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Title: Ghost Story by Peter Straub ISBN: 0-671-68563-5 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1989 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.26 (77 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: One of the Best Horror Novels Ever
Comment: I read Ghost Story for the first time as a teenager and read a lot of horror, when the book was new. I don't read as much horror now, but wanted to revisit this one. It holds up surprising well. In fact, as an adult, I identify more with the Chowder Society members. Fear means something different as we get older, and this book seems to understand that. Don Wanderly's reactions to the events in Milburn are markedly different to the older men.
The movie version captured only a fraction of the book and is largely unsuccessful. It is worth seeing, though, for Fred Astaire's portrayal of Ricky Hawthorne. It was Astaire's last film and he is wonderful. It's especially fun to hear his character say that he can't dance!
Rating: 5
Summary: "What's the most terrible thing you've ever done?"
Comment: "What's the most terrible thing you've ever done?"
"I won't tell you that, but I'll tell you the worst thing that ever happened to me...the most dreadful thing" This is how the book opens and comes to life. Boy, does it ever! I first read "Ghost Story" 22 years ago when I was 17 years old. I remember the movie coming out shortly after I read it. The movie version is okay, but really chops up the book. Where is the Lewis Benedikt character in the movie? ... and Edward Wanderly is the mayor of Milburn? No, I'm not going to do a review of the movie, but I must say, that if you really want to enjoy this classic book called "Ghost Story", by all means, read the book where the characters are so rich and full of life.
In Milburn, New York, Ricky Hawthorne, Sears James, Edward Wanderly, Lewis Benedikt and John Jaffrey are young friends on their way to professions in law and medicine. They accidentally kill a woman named Eva Galli. This group living in the 1920s panic and they decide the only thing they can do, cover up Eva's death. They put her "dead" body in a car that was loaned to them and together, push the vehicle into a lake. When the car is sinking they notice something that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Eva moves ("Jesus, she can't, she's dead!"). But yes, it appears that Eva is still alive and they see that she is grinning at them from the rear view window. Grinning! In the book, "Ghost Story" is a tale of supernatural revenge and the Eva Galli character is indeed very evil.
Return 50 years later to Milburn. The group of men are now called the Chowder Society. They have regular meetings and swap Ghost Stories, but have vowed not to speak of Eva Galli and her death. Suddenly, Edward Wanderly dies while interviewing a young actress named Anne-Veronica Moore at a party hosted by John Jaffrey. Edward apparently dies of fright. The remaining members of the Chowder Society are possessed by terrible nightmares where they die. They send for Edwards's young nephew, Don Wanderly, who is a writer of horror novels. Don wrote a recent book called "The Nightwatcher" based, we learn later, on his own experiences with Eva, known to him as Alma Mobley.
Peter Straub wrote a very cerebral book. Ghosts, known in the book as shape shifters, are entities that have been around when humans first began to gather knowledge. "We (Alma talking to Don inside one of Don's hallucinations) have always lived in your dreams and in your worst nightmares" ... the most dreadful thing!
5 Stars!
Rating: 1
Summary: Do not buy this book for any use other than a sleep aid
Comment: After reading so many good reviews on this book, I decided to get it and give it a shot. I had read something by the same author many years ago and remember disliking his writing style (I felt it was on a 6th grade level), so I stayed away for a while. While I don't feel that the book was poorly written, it definitely was NOT good. At all.
This book is not scary. This book is not good. It's not even interesting. About 50% through the book there was one "tense moment," and the rest was drivel. By the end of this predictable book, I just couldn't wait for it to end. Finishing this book was a sheer act of willpower, and an agonizing few days. I would never read this book again, or recommend it to anyone. I will probably never read this author again either. I can't believe the book has so many positive reviews, it boggles my mind...
(...)
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Title: Hell House by Richard Matheson ISBN: 0312868855 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 13 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Shadowland by Peter Straub ISBN: 0425188221 Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: 04 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson ISBN: 0140071083 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: June, 1984 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Mystery by Peter Straub ISBN: 0451168690 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: January, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Throat by Peter Straub ISBN: 0451179188 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: May, 1999 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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