The Horror Writers Association Presents Peter Straub's Ghosts
They are dream-spinners weaving macabre nightmares...phantasmic voices whispering words of dread...spectral visions taunting you into an early grave. They are ghosts, young and ancient, mischievous and maniacal, glimmering and ghoulish. Now, journey with Peter Straub, one of today's best ghost storytellers, as he and fourteen other premier peddlers of gooseflesh take you into the shivery haunts of "Ghosts."
Beginning with Straub's "Hunger," a magnificent story about the cravings of the restless dead, here are stories "never" to be read past nightfall .stories of an unholy seductress gorging on men's souls...a Hollywood B moviemaker unexpectedly cast in the role of ghostwriter...a psychic investigator who unearths far more than he bargained for...and a burned out novelist desperately seeking the phantom muses of his childhood....
CONTENTS
Hunger: An Introduction by Peter Straub
DARK:
Styx by Norman Partridge
Jubilee by Kathe Koja
Not Far From Here by Tim Smith
THE KIDS:
Momma Ghost by Alan Rodgers
Daddy's Girl by Gordon R. Ross
Coventry Carol by Chet Williamson
MOM AND DAD:
And He Who Mourns by David B. Silva
His Mother's Hands by Clark Perry
COLD:
Bill Smith's Sleigh Ride by Tyson Blue
Sotto Voce by Lawrence Greenberg
A Real Babe by Brad Linaweaver
OUR WORK:
Looking For Mr. Flip by Thomas F. Monteleone
Present In Spirit by Don D'Ammassa
The Wedding Party by Paul M. Sammon
312 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,1995
This edition
- Format
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312 pages, Paperback
- Published
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April 1, 1995 by Pocket
- ISBN
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9780671885991
- ASIN
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0671885995
- Language
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English
About the author
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).
