"Ghost Story" Review

I have reviewed movies in my life. I have reviewed books, but I have never reviewed something quite like "Ghost Story"—a book that reads like Christopher Nolan's Inception. I mean, not exactly, but damn Peter Straub's "Ghost Story" can be a little confusing. It's pretty much the "arthouse film" of horror books—a slow burn that says more through what it doesn't say.

The book follows five successful older men in a small town In New York. The men meet up regularly as a part of the "Chowder Society," where they share ghost stories. This takes a strange, reality-bending turn when their stories and dreams begin to reflect one on another en route to fighting the collective evil that brings them all together.

If that brief synopsis wasn't too confusing, trust me. The book is. It recounts the dreams of these men in a back and forth view of reality, splitting perspectives, which actually is similar to Inception, but the intangible quality of the plot is what makes the book what it is. It's a highly figurative text, displaying themes of good vs. evil, guilt, revenge, and personal demons. These are fleshed out through the characters' ultimate goal to each defeat their "own ghost." The book reveals its horror through how the character's view themselves, which serves as a terrifying place of personal relating for the reader. Since there is so much horror packed in the "background" of the story per se, the character's problem is a reflection of our own. Like most challenging pieces of art, the book requires some audience engagement in the way it tries to dig its claws into your mind.

The book, released in 1979, is similar to a Stephen King novel, specifically "Salem's Lot" and even "It," as this novel also follows the character's individual battle in facing their own horrors, unique to them. While great in concept, the book does drag in the middle when these dream sequences are told. It is very similar to the recent film adaption of "IT Chapter 2" in the way that it finds itself repeating what is ultimately the same idea in different forms, when the audience knows the bigger point to it all is coming up. You just have to read through the filler beforehand. Yeah, the characters are what makes the book thrive, but you have to think how it may have been better if it had only focused on maybe two or three people.

As the novel reaches its third act however, it picks up steam as the "villain" is unlike your typical conflict. Instead of being a really good version of a normal story bad guy vs. good guy story, this book's ending shows that it can create its own rules in the horror genre, digging deeper than even the majority of King novels. The end culminates in a way that leaves the reader fully satisfied with the themes that it pushes through, serving as a climactic finish to a story that is just waiting to be finished. Not in a boring way necessarily, rather it is just obvious that the conclusion is what the story is all about.

However, for many readers, its convoluted plot could get in the way of even wanting to be rewarded as it is a frustrating read. While not necessarily pretentious, its simply not a mainstream hit in any way shape or form. Loved by King in its obvious inspiration and high brow concepts, the common man may not be in for these types of psychological and introspective spooks.

However, if your own demons and mind is what weighs the heaviest in your love for horror, Ghost story is for you.

For that, I will give Peter Straub's Novel a B-minus.