New Releases by Peter Straub

“As if Harry Potter was written for grown-ups, Peter Straub’s Shadowland delivers carnage, blood, pain, fairy tales, and flashes of joy and wonder, just like real magic.”—Grady Hendrix You have been there...if you have ever been afraid. Come back. To a dark house deep in the Vermont woods, where two friends are spending a season of horror, apprenticed to a Master Magician. Learning secrets best left unlearned. Entering a world of incalculable evil more ancient than death itself. More terrifying. And more real. Only one of them will make it through.

The fourth issue of Penumbra, Hippocampus Press''s acclaimed journal of weird fiction, criticism, and poetry contains an abundance of short and powerful tales from such leading writers as Geoffrey Reiter, Michael Aronovitz, Joe Pan, and Scott J. Couturier. The issue also highlights the work of weird writers around the world, from Harris Coverley and Dmitri Akers (Australia) to Norbert Góra (Poland) to Arthur Staaz (Northern Ireland). Among the articles in the issue, Deborah Bridle studies two stories by China Miéville for their probing of the fraught issue of climate change. Peter Straub''s work is analyzed by John C. Tibbetts; his article includes extracts of an interview with Straub. James Goho discusses the weird work of the Irish writer Dorothy Macardle, Marcos Legaria examines lesser-known writings by C. L. Moore, and David Rose illuminates the work of Brian McNaughton. Darrell Schweitzer presents a groundbreaking interview with leading contemporary weird writer John Langan. In a special section, the pulp writer Anthony M. Rud''s story of Australian terror, "Bunyips in the Mulga," is reprinted, with analyses of that work by the Australian scholars Ellen J. Greenham and Duncan Norris. This issue of Penumbra also features the verse of a dozen poets, including Ann K. Schwader, John Shirley, Leigh Blackmore, Wade German, and DJ Tyrer. All in all, the issue provides a rich and varied feast for the devotee of the weird.

VOICES IN THE DARK is an new anthology of horror from some of the best writers in the dark fiction community. Each story reflects on nightmares that lurk within the dark side of all of us. A darkness which can consume us completely, blocking out all things good in the world, our voices the only defense against those that dare to threaten us. Featuring 16 haunting stories by Lucy A. Snyder, Peter Straub, Mick Garris, Christina Sng, Gwendloyn Kiste, Paul Tremblay, Matthew R. Davis, Chris Mason, David Wellington, Jason Stokes, Tim Waggoner, Eric J. Guignard, Rio Youers, Christopher Sartin, Normal Prentiss, and Hannah Elizabeth. "Voices in the Dark: A Charity Anthology for Disability and Mental Health Awareness gathers some of the most notable names in the business. Not only will you delight in these amazing stories, you''ll also be supporting a very worthy cause. Don''t hesitate! Editors Alain Davis, Steve Dillon, and Eugene Johnson have created something very special." -John Palisano, Bram Stoker Award-Winning author of Ghost Heart, President of The Horror Writers Association

Peter Straub has created a body of short stories and novellas establishes him as one of the best literary voices in the genres of horror and dark suspense. His list of accomplishments and awards is staggering: In addition to the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writers Association, Life Achievement World Fantasy Award, Grand Master Award from World Horror, Living Legend Award from the International Horror Guild, he has won the Bram Stoker Award nine times, the World Fantasy Award three times, and one British Fantasy Award. He remains a living legend. Volume two features Peter''s novellas. Included in this collection: Blue Rose The Buffalo Hunter Mrs. God Bunny Is Good Bread Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff Pork Pie Hat A Special Place: the Heart of a Dark Matter The Process (is a Process All Its Own)

#1 New York Times bestselling author Peter Straub''s classic tale of horror, secrets, and the dangerous ghosts of the past... What was the worst thing you''ve ever done? In the sleepy town of Milburn, New York, four old men gather to tell each other stories--some true, some made-up, all of them frightening. A simple pastime to divert themselves from their quiet lives. But one story is coming back to haunt them and their small town. A tale of something they did long ago. A wicked mistake. A horrifying accident. And they are about to learn that no one can bury the past forever...

