Horror Aficionados discussion

Peter Straub

Straub hasn't been mentioned but I know he's a popular horror writer, even if some of his stuff is a lot more literary/mainstream than most. GHOST STORY is a classic and I recall loving it but I just realized it's been like 20 years since I read it! And I just began FLOATING DRAGON last night. His short story "Blue Rose" is one of my favorites. I wasn't crazy about JULIA, an early novel about the ghost of a child; it seemed a bit underwhelming and overly obscure. And who can forget THE TALISMAN?

I recently finished Ghost Story and thought it was fantastic. He can develop his character so well; it was inspiring to read as someone who is interested in writing. I am looking to pick up Koko next and give that a read.

Straub is on twitter, and I asked him what he thought his favorite work was and what he thought was his strongest work. He said his strongest was a tossup between Koko and The Hellfire Club, and his favorite was a A Dark Matter. Those three will be the next ones I read from him.

Good going, Branden. I've read parts of KOKO but not straight through. Just reading about HELLFIRE; it sounds good. Been meaning to read MR. X because it's apparently very Lovecraftian.

I've read several of his books, but it's been a while: Ghost Story, Julia, The Hellfire Club. I might have read Floating Dragon but the plot doesn't seem that familiar. Julia is a subtle story of a haunting, but it's creepy enough for me to remember after all these years how frightening that little girl is

I did read Lost Boy, Lost Girl a few years ago and it's very good.

I'm a big fan of The Talisman, but who knows which parts are his and which are Kings? Regardless, I love it.

I saw an interview with Straub the other day where he described the collaboration on The Talisman. It would appear there is no part that is King's or his. They wrote the story and bounced it off each other over and over again. Every time each of them would take new stabs at it, adding a sentence here, changing the wording there, and so forth, until in the end the entire book was, in essence, a complete mishmash of both of their writing and ideas. It sounded like an absolutely fascinating approach, and Straub admitted that is was absolutely remarkable how they did this without any territoriality. None of them "owned" certain parts of the book, they really wrote it "together" down to the last sentence, which Straub came up with and King improved upon with a subtle change.

I also recall hearing that each would try to write a passage in the other's "voice" for fun.

Yeah, it must have been a very fun collaboration.

Thanks, Guido. Interesting. Will, back when The Talisman was published, I read in an interview with the authors about how they would write like the other to fool people they knew would be dissecting the book to determine authorship of passages.

I got a copy of the Hellfire Club, I like Straub's style. He's one of the more sophisticated authors of horror out there. I haven't finished it yet though, so no spoilers.

Will wrote: "Peter Straub

Straub hasn't been mentioned but I know he's a popular horror writer, even if some of his stuff is a lot more literary/mainstream than most. GHOST STORY is a classic and..."

I also found Julia underwhelming though I think it may be less obscureness and more "damn I didn't live in the 60s and 70s so I don't really get this era of writing that dates this thing." I think I might have liked it better if I hadn't read several other books that were better before it including some from Straub like Lost Boy Lost Girl and Ghost Story.

Back in my younger years, I always avoided authors like Peter Straub because they were 'too mainstream' for me. Though I read authors like Stephen King & Dean Koontz... I've started keeping a list of authors and books I need to check out now that I'm getting back into the horror thing so I'll be adding Straub to it.

I'm getting close to the halfway point on FLOATING DRAGON and it's getting better and better. Funny, it's very similar to King's IT, which came out a few years later. Was that intentional on King's part? So far Straub's book is a lot better written.

Will wrote: "I'm getting close to the halfway point on FLOATING DRAGON and it's getting better and better. Funny, it's very similar to King's IT, which came out a few years later. Was that intentional on King's..."

Have you read The Talisman? I'm one of those readers that can't tell which of them is writing it but others tell me they can. I find it interesting that they wrote such a seamless book without there being a clunkiness to it since they're such different authors.

I have, but I read it *way* back when ;-). Like we were saying above, I think anybody thinking they know who wrote what is fooling themselves since each writer also purposely imitated the other. And goodness, could it really matter?

I love GHOST STORY - it's one of my favorite novels. I also enjoyed Straub's MYSTERY and KOKO.

