Ghost Story (1979) was massive, in the sense that it was a hugely successful blockbuster (and a hit with the critics on top of that), and also it was rather long. But then came the book, the one that would change Straub’s life. Next came If You Could See Me Now (1977), which was, as I recall, a story of supernatural paranoia. First came Julia (1975), which was adapted cinematically as The Haunting of Julia in 1977.
Straub went from not setting the world on fire as a writer to setting the world on fire as a writer. Presumably there was some reason his agent thought this was a good idea, because one doesn’t just float out a suggestion like that for no reason, and I’m left imagining a combination of Straub expressing affinity for the genre, and the fact this was during the Horror Boom of 1970s and ’80s, which gave good and bad writers alike a place at the table. When those failed to make a dent in the market, Straub’s agent suggested he try writing a Gothic novel. Peter Straub, who passed away this past September at age 79, began his literary career writing poetry and mainstream novels.
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