The eighth in the first series of Little Books from Borderlands Press is A Little Blue Book of Rose Stories. This is a collection of two of Peter Straub''s stories which center around the "Blue Rose" mysteries which have been featured in some of his best novels. Stories included in this collection: "Blue Rose" "The Juniper Tree"

Peut-on mourir de son imagination ? Willy Patrick, célèbre auteur du roman jeunesse maintes fois récompensé Le Cabinet noir, est en train de perdre l''esprit. Une fois de plus. Irrésistiblement attirée dans un parking désert, elle a la conviction que sa fille Holly y est retenue prisonnière. Or, Holly est morte. Le même jour, l''écrivain Timothy Underhill, qui tente depuis des mois de terminer un roman sur une jeune femme en perdition, est confronté au fantôme de sa fille de neuf ans, April. Il commence à recevoir des emails incomplets et angoissants de personnes issues de son passé - toutes décédées depuis bien longtemps. Lorsque Willy et Timothy se rencontrent, les inquiétantes ressemblances entre le deuil tragique de Willy et l''histoire du manuscrit de Timothy vont les conduire à unir leurs forces contre les ombres qui les entourent... avant que celles-ci ne se referment sur leur raison. « L''une des oeuvres les plus remarquables de la longue carrière de Peter Straub. » Publishers Weekly « Avec Night Room, Straub transcende les conventions de la littérature d''horreur. » Bookmark Magazine « Imaginatif et prenant aux tripes. » Booklist « Peter Straub est peut-être l''auteur de suspense contemporain le plus important. » Lincoln Child

« Une variation étourdissante sur le thème fantastique du double. Un très grand livre. » Jacques Baudou, Le Monde Chaque année depuis l''enfance, le jour de son anniversaire, Ned Dunstan expérimente le même phénomène traumatique : il se retrouve confronté dans une scène de cauchemar d''une violence hallucinée à un impitoyable meurtrier en noir, qu''il appelle « Mr X ». Lorsqu''il retourne voir sa mère mourante en Illinois, dans la petite ville où il a grandi, Ned apprend enfin la véritable identité de son père et surtout les secrets inavouables concernant sa famille. Des secrets étrangement liés à un certain homme en noir, bien trop familier...

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Story and an American icon of horror explores the deepest, shadow-filled corners of his imagination in these sixteen stories. • "Straub''s shorter fictions are like tiny novels you drown in: perfectly pitched, terrifyingly smart, big-hearted, dangerous, and even cruel.” —Neil Gaiman, bestselling author of The Sandman No one and no place is safe from the darkness that he reveals. In “Blue Rose,” an adolescent sociopath inflicts secret violence on his younger brother; in “Mr Clubb and Mr. Cuff,” a stern estate lawyer hires a pair of "Private Detectives Extraordinaire" to investigate and seek revenge on his unfaithful wife; and in “The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine,” a man and his much younger lover explore their decadent and increasingly sinister fantasies aboard a luxurious yacht on the remotest stretch of the Amazon River. Interior Darkness is a thrilling and terrifying testament to Straub''s unparalleled contribution to the world of horror.

“Superstar editor Datlow makes no missteps...." —Publishers Weekly Take a terrifying journey with literary masters of suspense, including Peter Straub, Kim Newman, and Caitlín R. Kiernan, visiting a place where the other is somehow one of us. These electrifying tales redefine monsters from mere things that go bump in the night to inexplicable, deadly reflections of our day-to-day lives. Whether it''s a seemingly devoted teacher, an obsessive devotee of swans, or a diner full of evil creatures simply seeking oblivion, the monstrous is always there—and much closer than it appears.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Story—the terrifying, “electrifying” novel (Stephen King) about a man who flees the wreckage of his life to face the ghosts of his past, only to encounter a sinister force, ready to kill. One summer night in 1955, a boy and his cousin plunge naked into the moonlit waters of a rural quarry. Only one of them emerges. Just as he had promised he would on that fateful night two decades earlier, Miles Teagarden—now divorced and a struggling writer—returns to his family home in Arden, Wisconsin. But the landscape he once knew so well has turned eerie and threatening. In the small town, his erstwhile friends and rivals, even his blood relatives, view him with suspicion. Their paranoia seems justified when another beautiful blonde teenage girl goes missing—much as his cousin Alison did all those years ago. Miles feels a dark force is at work, gathering strength. As the anniversary of the tragic night approaches, he begins to fear that Alison will find a way to make their date . . .

