Peter Straub | Author | LibraryThing

About the Author

Author Peter Straub was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1943. He earned degrees in English from the University of Wisconsin and Columbia University. He taught English at his former high school for three years and worked for a time on his doctorate in Ireland. He began writing in 1969 and published show more two books of poetry in 1972. His novel Julia (1975) was an attempt to find a successful genre in which to work, after his first novel, Marriages (1973), did not sell well. He found that he had a talent for writing horror thrillers in the Gothic tradition. His stories are complex and well paced, with authentic settings that add to the believability of the plot. He is particularly good at creating grotesque characters and gruesome situations; the eeriness of his work is captivating. He has won numerous awards including the British Fantasy Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the World Fantasy Award. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Image credit: photo by Bernard Gotfryd, 1984

Series

Blue Rose

American Fantastic Tales

The Talisman Series

Works by Peter Straub

Popular Recent

The Talisman (1984) 9,941 copies

Black House (2001) 7,592 copies

Ghost Story (1979) — Author — 3,846 copies

Shadowland (1980) — Author — 1,649 copies

Koko (1988) 1,474 copies

Floating Dragon (1983) 1,406 copies

Mystery (1990) 1,173 copies

Lost Boy Lost Girl (2003) 1,171 copies

The Throat (1993) 1,067 copies

The Hellfire Club (1996) 1,042 copies

Mr. X (1999) 875 copies

A Dark Matter (2010) 800 copies

In the Night Room (2004) 776 copies

Houses Without Doors (1990) 673 copies

Julia (1976) 535 copies

Poe's Children: The New Horror: An Anthology (2008) — Editor; Contributor — 461 copies

If You Could See Me Now (1977) 434 copies

Magic Terror (2000) 400 copies

American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from the 1940s to Now (2009) — Editor; Contributor — 268 copies

American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps (2009) — Editor — 264 copies

Conjunctions: 39, The New Wave Fabulists (2002) — Editor; Contributor — 197 copies

Blue Rose (1995) 179 copies

Mrs. God (1990) 153 copies

Pork Pie Hat (2010) 138 copies

The Talisman [and] Black House (1984) — Author — 103 copies

American Fantastic Tales: Boxed Set (2009) — Editor — 92 copies

A Special Place: The Heart of a Dark Matter (2009) 91 copies

The Green Woman (2010) 87 copies

Interior Darkness: Selected Stories (2016) 86 copies

The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine (2010) 78 copies

Under Venus (1984) 58 copies

The Horror Writers Association Presents Peter Straub's Ghosts (1995) 53 copies

Wild Animals: Three Novels : Julia, If You Could See Me Now, Under Venus (1984) 49 copies

Sides (2007) 48 copies

5 Stories (2008) 46 copies

The Buffalo Hunter (2012) 37 copies

The Juniper Tree and Other Blue Rose Stories (2010) 35 copies

The WaveDancer Benefit (2002) 22 copies

The Skylark (2009) 22 copies

Marriages (1973) 18 copies

Perdido (2015) 16 copies

The Process (is a Process All Its Own) (2017) 14 copies

A Little Blue Book Of Rose Stories (2007) 12 copies

The General's Wife (1982) 12 copies

Four Ghosts (Anthology 4-in-1) (2012) 12 copies

4 Killers (Anthology 4-in-1) (2013) — Contributor — 8 copies

Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff 7 copies

Leeson Park and Belsize Square (1983) 7 copies

The Ghost Village [novelette] 7 copies

Ashputtle {short story} (2007) 6 copies

The Complete Short Fiction of Peter Straub, Volume One (2021) 6 copies

The Talisman: Road of Trials #0 (2009) 6 copies

The Beauty of Death: The Gargantuan Book of Horror Tales (2016) 5 copies

The Complete Short Fiction of Peter Straub, Volume Two (2021) 5 copies

The Juniper Tree 5 copies

A Short Guide to the City [short fiction] 4 copies

Peter and PTR: Two Deleted Prefaces and an Introduction (1999) 4 copies

Superhorror (1990) 4 copies

Mr. Aickman's Air Rifle 3 copies

Under Venus / Julia / Marriages (1991) 3 copies

Under Venus [and] Marriages (2001) 3 copies

Hunger, an Introduction [short story] (1995) 2 copies

Koko. Trilogia della rosa blu (Vol. 1) (2020) 2 copies

Variations on a Theme From Seinfeld 2 copies

The Complete Short Fiction of Peter Straub 2 copies

Mystery/If This was Happiness/The Minotaur/Mothers (1990) — Contributor — 2 copies

