Horrormeister Straub Back With New Focus, New Novel

Nearly two years after the release of his last book, horror scribe Peter Straub has returned with a novel that some are calling not only the best of his career, but also the most accessible.

During the 70s and 80s, Straub wrote critically-acclaimed bestseller after bestseller - novels like "Julia", "Ghost Story", and my personal favorites "Shadowland" and "The Talisman (co written with Stephen King). He was hit hard by the 90s paperback market shrinkage. His last book was "Black House", another Straub/King collaboration. Though it was a #1 best seller, its sales were hurt by its unfortunate release date of 9/15/01. 

Straub's new novel "lost boy, lost girl" is thinner than his other books. This is the result of his time spent with the Random House team trying to figure out how he lost his readership. According to Straub, the answer is, "Too much time between books. Books that were sometimes dauntingly long. Books that were overcomplicated. Also I think people's attention spans have slipped in the past two decades."

Random House president and editor Gina Centrello explains that the shorter book should mean more Straub for readers, not less. "A commercial writer needs to write a book a year. Or consumers find somebody else to read. So he'll write a shorter book. Nothing was lost. The book needed this length. It's tight and it's smart. I wouldn't have wanted to see it much longer than that."

Straub fans may have mixed emotions. While it'd be great to see a new Peter Straub book every year, we hope that this focus on short length and commercial appeal doesn't ruin the Straub we know and love.