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Peter Straub’s Ghost Story is my first read of 2025!

I started this book around Halloween last year, but finishing it took me a while. I picked it up after reading Stephen King’s high praise. And I’ve also enjoyed the books the two co-wrote (‘The Talisman’, ‘Black House’). I adore King’s slow-burn, small-town epics, so I went into this one expecting the same.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me.

Like King, Straub sets up a town’s worth of characters and a curious supernatural mystery. The atmospheric, snowy setting lingers on every page. The prologue, in particular, hooked me: a man kidnaps a young girl for reasons we don’t yet understand. But after that strong start, the story began to lose its grip on me.

The narrative shifts to a group of older men telling ghost stories. Straub punctuates this with extended, meandering explorations of the town and its people. While this setup has potential, I struggled to stay engaged. The pacing felt slow, with stretches where little happened. Some plot points felt underdeveloped or convoluted. I also found the dialogue and character behaviour hard to connect with.

I wanted to love this book. I gave it my all, but I struggled to stay invested. Even the conclusion, which Straub built up over hundreds of pages, felt anticlimactic.

That said, I see why others might enjoy it. Straub’s writing creates a strong sense of place, and the atmosphere is perfect for a cold night. Yet, it lacked the urgency and tension that makes a slow-burn story rewarding.

I wish it had lived up to its initial promise.

⭐⭐☆☆☆

I read Stephen King’s ‘The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, #2)’ as my next book for 2024.

I’m continuing along with my revisit to the world of the Dark Tower. Book two, in my previous opinion, was where the series started in earnest. The first book was necessary to kickstart the story, but it always felt like the black sheep of the family to me. It wasn’t until I got to book two that I thought, ‘Yeah, I can see why this gets so much love.’

Does the book still stand up in my estimations?

If you know me, you can guess my answer: without a doubt.

The story follows Roland, the last gunslinger, as he reaches the coast, following the end of book one. An encounter with a sea creature leaves him wounded. Struggling with blood poisoning, staggering along the beach, he finds a door in the sand. From there, the story rockets off into the stratosphere. ‘The Drawing…’ is King in his prime, firing on all cylinders. The action gets so intense that it’s unbelievable. I won’t spoil the events, but if you struggled with ‘The Gunslinger’, your payoff begins here.

I first read ‘The Drawing…’ when I was a teen passionate about books. King spellbound me then. I have now reread the book as an adult who also writes as a hobby. King has me in awe – this is a master of his craft flexing his muscles.

Flawless.

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Book Review: ‘Ghost Story’ by Peter Straub

Book Review: ‘The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, #2)’ by Stephen King