Peter Straub, Jack Ketchum, Darynda Jones, Jacquelyn Frank, and Brian Hodge contribute five gloomy, disturbing tales of madness and horror to Dark Screams: Volume Three, edited by Brian James Freeman and Richard Chizmar of the celebrated Cemetery Dance Publications. THE COLLECTED SHORT STORIES OF FREDDIE PROTHERO by Peter Straub A mere child yet a precocious writer, young Freddie records a series of terrifying encounters with an inhuman being that haunts his life . . . and seems to predict his death. GROUP OF THIRTY by Jack Ketchum When an award-winning horror writer on the downward slope of a long career receives an invitation to address the Essex County Science Fiction Group, he figures he’s got nothing to lose. He couldn’t be more wrong. NANCY by Darynda Jones Though she’s adopted by the cool kids, the new girl at Renfield High School is most drawn to Nancy Wilhoit, who claims to be haunted. But it soon becomes apparent that poltergeists—and people—are seldom what they seem. I LOVE YOU, CHARLIE PEARSON by Jacquelyn Frank Charlie Pearson has a crush on Stacey Wheeler. She has no idea. Charlie will make Stacey see that he loves her, and that she loves him—even if he has to kill her to make her say it. THE LONE AND LEVEL SANDS STRETCH FAR AWAY by Brian Hodge When Marni moves in next door, the stale marriage of Tara and Aidan gets a jolt of adrenaline. Whether it’s tonic or toxic is another matter. Praise for Dark Screams: Volume Three “Well worth picking up and reading . . . If you have not tried the series yet, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of any (or all) of the books for yourself.”—Examiner.com “Freeman and Chizmar have brought their A-game to Dark Screams: Volume Three. If you pick just one installment in this series to read, pick this one.”—LitReactor “Another winner.”—HorrorTalk “A gathering of perfect little bites of fiction . . . As you finish one story you’ll definitely be ready to move on to the next one.”—Sweet Southern Home “Every story has something to offer for horror fans. They’re creepy, thought-provoking, scary and quick reads.”—The Reader’s Hollow “[Horror] needs to hit you in the sweet spot where the amygdala and the cerebrum whisper to each other, where intellect and emotion intertwine, and all of these stories do that, and they do it well.”—Bibliotica “A fun, frightful read . . . If the editors keep raising the bar, I’ll be back again and again.”—Atomic Fangirl

Darrell Schweitzer assembles another massive collection of monstrously fun interviews with the stars of modern horror fiction, including: Joe R. Lansdale Carrie Vaughn Lisa Tuttle Kim Newman Fred Chappell Elizabeth Massie Brian A. Hopkins Harry O. Morris Sephera Giron S.P. Somtow Hugh B. Cave Robert Weinberg Gahan Wilson Ramsey Campbell David J. Schow Graham Joyce Brian Lumley Peter Strau

TOM REQUIEM Clive Barker LITTLE RED''S TANGO Peter Straub HOLOGRAM SKULL COVER Jeff Strand LUX ET VERITAS Thomas F. Monteleone DEVOTION J. F. Gonzalez INN CLEANING Stephen R. Bissette BREATHE MY NAME Christopher Golden MAGDALA AMYGDALA Lucy A. Snyder THE BOHEMIAN OF THE ARBAT Sarah Pinborough JOHNSTOWN Brian Keene ROAD KILL (A Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. story) Kevin J. Anderson JUST BREATHE Tim Lebbon CATFISH GAL BLUES Nancy A. Collins ILLIMITABLE DOMINION Kim Newman INDEPENDENCE DAY Sarah Langan THE GHOST OF LILLIAN BLISS Rio Youers HOTLINE Jack Ketchum THE LIGHT OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS John Skipp WAR STORIES James A. Moore IT''S... Amber Benson THE DREAMCATCHER Nate Kenyon KRISTALL TAG Holly Newstein GHOST TRAP Rick Hautala

Featuring original short stories by Stephen King, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Norman Partridge, Jack Ketchum, Brian James Freeman, Bentley Little, Ed Gorman, Ronald Kelly, and Steve Rasnic Tem! It was December 1988: George Bush had just defeated Michael Dukakis in the Presidential Election. Pitcher Orel Hershiser and the Los Angeles Dodgers had beaten the Oakland A''s in five games to win the World Series. People were waiting in line at movie theaters to watch Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man. Tom Clancy''s The Cardinal of the Kremlin and Anne Rice''s The Queen of the Damned were atop the bestseller lists. The most acclaimed genre books of the year were Thomas Harris''s The Silence of the Lambs and Peter Straub''s Koko. And twenty-two year old college student Richard Chizmar had just published the premiere issue of a horror magazine named Cemetery Dance. Twenty-five years later, there have been seventy issues of Cemetery Dance magazine. There have been more than 275 signed Limited Edition hardcovers in the Cemetery Dance book line. There have been awards including the World Fantasy Award, the International Horror Critics Guild Award, and the HWA Board of Trustees Excellence in Specialty Press Publishing Award, as well as nominations for the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, and the Bram Stoker Award, just to name a few. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of that premiere issue of Cemetery Dance, we''re proud to announce Turn Down the Lights, an anthology of authors who helped make the magazine what it is today. These original horror stories by Stephen King, Norman Partridge, Jack Ketchum, Brian James Freeman, Bentley Little, Ed Gorman, Ronald Kelly, Steve Rasnic Tem, Clive Barker, and Peter Straub capture the genuine love of the genre that pushes Cemetery Dance Publications forward year after year. Now, turn down the lights, flip the page, take my hand, and start the dance¿

