Remembering novelist Peter Straub (1943-2022)
Author photo by Kyle Cassidy
Writer Peter Straub (1943-2022), author of horror, supernatural, and mystery fiction, died September 4 at age 79. His daughter, novelist Emma Straub, announced his death on Instagram.
In a career stretching nearly 50 years, his novels include Julia (1975); Ghost Story (1979); The Talisman (1984), which he co-wrote with Stephen King, winner of World and Locus Fantasy Awards; Koko (1988), winner of the 1989 World Fantasy Award; The Throat (1993), winner of the 1993 Bram Stoker Award; Mr. X (1999), winner of the 1999 Bram Stoker Award; Black House (2001), also with Stephen King; Lost Boy, Lost Girl (2003), winner of the 2003 Bram Stoker Award; In the Night Room (2004), winner of the 2004 Bram Stoker Award; and A Dark Matter (2010), winner of the 2010 Bram Stoker Award. Straub also published collections of poetry.
Straub received several literary honors, including the International Horror Guild Award, the British Fantasy Award, World Fantasy Award, and the Bram Stoker Award. At the World Fantasy Convention in 2010, he was given the WFC’s Life Achievement Award.
Straub’s novel Julia was adapted into the 1977 supernatural horror film The Haunting of Julia, directed by Richard Loncraine, and starring Mia Farrow and Keir Dullea. The story follows a woman who is haunted by the vengeful ghost of a young girl in her new home.
His novel Ghost Story was adapted into the 1981 supernatural horror film directed by John Irvin and starring Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman, Craig Wasson, and Alice Krige. The story follows a group of elderly businessmen who, years earlier, were involved in a woman’s death—and now one of them suspects her ghost is haunting him.
Stephen King posted on Twitter: “It’s a sad day because my good friend and amazingly talented colleague and collaborator, Peter Straub, has passed away. Working with him was one of the great joys of my creative life.”
