reads | Ghost Story, Peter Straub

This book is a reread, but might as well have been a virgin read for the length of time since I last read it and the various growth potential of the reader since that time.

When I was younger, we often spent a lot of time up at my aunt’s lakewoods cabin in Northern Minnesota. So did plenty of other aunts and uncles, their friends and otherwise. Someone along the way, someone left a copy of Ghost Story behind, which was put onto a rickety suspended shelf for such books left behind, kind of our family “little library”: take a book/leave a book mentality. I was a budding Stephen King fan at the time (up until I got into King, I read plenty of other juvenile-focused horror, and King was one of my first forays into adult horror, along with Lovecraft). This book was on that shelf, next to Flowers in the Attic (VC Andrews, which had been read as well).

I was between eleven and thirteen when I first read this book, which may seem a bit young to some people, especially given the graphic nature of the subject matter and the amount of sexual content. But you have to recall that I was given free reign to read whatever I wished, including using Playboy articles as reference material for school reports (the library had a special note on file that said I was allowed to use the reference copies of Playboy to photocopy relevant articles, should I need it — and in spite of the jokes otherwise, there were newsworthy articles between the foldouts) and slasher movies were fashionable. We had not reached a stage as a society where we felt the need to censor absolutely anything that could possibly corrupt or disturb a child…

The content, by today’s standards is relatively tame. Some minor scenes intended to trigger the gross-outs, some body-horror, adultery in every bed, a few hints at masturbation and homosexuality, but much of the sexual stuff is more passing in mention and I’ve read far worse since when it comes to visceral gore.

I realized while reading the book for the first time in forty or so years that I recalled only the most scant of ideas from the story. It was like a new book to me and I’m glad I took advantage of it being on a “fire sale” for Kindle for $1.99. I’ve been thinking about rereading Ghost Story for about ten years now, so it was not a complete “grocery checkout” book purchase. I had vaguely good memories of the book, but I couldn’t have told you why or what it was about.

For those of you unfamiliar with the tale, the story revolves around a small group of men in their sixties who gather together every two weeks to swap stories. Some of the tales are utter BS, some are true; no one questions their veracity either way. But the men of “The Chowder Society” share a story, none of which will talk about — there is little need, as they are all familiar with those details. But now that tale has returned to haunt them.

The secondary tale is that of a younger writer who has a cursory relationship to the men that eventually joins their tale in earnest as all kinds of supernatural things begin to happen to the group. The bifurcation of their tales merge about halfway through the novel, as it turns out that they are more bound to each other than they originally perceive.

“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.”

Above is the opening paragraph for the book, which is really one of the most expertly written openings I’ve ever read. It make you beg to know what happened that they won’t speak of. And, of course, it eventually comes out. What do you mean you won’t tell me? Sounds juicy, tell me more.

There are supernatural elements, a bit of pre-colonial hauntings, angry spirits and revenge in this story. And while some authors have done a better job of capturing the dread, I think Peter Straub’s book is an early modern classic that later writers (knowing or not) have channeled when they write similar tales. While King has been crowned the “king of modern horror”, this story proves that there were some other really great storywriters from the 70s and 80s that might have gotten overlooked while all eyes were on him.

I enjoyed this book and recommend those who like horror, especially horror written in that time period, to give it a read. Some themes are a bit dated now, but I think this is one of those books aspiring horror writers could learn something from by reading.

File under recommended, with the caveat that the reader likes reading supernatural-based horror. Not recommended, obviously, for those not into that kind of thing.