Peter Straub
American novelist who brought a poet's sensibility to horror fiction.
Peter Francis Straub was an American novelist and poet known for his work in horror and supernatural fiction. He achieved critical and commercial success with novels such as Ghost Story and The Talisman, the latter co-written with Stephen King. Straub also received major literary honors including the Bram Stoker Award, World Fantasy Award, and International Horror Guild Award.
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Peter Francis Straub
- Born
- 2 March 1943
- Birthplace
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
- Died
- 4 September 2022
- Place of death
- New York City, New York, U.S.
- Occupation
- Novelist, poet
- Spouse
- Susan Bitker Straub (1966)
- Children
- Benjamin Straub, Emma Straub
Facts from the source article.
Early life and education
Straub was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Gordon Anthony Straub and Elvena (Nilsestuen) Straub. At age seven, he was struck by a car and hospitalized for months, using a wheelchair until he relearned to walk; he later said the accident made him prematurely aware of his own mortality. He read extensively as a child, though his father hoped he would become a professional athlete and his mother wanted him to be a Lutheran minister. In high school, he discovered Thomas Wolfe, Jack Kerouac, and jazz music. Straub earned an honors BA in English from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1965 and an MA from Columbia University a year later. He briefly taught English at Milwaukee Country Day, then moved to Dublin, Ireland, to work on a Ph.D. and begin writing seriously.
Career
After two mainstream novels in the mid-1970s, Straub turned to the supernatural with Julia (1975), citing the success of The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, and The Other as opening room for newcomers. He followed with If You Could See Me Now (1977) and gained widespread attention with Ghost Story (1979), later loosely adapted into a 1981 film. He published Shadowland in 1980 and Floating Dragon, which won the August Derleth Award. With Stephen King, he coauthored The Talisman (1984). After a fallow period, he released Koko (1988), the first of the Blue Rose Trilogy, followed by Mystery (1990) and The Throat (1993). Later works include The Hellfire Club (1996), Mr. X (1999), the sequel Black House (2001) with King, and the Bram Stoker Award–winning Lost Boy, Lost Girl (2003) and In the Night Room (2004). He edited the Library of America volume H. P. Lovecraft: Tales (2005) and the anthology American Fantastic Tales (2009).
Reception and influence
Critical essays on Straub's horror work appear in S. T. Joshi's The Modern Weird Tale (2001) and Bill Sheehan's At the Foot of the Story Tree; John C. Tibbetts wrote The Gothic Worlds of Peter Straub. In Andrew Shaffer's Secret Santa, a character refers to Stephen King, Anne Rice, and Straub as the unholy trinity of horror. Stephen King said Straub brought a poet's sensibility to the field, creating a synthesis of horror and beauty, and that he was a modern writer equal to Philip Roth though he wrote about fantastic things. Neil Gaiman called Straub one of the best writers he had read. Songwriter Nick Cave alluded to Straub's work in songs on two albums; Straub said he was pleased by the honor. Paul Tremblay dedicated his 2024 novel Horror Movie to Straub's memory.
Personal life and death
Straub married Susan Bitker in 1966; they had two children, Benjamin and novelist Emma Straub. The family lived in Dublin from 1969 to 1972, in London from 1972 to 1979, and in the New York City area from 1979 onward. He named Henry James as his favorite writer, though he also admired Raymond Chandler, Charles Dickens, and others. A jazz aficionado, he discovered the music as a boy in Milwaukee and gravitated toward Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Clifford Brown, Bill Evans, and Miles Davis; he was also intensely interested in opera and classical music. Straub died on September 4, 2022, aged 79, from complications of a broken hip. At the time, he and his wife lived in Brooklyn.
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