Little Red's Tango 2 copies

Hauntings : The Official Peter Straub Bibliography (2000) 2 copies

Open Air (1972) 2 copies

Poems (in The Devil's Wine - KING) 1 copy

Lapland or Film Noir 1 copy

Isn't It Romantic? (2000) 1 copy

Something About A Death Something About A Fire 1 copy

The Complete Short Fiction of Peter Straub Vol. 2 1 copy

Ghosts 1 copy

The Complete Short Fiction of Peter Straub Vol. 1 1 copy

The Complete Short Fiction of Pater Straub, Volume Two 1 copy

Fee 1 copy

Autograph, Ghost Story - Author), 8x10 Pub. Photo 1 copy

Koko 1 (ココ　上) 1 copy

From "The throat" (Buffalo broadsides) 1 copy

i know what you are 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

Dracula (1897) — Introduction, some editions — 35,536 copies

The Sandman: Brief Lives (1994) — Afterword — 5,492 copies

The Stepford Wives (1972) — Introduction, some editions — 3,076 copies

Stories: All-New Tales (2010) — Contributor — 1,393 copies

Black Thorn, White Rose (1994) — Contributor — 1,121 copies

Too Many Cooks (1938) — Introduction, some editions — 986 copies

McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories (2004) — Contributor — 671 copies

Prime Evil: New Stories by the Masters of Modern Horror (1988) — Contributor — 604 copies

Are You Loathsome Tonight?: A Collection of Short Stories (1998) — Introduction — 598 copies

Secret Windows: Essays and Fiction on the Craft of Writing (2000) — Introduction, some editions — 560 copies

American Gothic Tales (1996) — Contributor — 462 copies

The Wine-Dark Sea (1988) — Introduction, some editions — 432 copies

Last Days (2010) — Introduction, some editions — 410 copies

Happily Ever After (2011) — Contributor — 298 copies

xo Orpheus: Fifty New Myths (2013) — Contributor — 277 copies

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Twelfth Annual Collection (1999) — Contributor — 266 copies

October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween (2000) — Contributor — 262 copies

The New Gothic: A Collection of Contemporary Gothic Fiction (1991) — Contributor — 257 copies

The Armless Maiden: And Other Tales for Childhood's Survivors (1995) — Contributor — 247 copies

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Eighteenth Annual Collection (2005) — Contributor — 223 copies

Beyond the Woods: Fairy Tales Retold (2016) — Contributor — 221 copies

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Sixth Annual Collection (1993) — Contributor — 209 copies

Fear Itself: The Horror Fiction of Stephen King (1982) — Introduction — 165 copies

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Fourth Annual Collection (1991) — Contributor — 154 copies

The Museum of Horrors (2001) — Contributor — 152 copies

My Favorite Horror Story (2007) — Introduction — 140 copies

The Best Horror of the Year Volume Four (2012) — Contributor — 136 copies

Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer (2010) — Contributor — 132 copies

Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror (2010) — Contributor — 129 copies

Cutting Edge (1985) — Contributor — 128 copies

The Monstrous (2015) — Contributor — 117 copies

Rage Against the Night (2011) — Contributor — 113 copies

Hauntings (2013) — Contributor — 112 copies

The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2010 Edition (2010) — Contributor — 106 copies

Foundations of Fear (1992) — Contributor — 98 copies

Metahorror (1988) — Contributor — 92 copies

The Best of the Best Horror of the Year: 10 Years of Essential Short Horror Fiction (2018) — Contributor — 87 copies

