Reviews

Ghost Story by Peter Straub

shalini_gunnasan's review against another edition

4.0

A very engaging read, despite some slow parts. Would definitely hold up to a second read, despite knowing the ending. Psychological horror rarely disappoints and the author has mixed straight up horror and psych horror beautifully.

connorreads_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Ghost story was a great slow burn. I wasn't a big fan of the style and the ending isn't fabulous but nonetheless I would recommend this to any reader who enjoys a story that builds and builds with tense, dread inducing scenes.

alicemaryblanks14's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

erinmayyxx's review against another edition

Weird sex scene 

cneukom's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.5

hollyj13's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

obenn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

billymac1962's review against another edition

2.0

First off, let me say that this is a very good story, and it had its scary moments. But I think I have some sort of problem with Peter Straub's writing. I can't quite put my finger on it but at times it seems long winded and confusing. Where with Dan Simmons and Orson Scott Card their words just seem to effortlessly flow into my mind, I find there are times when I need to reread Straub's sentences. This doesn't happen a whole lot, mind you, but it got annoying when it did, and I was glad to finally finish it. But hey, that's just me. I figure Straub simply doesn't "click" with me so I think it would be unfair for me to
criticize this novel. I've read Shadowland (it was OK) and Mystery (found the ending terribly unsatisfying) and felt I should read this, his "best" work.
As far as the story goes, I was a little disappointed that there weren't more Chowder Society ghost stories within the main story, which I was expecting. I thought the characters were well drawn, though. I very much enjoyed Ricky, Sears, Lewis and John, and would love to sit in on more
Chowder Society sessions.
So...overall, did I like it? Wellllll....yeah. If you like Peter Straub you will love this.

scottcampbell's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.5

blackenedwhiplash's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I know a lot of horror novel fans adore this novel including Stephen King himself, but this was underwhelming for me. A lot of it is that personally I wasn't a fan of the way Straub structured the plot, the style and pacing. There's nothing inherently wrong with how the book is written and laid out but it just doesn't satisfy my taste. But some of why I didn't love this novel is less subjective. For one, most characters have as much personality as a wet sock. I didn't feel like I got close to any character and no character had enough uniqueness to stand out and pique interest. For another thing, there are plot holes especially relating to the main villain and their motives/explanation of what's going on. And even then, the explanation of what/why everything is happening is lame as fuck tbh. The plot goes by so slowly and yet the ending is anticlimactic and feels unfinished. Honestly, this book suffers much of what Tommyknockers by Stephen King also suffers from. It has some fantastic scenes peppered throughout a slog of boring scenes. The prose is decent and some of the horror scenes are creepy and very effective, but it always seems to meander once it starts to get great. There is a lot of potential here, but IMO the execution is largely weak, with enough great parts to keep your attention enough to the end. Not a bad book, but I would hasten to say it's a good one. It is good enough that I am interested to check out other works by the same author and see how he fares in a different story.