TCCDM Dig & Flip: "Ghost Story" - Peter Straub (1979 - Rei 2003)
Ghost Story
by Peter Straub
(1979 - Rei 2003)
Hardcover, 483 pages
NO SPOILERS:
For a horror novel of grand repute, Ghost Story is a slow-burn read. A simmering crockpot of atmosphere and characters. Knowing this going in will make all the difference for the reader. It did for me. Not the usual kind of pace that, say, Stephen King, who recommends this book highly, might ascribe to. Here, Peter Straub chooses a much different tempo and nails it. Ghost Story has a delicious claustrophobic vibe that works all through the story. I knew I was in good hands and settled in for the telling.
The story revolves around a small group of elderly, old-time, long-time friends who call themselves The Chowder Society. These small-town gentlemen socially meet to smoke a smoke, drink a drink while each take a turn swapping stories about odd things they remember. These stories slowly evolve into much darker, stranger shares. And somewhere among their stories, an unexpected connection begins to unfold. The story creepies along in a good way and I was all in.
(WARNING: Skip the nine-page introduction from Stephen King until AFTER reading Ghost Story.)
"The Garden of Earthly Delights" - United States Of America (1968)
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