As far as King and Straubs' admiration for each other, I believe King also wrote the novella 'The Body' in the DIFFERENT SEASONS collection as an homage to Straub.

ETA - as Amanda correctly states below, it was 'The Breathing Method', not 'The Body.'

Joel Arnold

The Talisman is one of my all-time faves too. I read it when I was just getting into King. I haven't read anything else by Straub yet, though I started both The Hellfire Club and Ghost Story. I didn't get veruy far into either. He's one of many author's on my TBR list.

Joel wrote: "I love GHOST STORY - it's one of my favorite novels. I also enjoyed Straub's MYSTERY and KOKO.

As far as King and Straubs' admiration for each other, I believe King also wrote the novella 'The B..."

Actually it was 'The Breathing Method' that was written for Straub. The story club in it is an homage to the one in Ghost story if memory serves.

Amy wrote: "The Talisman is one of my all-time faves too. I read it when I was just getting into King. I haven't read anything else by Straub yet, though I started both The Hellfire Club and Ghost Story. I did..."

He's far more subtle than other authors so maybe the set up time slows you down.

I've gotta get Shadowland and finish that sometime. I had to get it back to the library before I got to finish it.

Amanda - you're right! Ack - It was The Breathing Method. The Body was the basis for the movie Stand by Me.

Not enough coffee today!!

Joel

Joel wrote: "Amanda - you're right! Ack - It was The Breathing Method. The Body was the basis for the movie Stand by Me.

Not enough coffee today!!

Joel"

Don't worry about it. I get stuff mixed around too, lol.

Hey, the breathing method works, accept I was in far better shape than that woman.

I finished up FLOATING DRAGON last night; it was terrific and I gave it the full five stars. Wrote up a review:

http://toomuchhorrorfiction.blogspot....

Enjoyed your review, Will. Interesting comment about how the endings of some horror stories are a letdown. I get tired of the battle endings of a lot of horror books. But I guess how else could they end?

Thank you. Maybe one day I will write my own epic kitchen-sink-and-all horror novel and figure out a different way to end one!

Please do! I'm thinking of different endings I enjoyed from horror books:

The Ruins by Scott Smith
Dweller and Pressure by Jeff Strand
Small World by Tabitha King
Darkness Demands by Simon Clark
The Blackwater Series by Michael McDowell
Let's Go Play at the Adams' by Mendal Johnson
Under the Skin by Michel Faber
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
His Father's Son by Bentley Little
In the Miso Soup by Murakami

These didn't end in an epic battle between good and evil, nor did they necessarily end with the good guy living or a new evil that springs up and takes a defeated evil's place. These books have unique endings. But that's not to say I don't appreciate and enjoy a garden variety of horror books and traditional endings. I like when the good guy wins, too.

I'll repost my comment that I left on your blog, Will:

That's a very interesting point about the ending of novels, and I found that especially true in Peter Straub's Ghost Story. I loved that book, and I thought the ending was good, but that book was really about the ride, not the destination. Getting to the end (not the end itself) was the treat in Ghost Story, and I suspect that is going to be the case with a lot of Straub's novels, just as you have described here. Nice review, and I'm looking forward to your next book review.

I want to read Ghost Story, Shadowlands, Floating Dragon, Koko, Mystery, and The Throat.

I have to admit to a bit of a "love/hate" (and somewhat limited) relationship with Mr. Straub's work.

For me "Chost Story" was one of the greatest novel's of this genre, "Shadowlands" was good, in its way but, I gave up on Mr. Straub after "Floating Dragon."

Where should I begin to attempt to rekindle my interest in Mr. Straub's work,,,, are there any of his novels that are similar in tone and style to "Ghost Story" ? Collections? Anthologies ?

I've only read Shadowland by Straub. I found it interesting but it sure was a struggle to get through it. Any have any suggestions. I'm thinking i at least have to give Ghost Story a try but since I didn't like Shadowland, I don't know if I want to try and fail to read a lengthy novel by an author I don't think I like. To many better novels I could invest in.

