Author Peter Straub, 79, died on September 4, 2022, after a long illness. Straub is an acclaimed and influential author of best-selling literary horror, dark fantasy and psychological thrillers.
Peter Francis Straub was born on March 2, 1943 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Wisconsin in 1965 and a master’s degree from Columbia University in 1966, before returning to Wisconsin to teach English for three years at his former private school. In 1969, he moved to Ireland and began a PhD at University College Dublin, but did not complete it. In 1972 he published two volumes of poetry, Ismail and The Open Air, and in 1973 his first mainstream novel, Ahern.
On the advice of his agent, Straub decided to try gothic fiction: the first horror novel, Julia, came out in 1975 and was later filmed as The Haunting of Julia. If you can now see Me (1977) a close second, but his breakthrough novel was the best-selling Ghost Story (1979), which went on to become a movie. His next supernatural novels were Shadowlands (1980) and British Fantasy Award winner The Drake (1983), followed by a number of mostly non-supernatural related works: the novella The Blue Rose (1985), World Fantasy Award winner Koko (1988), Mystery (1990) and Stoker Award winner The Throat (1993). Hellfire Club (1997) was a thriller, while Stoker-winning Mr. X (1999) was a throwback to the paranormal. Lost Boy Lost Girl (2003) won a Stoker and a World Fantasy Award, and the sequel In the Night Room (2004) won a Stoker.
Dark Matter (2010) won the Stoker Prize, while Lark (2010) was an “early version” of the novel, which Straub described as “a looser, more sloppy, A wilder version”. The novella A Special Place (2010) and The Process (Is a Process All Its Own) (2017) involve some of the same characters.
Straub’s “Amulet” (1984) with author Stephen King hit the bestseller list, and went on to work on the sequel “Dark Room” (2001) 17 years later.
Notable stories include the World Fantasy Award-winning novella “The Village of Ghosts” (1992), a Stoker and International Horror Society Award winner. Clubb and Mr. Cuff” (1998); and the Stoker Award-winning “Song of Ballard and Sandrine” (2011). His short stories are included in A House Without Doors (1990), Stoke Tok’s Award Winning Magical Horror (1997), 5 Tales (2007), Juniper and Other Tales (2010) and the retrospective “Indoor Darkness” (2016) and “Complete” of Peter Straub’s short stories Vol. and Volume II (2021). Some of his nonfiction books are included in Sides (2006).
He edited the HWA anthologies Peter Straub’s Ghosts (1995), Conjunctions 39: The New Wave Fabulists (2002), American Library Volume H.P. Lovecraft: Tales (2005), Poe’s Children (2008) and two volumes of American Fantasy Stories by American Library ; the latter won the World Fantasy Award. Bill Sheehan (2000) discusses his work at the foot of the story tree. As an occasional actor, he appeared in episodes of the soap opera One Life to Live from 2006 to 2009.