one, "Julia", and "Ghost Story", all of which I remember as being GREAT horror novels. A highly original ghost story, and basically just a fantastic first novel for any writer. I'd maybe bump a star from my first impression, but that's pretty normal for a second reading, I think.
October 18, 2017
What I liked about Peter Straub's Ghost Story was his ability to build up frustrating suspense until something is revealed. He makes an uncomfortable situation churn your stomach for awhile until the great detail is explained, and it like a letting go a huge breath you have been holding this whole time.
For this book - published two years before Ghost Story - I had the same feelings, but at a lower volume. It was clear that Straub is getting better at his craft, a bit of solid Stephen King nature in there; he really knows how to do suspense. You carefully approach each scene with concern - what terrible thing will be happening now? When it gets close to the end, you start to wonder and keeping wondering until the final pages.
However, no matter how you explain it and what was justified, the characters were awful-awful individuals. So awful, it was really hard to sympathize with anybody. Even Miles, the protagonist, made his actions hard to swallow. I hated these characters so much. Even Alison Greening - just ugh, ugh, UGH.
For this book - published two years before Ghost Story - I had the same feelings, but at a lower volume. It was clear that Straub is getting better at his craft, a bit of solid Stephen King nature in there; he really knows how to do suspense. You carefully approach each scene with concern - what terrible thing will be happening now? When it gets close to the end, you start to wonder and keeping wondering until the final pages.
However, no matter how you explain it and what was justified, the characters were awful-awful individuals. So awful, it was really hard to sympathize with anybody. Even Miles, the protagonist, made his actions hard to swallow. I hated these characters so much. Even Alison Greening - just ugh, ugh, UGH.
May 22, 2021
Straub's second novel is another eerie story that takes its time to get going but once it does it does so with real velocity, leading to a ferocious climax. I first read this years and years ago and it has held up. I'm still into Straub and I'm thinking now of course I need to revisit his 1979 novel Ghost Story, which I recall as one of the scariest things I've ever read.
Want to read
July 16, 2011Stephen King recommended author and book.
Book noted as "important to the genre we have been discussing" from Danse Macabre, published in 1981. Author discussed in chapter 9.
Book noted as "important to the genre we have been discussing" from Danse Macabre, published in 1981. Author discussed in chapter 9.
October 16, 2014
A strange mix of mystery and American gothic that I found hard to continue to read. It is very much of it time which was not all bad but the protagonist did not grab me enough to keep me interested. The first chapter was gripping but I found it hard to slog the rest of the way through.
June 24, 2016
Somewhat disappointing read. Like Ghost Story, there's a dead girl at the center of the story, but here it's not done as well. Straub has a lot of disdain for small town residents, which got tedious. Everyone was cut out of the same cloth, and characters ended up becoming caricatures.
April 17, 2014
One of my absolute favorite books!! This book was so chilling that when I finished it around 3am (because I couldn't put it down!) I had to leave the lights on to fall asleep.
September 17, 2022
SI PUDIERAS VERME AHORA es una de esas novelas que dan sentido a la famosa frase:
PUEBLO CHICO, INFIERNO GRANDE.
Una historia escalofriante llena de misterio que nos deja entrever un mundo de pesadilla en el que poco a poco las dudas que nos van surgiendo terminan por disiparse.
PETER STRAUB se encarga de develar cada misterio al final del libro.
Sinceramente esperaba un poco más, y aunque el final es apropiado y revelador, el camino hacia el desenlace fue largo y lleno de baches... Algo que definitivamente puede afectar la perspectiva final del libro.
En mi opinión se trata de una novela del montón. El ritmo es bueno y el inicio nos promete bastante, pero creo que en ciertos momentos se enfría un poco y eso termina por abrumar al lector.
"Miles Teagarden, joven profesor universitario, regresa a la pequeña aldea rural donde pasaba los veranos cuando era niño. Allí, veinte años atrás, su prima Alison y él prometieron volver a encontrarse pasara lo que pasara. Tras la promesa, Alison murió mientras se bañaban juntos en una presa, pero Miles está seguro de que cumplirá su palabra y por ello vuelve a un lugar donde la gente le rechaza y le culpa aún de la muerte de su prima. Los dos eran considerados como personas malditas, y, efectivamente, con la llegada de Miles comienzan a suceder extraños fenómenos. El asesinato turba la tranquila existencia en el valle, Miles es tan culpable como víctima, y sobre todo ello flota la impalpable presencia de Alison."
PUEBLO CHICO, INFIERNO GRANDE.
Una historia escalofriante llena de misterio que nos deja entrever un mundo de pesadilla en el que poco a poco las dudas que nos van surgiendo terminan por disiparse.
PETER STRAUB se encarga de develar cada misterio al final del libro.
Sinceramente esperaba un poco más, y aunque el final es apropiado y revelador, el camino hacia el desenlace fue largo y lleno de baches... Algo que definitivamente puede afectar la perspectiva final del libro.
En mi opinión se trata de una novela del montón. El ritmo es bueno y el inicio nos promete bastante, pero creo que en ciertos momentos se enfría un poco y eso termina por abrumar al lector.
"Miles Teagarden, joven profesor universitario, regresa a la pequeña aldea rural donde pasaba los veranos cuando era niño. Allí, veinte años atrás, su prima Alison y él prometieron volver a encontrarse pasara lo que pasara. Tras la promesa, Alison murió mientras se bañaban juntos en una presa, pero Miles está seguro de que cumplirá su palabra y por ello vuelve a un lugar donde la gente le rechaza y le culpa aún de la muerte de su prima. Los dos eran considerados como personas malditas, y, efectivamente, con la llegada de Miles comienzan a suceder extraños fenómenos. El asesinato turba la tranquila existencia en el valle, Miles es tan culpable como víctima, y sobre todo ello flota la impalpable presencia de Alison."
September 20, 2022
Straubs passing led me to this one. Having read the Talisman I really wanted to try his back catalog. This is the earliest one I could get my hands on that didn't cost 60 quid, so we are where we are.
There's a feeling here of an author finding his feet. Parts of the novel really show their age, but there's also moments of potential greatness dotted around.
We're essentially following Miles, a guy who may or may not have done something terrible 20 years ago, and now he's back where it happened.
The town hates him. He hates himself.
Why's he there? It's explained but it's also a bit vague, I found myself asking that very question.
There's a twist at the end that got me, I thought I had it pegged and I didn't. That's always good value.
There's parts of the book that sag and parts that seem just plain unnecessary.
Overall though the small town vibe we get from Stephen King is prominent with Straub. The characters are pretty well fleshed out and if you can get over some of the aged writing and approach, you'll find a decent book underneath it all.
6/10
There's a feeling here of an author finding his feet. Parts of the novel really show their age, but there's also moments of potential greatness dotted around.
We're essentially following Miles, a guy who may or may not have done something terrible 20 years ago, and now he's back where it happened.
The town hates him. He hates himself.
Why's he there? It's explained but it's also a bit vague, I found myself asking that very question.
There's a twist at the end that got me, I thought I had it pegged and I didn't. That's always good value.
There's parts of the book that sag and parts that seem just plain unnecessary.
Overall though the small town vibe we get from Stephen King is prominent with Straub. The characters are pretty well fleshed out and if you can get over some of the aged writing and approach, you'll find a decent book underneath it all.
6/10
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