John Irvin, the director of ''Ghost Story,'' and Lawrence D. Cohen, who adapted and considerably reduced Peter Straub's best-selling novel for the screen, begin very well, right in … Ghost novels are a hard sell indeed. GHOST STORY. With A GHOST STORY, acclaimed director David Lowery (AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS, PETE'S DRAGON) returns with a singular exploration of legacy, loss, … As my appreciation of Stephen King faded I was still a fan of Peter Straub for some time afterward. Even though it plays with many horror genre conventions it is never cliched or silly. It's a challenging novel with a fragmented structure and several narrators (both unreliable and omniscient). Vampires can't be in the sun, werewolves can be shot with silver bullets, but what the fuck are you supposed to do with a ghost? Skip to main content.ca Hello, Sign in. Ghost Story is a tale of horror by Peter Straub. James as well as modern masters like Stephen King. Ghost Story, which should've been named Ghost Stories or stories with ghosts in it, is worth an earnest shot. Eventually, these corrupt … Fast and free shipping free returns cash on delivery available on eligible purchase. And it works great. I think it's just about the perfect book for reading a few chapters every evening before going to bed – it's wont keep you up all the night, but you will still come back for more. Blogger, brooding author, basketball enthusiast and apostle of critical awareness. Even then, it's more ambiguous, nuanced and cohesive than the latter. The novel was a watershed in Straub's career. What makes Ghost Story is that it uses the idea of metaphorical ghosts (past failures, broken relationship, regrets and unresolved issues of all sorts) and turns it into the real McCoy. I received this book in passably good condition. It will bore those who are looking for cheap shocks. Ghost Story is my favorite and I am glad to have added this my permanent library and can reread it every few years with an undiminished fascination as the story slowly unfolds. In They just kick your ass until they get bored. They hadn’t. The film itself has a very atmospheric feel to it and … Ghost Story is a horror novel written by Peter Straub.It was published on January 1, 1979 by Coward, McCann and Geoghegan.The book was adapted into a film by the same name in 1981.. Ghost Story is the story of four old men: Frederick Hawthorne, Sears James, John Jaffery and Lewis Benedikt. Other than that it's a very well written book will make a rather nice read if you go at it with the right attitude. Peter Straub is notorious for that. When Anchor Books re-released Koko, the first book in the “Blue Rose Trilogy,” I jumped at the chance to review it. Though his earlier books had achieved a limited amount of critical and commercial success, Ghost Story became a national bestseller and cemented the author's reputation. It stands tall above everything else I've read from him, except perhaps Floating Dragon. With Peter Straub’s writing, my early visits to the village began with Shadowland, Ghost Story, and Floating Dragon. I call this the “200 page/2 hour reel” ratio. The author has created in the fictional town of Millburn a waystation steeped in snow where people live their separate lives, oblivious to the horrid things lurking in the forest waiting to strike. The Chowder Society stories first seem like musings and old men regrets, but the ghosts portrayed in our protagonists' stories slowly start creeping into their lives first through nightmares, then through hallucinations and before you know it, their lives are controlled by a malevolent entity that seeks revenge. GET WEEKLY BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS: Email Address Subscribe Tweet. Now they are about to learn what happens to those who believe they can bury the past -- and get away with murder. What is so darn scary about Ghost Story anyway? Ghost Story is a tale of horror by Peter Straub. By . Moreover, the rest of the Society has had rather freakish nightmares for the last year and on this night they are finally forced to confront each other with their fears. Verified Purchase. The four men's bond is stronger than ever since the mysterious death of their friend Edward Wanderley a year prior. Peter Straub is notorious for that. It's harder for them to catch you off guard because they can't just jump at you. But it's not that simple. Ghost Story is mildly chilling, and it leaves a lot to be desired. You need to care in order to get blindsided. The work is mesmerizing. Is the film worth seeing, you ask? “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. They demand an earnest investment from an audience on characters that have no guarantee to be interesting. Living