I'm almost finished with "Mr X", and I'm thoroughly enjoying all the Lovecraft references in it. Haven't read much of him in the past decade, so I'm trying to catch up on his recent releases. Didn't like last years "A Dark Matter" all that much. I love his early stuff, "Julia" up through "Shadowland" are some of my fave horror books.

I really didn't enjoy "Mr X" much but it might be because I've never read Lovecraft and wouldn't get the references.

Koko and Ghost Story were probably my favourites with Hellfire Club up there as well. I liked Talisman and Black House but not to the same degree.

Definitely one of my favourite authors though.

Regards
Caleb

Rereading GHOST STORY now... I remembered it as being fairly complex, and it is, with storylines and characters crossing back and forth in time. But I noted down various character names to help keep them straight. Really stuff so far; Straub is a rich and thoughtful writer.

Are you getting all the old white men mixed up?

At first I was, but I've got them now. There was a big party scene too with characters that had already appeared, so I had to note all them too. It's cool, though.

I enjoyed Ghost Story - it's well written, with great characterization and spooky scenes. Parts of it shine, but in my opinion it doesn't really work as a whole. Who knows, maybe I'll need to read it again.

I admired Ghost Story back when, for me, there wasn't a whole lot of horror out there; or at least I couldn't find much. But although it's a good story, it's not mind blowing or anything. Just a nice ghost story that did work as a whole for me, but not even as good as Julia or Lost Boy Lost Girl.

Tressa wrote: "I admired Ghost Story back when, for me, there wasn't a whole lot of horror out there; or at least I couldn't find much. But although it's a good story, it's not mind blowing or anything. Just a ni..."

Hi Tressa. I just picked up Lost Boy Lost Girl from somewhere (I think Borders going out of business sale). I take it that it's a book you recommend?

Hey, Phil. I think it's one of those books you like or don't like. I highly recommend it. I hope you like it. I'm never 100% sure if someone will like Lost Boy, unlike , whom everyone I've ever suggested it to loved. Make sure you read it one day, too.

Yep. Never heard of it before then talked to an Australian who recommended it. I think at that time it wasn't published in the US yet and would have had to pay an exorbitant amount on Ebay. But now we can get it here from here.

Please, please, please read it. It's that good. I don't even remember where I learned about Pilo. I did ask my coworker to buy a copy for the library.

Tressa wrote: "I admired Ghost Story back when, for me, there wasn't a whole lot of horror out there; or at least I couldn't find much. But although it's a good story, it's not mind blowing or anything. Just a ni..."

I liked Lost Boy Lost Girl a lot but find Straub to be somewhat inconsistent. Loved Koko but thought Hellfire Club and Mr. X were just ok. His collaborations with King on Talisman and Black House are terrific.

I agree that he's inconsistent. But the good ones are gems.

Yes, they are.

Houses without Doors was his collection of four novellas that I read in the early '90s. Some of them were pretty obscure and ambiguous, and one relied on a fair familiarity with Anna Karenina, which at that point I hadn't read, alas, so it went over my head. When I actually did read Tolstoy's classic, I was like, "So *that's* what Straub was talking about!"

Audio horror podcast CAST MACABRE just did "Ashputtle" by Peter Straub fairly recently. Check it out and if you like it (great narrator they got for that one!), please drop them a few bucks.

Ashputtle by Peter Straub

Oh, wow, thanks Shawn. Is that the one about the big, woman teacher? I think I read it in his short story collection. Can't listen right now but I will soon.

I read Ghost Story, Shadowland, and Mystery.
They were alright, but I find Straub sort of difficult to read. His prose just doesn't jibe with me for some reason.

I just picked up three of his books at a used bookshop recently. I look forward to reading them in the near future. This guy has a lot of popular works. I am new to his stuff.

Bill wrote: "I read Ghost Story, Shadowland, and Mystery.
They were alright, but I find Straub sort of difficult to read. His prose just doesn't jibe with me for some reason."

Bill I loved Ghost story and Shadowland. I haven't read Mystery. I also liked KOKO too.

I could've gone three or four stars with GHOST STORY... went with four to be generous. It's very good and every horror fan should read it to see what they think, but I preferred FLOATING DRAGON; it's just better written and conceived overall, and emotionally affecting.