Borderlands 4 (1994) — Contributor — 86 copies

The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 10 (1999) — Contributor — 83 copies

Horror: Another 100 Best Books (2005) — Foreword, some editions — 82 copies

The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 11 (2000) — Contributor — 81 copies

Best New Horror 2 (1991) — Contributor — 78 copies

Halloween (2011) — Contributor — 74 copies

The Best Horror of the Year Volume Nine (2017) — Contributor — 73 copies

The Mammoth Book of the Best of Best New Horror (2010) — Contributor — 71 copies

Murder for Revenge (1998) — Contributor — 71 copies

Circus: Fantasy Under the Big Top (2012) — Contributor — 67 copies

Mister October: An Anthology in Memory of Rick Hautala (Volume 2) (2013) — Contributor — 63 copies

The Cutting Room: Dark Reflections of the Silver Screen (2014) — Contributor — 62 copies

The Best American Mystery Stories 2017 (2017) — Contributor — 60 copies

Mythic Journeys: Retold Myths and Legends (2019) — Contributor — 57 copies

Murder for Halloween: Tales of Suspense (1994) — Contributor — 54 copies

Best New Horror 4 (1993) — Contributor — 54 copies

Ghosts: Recent Hauntings (2012) — Contributor — 51 copies

The Mists from Beyond (1993) — Contributor — 50 copies

Turn Down the Lights (2013) — Contributor — 43 copies

Dark Terrors 5: The Gollancz Book of Horror (2000) — Contributor — 43 copies

Shadows of Fear (1994) — Contributor — 43 copies

Taverns of the Dead (2005) — Contributor — 41 copies

Dark Screams: Volume Three (2015) — Contributor — 41 copies

Dark Dreamers: Conversations with the Masters of Horror (1990) 38 copies

New York Fantastic: Fantasy Stories from the City that Never Sleeps (2017) — Contributor — 34 copies

Ghost Writing: Haunted Tales by Contemporary Writers (2000) — Contributor — 32 copies

Dark Screams: Volume Nine (2018) — Contributor — 31 copies

Bad Seeds: Evil Progeny (2013) — Contributor — 30 copies

Murder on the Run (Anthology 11-in-1) (1998) — Contributor — 30 copies

Last Drink Bird Head : A Flash Fiction Anthology for Charity (2009) — Contributor — 29 copies

Murder Among Friends (Anthology 11-in-1) (2000) — Contributor — 27 copies

Ghost Story [1981 film] (2004) — Original book — 24 copies

Dark Terrors 2 (1996) — Contributor — 24 copies

Nightmare Magazine, October 2012 (2012) — Contributor — 24 copies

Dark Terrors (1996) — Contributor — 22 copies

Murder in the Family (Anthology 12-in-1) (2002) — Contributor — 21 copies

The Giant Book of Terror (1994) — Contributor — 20 copies

Great Writers and Kids Write Spooky Stories (1995) — Contributor — 17 copies

Mister October: An Anthology in Memory of Rick Hautala (Volumes 1 and 2) (2013) — Contributor — 17 copies

Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown [2008 film] (2008) — Self — 15 copies

The Anthology of Dark Wisdom: The Best of Dark Fiction (2009) — Contributor — 14 copies

Conjunctions: 67, Other Aliens (2016) — Contributor — 14 copies

Detours (2015) — Author — 14 copies

Halloween Carnival Volume 5 (2017) — Author — 13 copies

Best New Horror #26: Anthology edited by Stephen Jones (2015) — Contributor — 12 copies

Cemetery Dance Issue 61 (2009) 11 copies

Night Shapes (Limited) (Signed) (1995) — Introduction — 8 copies

Legacies (2010) — Contributor — 8 copies

Nightmare Magazine, September 2013 (2013) — Contributor — 6 copies

By Moonlight Only (2003) — Contributor — 4 copies

Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine | May 1982 (1982) — Contributor — 2 copies

Fear #16 — Interview — 1 copy

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