in Montreal, Canada with better half Josie and a dog named Scarlett. It started to fall apart around the half way point for me. Straub's story isn't a quick read. Buy Ghost Story by Straub, Peter online on Amazon.ae at best prices. The second half of the book isn't bad, per se, but it's stretched a little thin. Ghost Story is a horror novel by American writer Peter Straub.It was published on January 1, 1979 by Coward, McCann and Geoghegan.The book was adapted into a film by the same name in 1981, minus the novel's fifth protagonist character, Lewis Benedikt.. About the book and Peter Straub, Ghost Story is an excellently knit horror story. That doesn't mean it's a bad thing. KIRKUS REVIEW. The observant reader will perhaps have noticed that Ghost Story marked three consecutive novels in which Peter Straub wrote stories about malevolent, vengeful female ghosts. I first read Peter Straub’s terrifying Ghost Story decades ago, and I recently decided to pick it up again to see if my impressions had changed. There are no rules when it comes to ghosts. I would certainly not go so far as to say Straub in these novels was showing a misogynistic streak, but there are very few female characters in any of the three books who would qualify as being positive figures. SFBook is entirely funded by Ant including hosting, development and any other costs. Using classic ghost story literary devices and themes combined with popular sensationalism, Straub weaves a novel that feels both contemporary and antiquated – an homage to traditional authors such as M.R. They include Ghost Story, Koko, Mr. X, In the Night Room, and two collaborations with Stephen King, The Talisman and Black House.He has written two volumes of poetry and two collections of short fiction, and he edited the Library of America’s edition of … And I'm not a guy that scares easy with books. Buy Ghost Story 1 by Straub, Peter (ISBN: 8601422425727) from Amazon's Book Store. GHOST STORY For four aging men in the terror-stricken town of Milburn, New York, an act inadvertently carried out in their youth has come back to haunt them. 5.0 out of 5 stars I received this book in passably good condition. All this and more make up Ghost Story, a novel by Peter Straub and then later a film by John Irvin. Ghost Story was a ground-breaking classic written in 1979 that set the bar a mile high for any paranormal tale to come after it. Not that it's a bad or boring story, it just isn't a page turner that grips you to the core and forces you to just keep on turning them pages, ignoring everything around you. None of them has any idea if his friends' stories are true, but they enjoy each other's company for reasons greater than words. It's hard to review this book without talking about the Chowder Society as most of the story centres around this group of old men and their acquaintances. It creeps inside of your head through your spine and doesn't leave when you close the book. If you're looking for something to get you in a Halloween mood, look no further. Four elderly men members of The Chowder Society fall victim to a vengeful ghost (Alice Krige) who seems to be connected to something they did decades ago and who once dated one of the member's son (Craig Wasson) from beyond the grave. As we meet the Chowder Society, they are a bunch of old guys who meet every couple of weeks and tell scary stories to each other, but there's more to them than scary stories. Once the characters came into focus for me I found Ghost Story a rich and very readable novel; Straub's style is literary without being pretentious or ostentatious, his ability to create and populate a believable setting is really second to King's if not, at times, the equal. Scotacus. It's not really a ghost story in the classic sense (no white sheets and no rattling chains), but that doesn't stop it from being rather nightmarish. It's a challenging novel with a fragmented structure and several narrators (both unreliable and omniscient). Ghost Story is a tale of horror by Peter Straub. I wasn't sure about reading 500 pages of old men adventures at first, but Peter Straub used old age as a way to render the members of the Chowder Society helpless and as a way to blur the line between the overbearing past and supernatural occurrence even further. Wanderley's death is the latest layer in a series of occurrences that goes all the way back to their young days. Ya it was good. They get together every now and then to tell each other haunting stories from their past. Ghost Story: Straub, Peter: 9780671685638: Books - Amazon.ca. As we find out at the CS meet on the one-year anniversary of the dead of one of the (former) Society members, the dead may not have been as natural as one could hope. Reviewed in Canada on August 22, 2018. Even if the protagonists are old white men, they are old white men terrified enough to make it worth your while. Even then, it's more ambiguous, nuanced and cohesive than the latter. Ricky, Sears, John and Lewis are not sharing their ghosts with one another, they are bound by them. I would welcome such a change of pace in any other novel, but Ghost Story takes so much time establishing a strong, cohesive (and a little self-serious) atmosphere, it's hard to suddenly let go of that. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Old fashioned, entertaining film features possibly the best cast ever gathered to star in a horror film. The rest of Ghost Story is a blend of small interlocking stories painting a bigger picture and ever deeper trips into a nightmare world that turns out to be all to real. It stands tall above everything else I've read from him, except perhaps Floating Dragon. Ghost Story | Straub, Peter | ISBN: 9780575084643 | Kostenloser Versand für alle Bücher mit Versand und Verkauf duch Amazon. The ghosts are genuinely unsettling. The most terrifying ghost novel I've ever read is probably Peter Straub's iconic Ghost Story, which feels way too real to be comfortable and conventionally "fun". The novel was a watershed in Straub's career. Please try again later. It's hard to review this book without talking about the Chowder Society as most of the story centres around this group of old men and their acquaintances. Largely cloned from the classic Night of the Living Dead, this is an overlong, lukewarm chiller with some superb moments. Verified Purchase. They're in complete control of the protagonists' lives. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. They function exactly like regrets: the past corrupting the present and creating situations where the protagonist cannot win. In past reviews when I have compared a book to a movie, I have used a pseudo-ratio to show how books benefit from a structural advantage. Ghost Story is widely considered to be Peter Straub's best novel and I can confirm it's fantastic. Then, he ramps it up just a bit more. About the book and Peter Straub. They have to creep their way in. You don't know what they want or what they can do to you. Peter Straub is considered one of the greatest thriller writers of our time; second only perhaps to the master Stephen King. If you enjoy the site please consider a small donation towards the cost of the upkeep and development of SFBook. It's a slow burn through multiple layers that weave in and out of the story. Indeed, taken as a standalone piece of work (as film should be really), there is a hell of a lot to like here. On the contrary, I loved the eerie atmosphere he created along with such detailed characters that weren't flat and one … It picks up in the last quarter of the books and the ending is fairly rewarding and chilling. Film Review: Ghost Story (1981) ... despite this initial reaction from fans of Straub’s work though, Ghost Story has rightly gone on to become somewhat of a classic for fans of supernatural horror. Old men running around town, fighting invisible demons can't that captivating, or can they? 3.0 out of 5 stars Ya it was good. The first half of Ghost Story is some of the best horror fiction I've ever read. Think Michael Jackson's Thriller at the drive-in movies. In Ghost Story, Straub employs the oft-used trope of the snowstorm to cut off the town from civilization. Yet, somehow I missed never reading anything by Straub. As more and more people die in the town, the citizens isolate themselves from each other. Reviewed in India on 4 April 2018. Ghost Story is widely considered to be Peter Straub's best novel and I can confirm it's fantastic. The problem with Ghost Story is that it's no more than that – rather nightmarish – it's not really scary and it won't leave you laying awake at night or make you look uneasily over you shoulder (unless you are extremely sensitive). As … Ghost Story is a classic of horror fiction and as such, it is far, far superior to any of the "slice and dice" horror stories or movies floating around out there. Indeed, sprinkled throughout the novel are sly winks and tips of the hat to many a genre figurehead, which is always fun … It's hard to review this book without talking about the Chowder Society as most of the story centres around this group of old men and their acquaintances. Simply stated, there is more opportunity for story and character development in a book than a film. Ghost Story is a book about the real horrors of life, those that we create ourselves, those that originate, not from without but from within.Straub is a masterful writer and his prose is terrific throughout. 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