Peter Straub – författare

One of the great classics of modern horror, set in a small New York town and filled with creeping dread.'The terror just mounts and mounts' Stephen KingIt began shortly after the party at which one of their members, Edward Wanderley, had died - or was killed. The Chowder Society, who for years had met in customary evening dress with the object of telling each other tales of every kind, now found themselves drawn towards the supernatural. It was some sort of solace for Edward's loss. They began to tell ghost stories, extraordinary ghost stories ... ghost stories that did not always stop when the teller finished speaking ... Then came the dreams, shared simultaneously by the Chowder Society members, forecasting horrors the four ageing men can scarcely bring themselves to discuss. And now they are about to learn what happens to those who believe they can bury the past - and get away with murder.Readers can't stop turning Ghost Story's pages:'A real haunting good read, the story drives you crazy in places' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Intelligent and ambitious . . . one of the best horror novels of the 20th century . . . the terror, sometimes expected, often unexpected, is measured out in precise and exact quantities' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'This beautifully written story of evil in a small town has a lot in common with Stephen King's IT . . . The stories of these men, the stories about the relatives of these men, and the stories about the town itself, wind around and through each other' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Probably the scariest book I ever read' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Loved this book! The setting, the characters, the atmosphere, the small town... some really creepy scenes. All of it just worked for me' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'This is actually one of the "scariest" books I've read so far as atmosphere and actual emotional scare goes' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Fantastic book if you like to be scared. Straub is a master of this genre' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'This is a book that combines the chill of the New York winter with the arthritic helplessness of old man nightmares . . . If you want to read some of the best writing that horror has to offer, read Ghost Story' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

The spellbinding saga of The Talisman is now a stunning graphic novel, vividly illustrated by artist Tony Shasteen. Here's a bold new look at the classic tale of treachery and betrayal that could only have sprung from the imaginations of master storytellers Stephen King and Peter Straub. In a run-down amusement park on a desolate beach in New Hampshire, thirteen-year-old Jack Sawyer is about to learn some hard truths-about his father's death, about why he and his mother are on the run from his sinister uncle Morgan, and about the real nature of the mysterious realm Jack once called the Daydreams. Now, with help from his newfound friend Speedy Parker, this young man will reclaim his identity as Travellin Jack and make his first foray back into the Territories to retrieve the magical Talisman, an object of immense cosmic significance. Yet even more important to Jack, the Talisman holds the key to saving his mother's life. In the Terrorities, where monsters lurk, evil watches, and an unbelievably precious prize awaits, Jack embarks upon a desperate quest to fulfill a destiny he never sought but cannot escape.

Peter Straub’s most acclaimed and biggest-selling novel – a visceral thriller with its roots in Vietnam – now reissued in a new cover style and making its first appearance on the HarperCollins list.‘KOKO… ’ Only four men knew what it meant. Vietnam vets. One was a doctor. One was a lawyer. One was a working stiff. One was a writer. All were as different as men could be – yet all were bound eternally together by a single shattering secret. And now they are joined together again on a quest that could take them from the graveyards and fleshpots of the Far East to the human jungle of New York, hunting an inhuman ghost of the past risen from nightmare darkness to kill and kill…

A classic tale of supernatural horror from the acclaimed author of Koko, The Talisman and Mr X. Now reissued in a new cover style. 'Floating Dragon racks you with suspense! Straub is a master at having whole communities rocked by the forces of wickedness.' Observer The terrors afflicting the sleepy town of Hampstead, Connecticut, were beyond imagination. Sparrows dropping dead from the trees like rotten fruit, disfiguring diseases spreading like wildfire, inexplicable murders and child drownings shattering the lives of the citizens -- never can such a list of horrors have afflicted one town. But the evil madness had a long history. A catastrophe had struck Hampstead every thirty years since its foundation 300 years before -- yet only Graham Williams, a writer and descendant of one of the original founders, had looked into the 'black summers' and their mysterious origins. When he discovers that descendants of the three other original settlers are back living in the town, he knows it will be the blackest summer yet!

