Ghost Story

Rating:
Summary: Great Ghost Story
Review: Well written yarn. Probably Peter Straub's best. His later stuff is not as good, but this is right up there with the best contemporary novels of its genre. They really botched the movie but this book is very entertaining and spooky.

Rating:
Summary: The grandest of the grand
Review: Few if any have ever crafted such a fine novel- while Poe's short stories offered a similar punch none have mastered the horror novel like Peter Straub has done with "Ghost Story". While admitedly the story begins very slowly it is elequoently written through-out and is unmatched it terms of shear terror. Shirley Jackson may have written with as much beauty and King may have tales that are simliar in fright,however neither combine both as has Peter Straub in "Ghost Story"

Rating:
Summary: The scariest book ever!
Review: This was by far the scariest book I've ever read. It takes a lot to scare me, but this book did. It starts off a little slow, but once I got into it, I couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: OK but somewhat disappointing
Review: Basically a group of elderly storytellers are attacked by the ghost of a shape-shifter they accidentally killed years before! The suspense is good, and I thought the characters were OK, but the story didn't really make a lot of sense and the ending was disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: READ THIS BOOK AT ALL COSTS
Review: I read this book years ago, and have not read a better horror novel since. Mr. Straub has become one of my favorite authors, and I have read everything of his that I could get my hands on. With the exception of HELLFIRE CLUB he has yet to disapoint. KOKO even came close to equalling the power of GHOST STORY, but sadly did not quite measure up. Read the book, forget about the movie.

Rating:
Summary: The scariest book I've read, but not the best Straub book
Review: This book scared me like nothing I've ever read, and I actually studied ghost stories in college. If you are after pure horror, this may be the best book you'll ever read. However, it was not, in my opinion, the best, most intelligent or most disturbing book by Straub (both KOKO and THE THROAT were better, in my opinion, and SHADOWLAND was close). The ending was also somewhat confusing, but the main plot (and there are several plots) is an absolute classic that ranks above anything J.S. Lefanu or Stephen King ever wrote. The movie based on the main plot and is somewhat silly, but worth seeing if, and only after, you've read the book.

Rating:
Summary: THE scariest book I ever read
Review: I read this book for the first time while in high school and it has remained a favorite. The beginning is slow, but soon you are caught up in it and can't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: One of the scariest books I've ever read.
Review: I thought the beginning was a little confusing, but once I got into it I couldn't stop reading- it actually took me just two afternoons to finish the book. Although I don't really understand why everybody thinks it's so much like Steven King. I've never been a big fan of King's, but absolutely love this one. Much better than any Stephen King book I've ever read (maybe I haven't read enough of them?). I agree that the ending could have been abit better though.

Rating:
Summary: simply AWESOME
Review: the scariest book i've ever read. period. stephen king gives it more eloquent praise in "Danse Macabre," and his words should carry more weight than any of mine. great characters, great narrative, great and polished style, great theme of the long-term effects of unexpatiated sin.

Rating:
Summary: The movie is far better
Review: I don't think I've ever given up on a book with only 100 pages or so to go, but I did this with this one. I just browsed through the remaining pages to see if it got better at any point (it didn't). I was very disappointed by this book, I expected something better considering all the praise it has received, and also I had seen the movie and I had found it very scary and haunting. In fact the change of concept in the movie (to make Eva a ghost coming back to haunt her killers, instead of this obnoxious shape-changing thing) was a winner. This book is Stephen King at his silliest, with all that stuff about characters behaving erratically because of some supernatural and all-seeing influence, etc. but I have to say that even at his worst King can infuse more spirit, interest and life to his stories and characters. If you are die-hard fan of Stephen King's IT and suchlike books, you may like this one; otherwise, don't bother.