From the #1 New York Times bestselling authors of The Talisman, “an intelligent…suspenseful page-turner” (The Wall Street Journal) from “two master craftsmen, each at the top of his game” (The Washington Post). Twenty years ago, a boy named Jack Sawyer traveled to a parallel universe called the Territories to save his mother and her Territories “Twinner” from an agonizing death that would have brought cataclysm to the other world. Now Jack is a retired Los Angeles homicide detective living in the nearly nonexistent hamlet of Tamarack, Wisconsin. He has no recollection of his adventures in the Territories, and was compelled to leave the police force when an odd, happenstance event threatened to awaken those memories. When a series of gruesome murders occur in western Wisconsin that are reminiscent of those committed several decades ago by a madman named Albert Fish, the killer is dubbed “the Fishman,” and Jack’s buddy, the local chief of police, begs Jack to help the inexperienced force find him. But are these new killings merely the work of a disturbed individual, or has a mysterious and malignant force been unleashed in this quiet town? What causes Jack’s inexplicable waking dreams—if that is what they are—of robins’ eggs and red feathers? It’s almost as if someone is trying to tell him something. As this cryptic message becomes increasingly impossible to ignore, Jack is drawn back to the Territories and to his own hidden past, where he may find the soul-strength to enter a terrifying house at the end of a deserted tract of forest, there to encounter the obscene and ferocious evils sheltered within it.

From New York Times bestselling author Peter Straub, the tale of a literary sojourn that turns into something far more sinister. Esswood House. Home and estate of the Seneschal family, aristocratic patrons of the literary arts for well over a hundred years. D. H. Lawrence, T. S. Eliot, Ford Madox Ford, and Henry James were privileged to call themselves guests. There was always talk of a hidden secret in Esswood’s past, and the Seneschal children were often so pale and sickly, but don’t all English manor houses have a few ghost stories to call their own? When Professor William Standish receives the rare honor of an Esswood Fellowship, and the chance to study the estate''s private manuscripts at close hand, he is thrilled beyond his wildest ambitions. But something seems amiss at Esswood House. He hears faint laughter in the halls, the pitter-pattering of small feet in the night; strange faces appear in the windows of the library, and there are those giant dollhouses in the basement . . . Never before published as a separate volume, Mrs. God is a very different kind of ghost story from one of America’s most celebrated authors.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Story brings the chilling Blue Rose Trilogy to an astonishing close—secrets unearthed, demons revisited, and mysteries solved. • “A masterpiece…. The most intelligent novel of suspense to come along in years.” —The Washington Post Book World Tim Underhill, now an acclaimed novelist, travels back to his hometown of Millhaven, Illinois after he gets a call from John Ransom, an old army buddy. Ransom believes there’s a copycat killer on the loose, mimicking the Blue Rose murders from decades earlier—he thinks his wife could be a potential victim. Underhill seeks out his old friend Tom Pasmore, an aging hermit who has attained minor celebrity as an expert sleuth, to help him investigate. They quickly discover that Millhaven is a town plagued by horrifying secrets and there is a twisted killer on the loose who is far more dangerous than they ever imagined. Expertly tying together the events of Koko and Mystery, The Throat proves Peter Straub to be the master of the suspense novel.

For more than two decades Peter Straub has engrossed, entertained, and terrified us with his dazzling blend of cool artistry and mad, spine-tingling imagination. With Mr. X, the bestselling author of Ghost Story, The Talisman (with Stephen King), and The Hellfire Club takes us into the darkest dimensions of the human psyche and proves once again that he is without peer in the realm of psychological suspense and horror, a master storyteller whose unique and powerful gifts qualify him to be called the Edgar Allan Poe of our times. Mr. X is Straub''s original and startling take on the theme of the doppelgänger. Ned Dunstan''s birthday is fast approaching, and every year on this date, Ned experiences a paralyzing seizure in which he is forced to witness scenes of ruthless slaughter perpetrated by a mysterious and malevolent figure in black whom Ned calls Mr. X. Ned has been drawn back to his hometown, Edgerton, Illinois, by a premonition that his mother, Star, is dying. Before she loosens her hold on life, she imparts to Ned the name of his father, never before disclosed, and warns him that he is in grave danger. Despite her foreboding, Ned''s determination to learn as much as possible about his absent father ignites a series of extraordinary adventures that gradually reveal the heart of both his own identity and that of his entirely fantastic family: He discovers that he is shadowed by an identical twin brother who can pass through doors and otherwise defy the laws of nature; he becomes the lead suspect in three violent deaths; he investigates the secret shadow-world within Edgerton; he learns to "eat time" and remembers the one occasion when he and his sinister brother united into a single being. Finally, at the moment of battle, he must call upon everything he has learned to save his own life. Brimming with the author''s trademark wit, understated eloquence, vibrant characters, and brilliant sense of pace, Mr. X displays Peter Straub at the top of his form.