The award-winning new supernatural thriller from the acclaimed author of Ghost Story, Koko, The Throat and The Talisman.Every year on his birthday, Ned Dunstan has a paralysing seizure in which he is forced to witness scenes of ruthless slaughter perpetrated by a mysterious figure in black whom he calls Mr X. Now, with his birthday fast approaching, Ned has been drawn back to his home town of Edgerton, Illinois, by a premonition that his mother is dying. On her deathbed, she imparts to him the name of his long-absent father and warns him that he is in grave danger. Despite her foreboding, he embarks on a search through Edgerton’s past for the truth behind his own identity and that of his entirely fantastic family. But when Ned becomes the lead suspect in three violent deaths, he begins to realize that he is not the only one who has come home…

A new collection of award-winning short stories from the acclaimed master of horror – author of the bestselling MR X, KOKO, THE TALISMAN and BLACK HOUSE.Welcome to another kind of terror as Peter Straub leads us into the outer reaches of the psyche. Here the master of the macabre is at his absolute best in seven exquisite tales of living, dying and the terror that lies in between…No one tells a story like Peter Straub. He dazzles with the richness of his plots and the eloquence of his prose. He startles you into laughter in the face of events so dark that you begin to question your own moral compass. Then he reduces you to jelly by spinning a tale so terrifying – and surprising – that you have to sleep with the lights on. Now, with these seven acclaimed stories he has given us his finest and most imaginatively unsettling collection yet.‘WHEN STRAUB TURNS ON ALL HIS JETS, NO ONE IN THE SCREAM FACTORY CAN EQUAL HIM.’STEPHEN KING

A classic tale of supernatural horror from the acclaimed author of Koko, The Talisman and Mr X.Now part of the Voyager Classics collection.IF YOUR SHADOW DOESN’T MOVE WHEN YOU DO, THEN YOU’RE IN SHADOWLANDIn a private school in New England, a friendship is forged between two boys that will change their lives for ever. As Del Nightingale and Tom Flanagan battle to survive the oppressive regime of bullying and terror overseen by the sadistic headmaster, Del introduces Tom to his world of magic tricks. But when they escape to spend the summer holiday together at Shadowland – the lakeside estate of Del’s uncle – their hobby suddenly takes on much more sinister tones. After a summer exploring the mysteries and terrors of Shadowland nothing will be the same.

A new psychological thriller from the co-author of the massive international No 1 bestseller BLACK HOUSE.From the ferocious imagination of Peter Straub springs a nerve-shredding new chiller about the persistence of evil.A woman kills herself for no apparent reason. A week later, her teenage son disappears. The vanished boy's uncle, Tim Underhill, returns to his home town of Millhaven to discover what he can. A madman known as the Sherman Park Killer has been haunting the neighbourhood, but Underhill believes that Mark's obsession with a local abandoned house is at the root of his disappearance. He fears that Mark came across its last and greatest secret – a lost girl, one who has coaxed Mark deeper and deeper into her mysterious domain. Only by following in their footsteps will Underhill uncover the shocking truth.

A dazzling new chilller from the bestselling author of KOKO and LOST BOY LOST GIRL.Award-winning children's book author Willy Patrick seems to be having a breakdown. Figures from her past are coming to visit her, most frighteningly her dead daughter, Holly, who was murdered together with Willy’s first husband. Then Willy discovers her mysterious fiancé may well have been responsible for the deaths of her husband and daughter.After fleeing the house they are renovating she runs into Tim Underhill, also an author haunted by the deaths of loved ones. In fact, his long-deceased nine-year-old sister recently appeared to him on the way to his favourite diner, and he's been getting strange emails from people in his home town – none of whom are still alive. But what really spooks him is the realization that Willy seems to be the heroine of the book he is currently working on, in precisely the mortal peril he has invented for her…

A dark, haunting, multi-layered story of detection and suspense from the acclaimed author of Koko, The Talisman and Mr X. First published in 1990 and now reissued in a new cover style.On the tiny Caribbean island of Mill Walk, the rich play tennis, polo and golf, trying to ignore the distasteful realities of life. So when Tom Pasmore, the grandson of a powerful establishment figure, develops a passion for detective work – particularly murder cases – his reputation undergoes a subtle darkening.One murder in particular fascinates Tom – the 1925 killing of Jeanine Thielman at Eagle Lake, a resort patronized only by the cream of the island’s upper crust community. But when he starts investigating the case, Tom arouses much more than mere disapproval. On the edge of a web of corruption, deceit and violence, he is in danger of uncovering the darkest secrets of the people who own and run Mill Walk.

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GHOST STORYForty years ago, Spenser Mallon led a group of young students to witness a brutal, ritual murder. The survivors never recovered. Now, it seems, he's back...It is the 1960s and the charismatic and cunning Spenser Mallon is a campus guru, attracting the devotion and demanding sexual favours of his young acolytes. After he invites his most fervent followers to attend a secret ritual in a local meadow, the only thing that remains is a gruesomely dismembered body - and the shattered souls of all who were present.Years later, one man attempts to understand what happened to his wife and his friends by writing a book about this horrible night, and it's through this process that they begin to examine the unspeakable events that have bound them in ways they cannot fathom, but that have haunted every one of them throughout their lives. As each of the old friends tries to come to grips with the darkness of the past, they find themselves face to face with the evil triggered so many years earlier...