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An entertaining horror novel with exceptional frightening factor that sadly loses some potential and momentum towards the end. The first half is some of the best horror I´ve read, not much splatter or violence, just the extremely detailed description with some really scary scenes that fuel the readers´ paranoia in the darkness. There are some moments one might not forget so soon, if not even never, but suddenly there is a bit more action and story, which make the terror factor disappear. This l...
"What was the worst thing you've ever done? I won't tell you that, but I'll tell you the worst thing that ever happened to me.....the most dreadful thing." That's how Peter Straub's GHOST STORY begins.....Something's going to happen to the whole town of Milburn, and The Chowder Society members with their spooky stories and premonitions are right in the middle of "it"........For Ricky Hawthorne, his law partner Sears James and friends Edward Wanderley, Lewis Benedikt and Dr. John Jaffrey, their n...
Boredom, thy name is Ghost Story. I would rather de-spider my attic and/or drink straight pickle juice than force myself through one more chapter.
Although GRs marks this as my second read, it's actually my third. (I read this one as a teenager for the first time). One of Straub's best books, imho. Still, this is not one that promises instant gratification, or perfect closure. It's a multi-layerd novel, that leaves a lot to the imagination of the reader. Personally, I enjoy a bit of ambiguity in my horror--often what one can imagine is even more terrifying that what is put down on paper.A "classic" read in every sense of the word.Recommend...
Probably the scariest book I ever read.
First and foremost, I would like to thank Jessica (Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile) for this awesome addition to my collection. Back in 1995, my family and my fifteen-year-old self moved from California to Alabama. The week we arrived in Alabama (Mobile area) Hurricane Opal decided to make landfall. Most of our stuff was still on the back of my brother-in-law's flatbed trailer. The most important items lost (for me, at least) was my mother's book collection. Whilst in California, Mom called h...
I am SO glad that I finally re-read this book! I was afraid that it wouldn't hold up to my memory of it. I worried about that for decades. Silly me-I needn't have worried-it was even better than I remembered! This beautifully written story of evil in a small town has a lot in common with Stephen King's IT as far as the small town portion goes. Derry and Milburn are similar in a lot of ways. Despite the title, this book isn't really a ghost story. Just like in IT, IT isn't really a clown. Ghost S...
This story reminds me of when I went to Spokane, Washington and tested for the Navy. The whole damn thing was nearly a dream sequence. Even checking into the Hotel, The Davenport, In Spokane, Washington, "where the Governers ball" was going on! It was snowing like the world was ending..Then a Hotel, and everyone was in tuxes and fancy dress. This review has nothing to do with the book. Obviously! But, while I absolutely loved the story, the memories it brings up aren't so great! But, dang! They
I’m very glad to get to this one! 4/4.5 stars!Ghost Story by Peter Straub has been on my to-read-list for at least 20 years. It’s one of those books that I needed to read, especially if you’re a horror genre lover.It was first published and set during 1979.At times, this book will feel a bit dated in regards to relationships, conversation and society. I thought it still held up well when reading this in 2021 and I enjoyed going back to this time period.One of the things that I did not expect whe...
I don't think one can truly rate Ghost Story as a novel without acknowledging the fact that it's a literary homage to the classics of the genre. Indeed, two characters bear the surnames of Hawthorne and James.This is my introduction to the work of Peter Straub. Having read The Talisman and Black House which he co-authored with Stephen King I was anxious to know how he writes on his own, and Ghost Story came recommended by virtually everyone who has read it. As mentioned in the first paragraph, G...
When I was a kid, I had a long list of fears. A short summary would include: tornadoes; big dogs; bullies; the basement; fire; music class; swimming lessons; spiders; cat burglars; and girls. As I got a bit older, say around middle school and high school, that list changed. Some items remained (girls, the possibility of being forced to sing in public), some fell away (tornadoes, big dogs, swimming), and some new fears were added (school dances, acne, various other complex social interactions). N...
Not a Straub fan, but this is a good book. One of the better "ghost stories" out there (in spite of the fact that it's not exactly a story about a ghost per-se). This is actually one of the "scariest" books I've read so far as atmosphere and actual emotional scare goes.The villains of the piece are while not exactly "new" used in a different way than you'll see elsewhere. It might be said that the book rests on the simple idea that one reaps what one sows...though that is a huge over simplificat...
An intelligent and ambitious novel, Ghost Story has received some well deserved acclaim. That is, however, not enough. Not even close. This is a book that should be re-introduced to a whole new generation of readers. It really is that good. Stephen King himself lists it as one of the best horror novels of the 20th century (refer Danse Macabre).I will not go into plot details at this stage, since these can be had by reading the book synopsis. Instead, in general terms, I'll try and explain just w...
Loved this book! The setting, the characters, the atmosphere, the small town… some really creepy scenes. All of it just worked for me.
This copy of "Ghost Story" is signed by Peter Straub.
”What was the worst thing you've ever done? I won't tell you that, but I'll tell you the worst thing that ever happened to me...the most dreadful thing...”And by those words The Chowder Society, a group of five diverse, old friends, changes its weekly meetings from the commonplace, which could be called fun, to dark and somber. After all, one of them has died, nearly one year to the day, with a facial expression frozen in terror. They are four now. Closer? Yes, possibly. But they are shaken. Nig...
BAIT AND SWITCH. "Peter Straub's classic bestseller is a work of "superb horror" (The Washington Post Book World) that, like any good ghost story, stands the test of time -- and conjures our darkest fears and nightmares." Oh, this book was conjuring my worst fears alright... Just not in the way that was probably intended. I'm quitting you, book. You know why? Because you're fucking boring. Because I dread picking you back up. Because you're not in the least bit scary to me, if you don't count...
A few words i found by Stephen King about this novel "Probably Ghost Story by Peter Straub is the best of the supernatural novels to be published in the wake of the three books that kicked off a new horror "wave" in the seventies—those three, of course, being Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, and The Other. The fact that these three books, all published within five years of each other, enjoyed such wide popularity, helped to convince (or reconvince) publishers that horror fiction had a commercial p...
“SF/F/H”, the holy trinity of genre fiction, my neck of the woods for reading. I read a hell of a lot of sci-fi (SF), I read about a couple of fantasy (F) titles a year, but I've been neglecting the horror fiction (H) genre in recent years. The reason is that besides Stephen King I don't tend to hear much about exciting new horror titles. Sci-fi and fantasy books win the prestigious Hugo and Nebula awards and I am always aware of the winners. As far as I know the equivalent award for horror fict...
I originally read this book back in my early 20’s, back before I obsessively reviewed everything I read, and the only thing I could remember about it was an intense feeling of boredom. I later tried to read Mystery and Julia thinking it was me and not the writing. But I couldn’t get through either of those without wishing they’d end with every page I struggled through. At that point, I put Peter Straub down for good. Or so I thought. Back in December, I decided to use my Audible credit on Ghost