From the bestselling author of Ghost Story, Shadowland, and The Talisman, a novella-length rumination on the nature of evil. A Special Place, Peter Straub’s first published novella, will come to stand as one of the author’s most deeply unsettling works of fiction. A rumination on the nature of evil, the story centers on a boy, Keith Hayward, who is drawn by his nature to an irresistible fascination with death and the taking of life. His father’s brother, the good-looking, suave Uncle Till—the infamous ladykiller, who has led a shadowy career as a local celebrity—recognizes his nephew’s innermost nature and gleefully tutors him in art of doing ill without getting caught. Even a cold-blooded sociopath must learn some lessons in survival, in seems, and Uncle Till is only happy to provide a tutorial, in the latest imaginative and disturbing work from one of America''s most celebrated horror writers.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “One of the most adroit masters of the supernatural thriller” (San Francisco Chronicle) delivers a chilling novel about a man seeking the truth about what happened on a horrifying night on a Midwestern campus in the 1960s. • "Terrifying.... Impossible to put down." —Stephen King On a college campus, a charismatic guru and his young acolytes perform a secret ritual in a local meadow. What happens is a mystery—all that remains is a gruesomely dismembered body and the shattered souls of all who were present. Forty years later, one man seeks to learn about that horrifying night, and to do so he’ll have to force those involved to examine the unspeakable events that have haunted them ever since.

A graphic interpretation of a best-selling work by the award-winning authors follows the desperate quest of young Jack Sawyer between Earth and a mysterious parallel world called The Territories.

New York City police detective Bob Steele is determined to stop the killing spree of a man who calls himself, among other things, Fielding "Fee" Bandolier, a Vietnam veteran whose many victims'' voices talk to both men. At the same time, the evil within an abandoned pub in the Midwest, The Green Woman, calls both men to meet their fates within its walls.

Peter Straub presents four stories that are offshoots of the fictional universe created in his Blue Rose trilogy. Each of the stories stands alone, but together they shine a revelatory light on the novels that inspired them.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Story—and 8-time Bram Stoker Award winner—gathers 24 bone-chilling, nail-biting, frightfully imaginative stories that represent the best of contemporary horror writing. “Revelatory.... A remarkably consistent, frequently unsettling book.” —The Washington Post “[Straub] collects the best scary short stories out there.” —Time Dan Chaon “The Bees” Elizabeth Hand “Cleopatra Brimstone” Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem “The Man on the Ceiling” M. John Harrison “The Great God Plan” Ramsey Campbell “The Voice of the Beach” Brian Evenson “Body” Kelly Link “Louise’s Ghost” Jonathan Carroll “The Sadness of Detail” M. Rickert “Leda” Thomas Tessier “In Praise of Folly” David J. Schow “Plot Twist” Glen Hirshberg “The Two Sams” Thomas Ligotti “Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story” Benjamin Percy “Unearthed” Bradford Morrow "Gardener of Heart” Peter Straub “Little Red’s Tango” Stephen King “The Ballad of a Flexible Bullet” Joe Hill “20th Century Ghost” Ellen Klages “The Green Glass Sea” Tia V. Travis “The Kiss” Graham Joyce “Black Dust” Neil Gaiman “October in the Chair” John Crowley “Missolonghi 1824” Rosalind Palermo Stevenson “Insect Dreams”

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Story comes “an inspired thriller” (The Washington Post) about four Vietnam vets linked by a shattering secret and their global hunt to track down a brutal killer. Koko. Only four men knew what it meant. Now they must stop it. They were Vietnam vets—a doctor, a lawyer, a working stiff, and a writer. Very different from each other, they are nonetheless linked by a shared history and a devastating secret. Now, they have been reunited and are about to embark on a quest that will take them from Washington, D.C., to the graveyards and fleshpots of the Far East to the human jungle of New York, searching for someone from the past who has risen from the darkness to kill and kill and kill.

""Donald Duck" is a surreal study of how a family can be changed irrevocably by the decisions of one reckless member"--Publisher website (September 2008)

"Finally, a book about how to make Webcomics from some guys who actually know how to do it!"--Page 4 of cover