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But you do not reject the supernatural out of hand,' Sears said. 'I don't know if I do or do not,' I said. 'Like most people.” DISCLOSURE: I own my rather battered copy of Ghost Story by Peter Straub. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions. Ghost Story is a 1981 American supernatural horror film directed by John Irvin and starring Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman, Craig Wasson, and Alice Krige. Based on the 1979 novel of the same name by Peter Straub, it follows a group of elderly businessmen in New England who gather to recount their involvement in a woman's death decades prior when one of them suspects her ghost has been haunting him. I was very impressed by how Straub wrote these characters. This had a pretty sizable cast, from the "Chowder Society" gentlemen, to the colorful town-folk. Going into this book, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about these old men. I've not read much where the main protagonists are elderly folks. (Other than Insomnia, I can't think of any examples).
On the whole, I can't say this is a terrible book. I had just been expecting so much more, given its exceeding reputation and the fact that Straub is a great writer, I can't help being more unforgiving than usual. It could have been awesome. Somehow, most people still think it is. I just have to say that I am not one of them, and my liking for Peter Straub has sadly diminished somewhat.
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The group called the Chowder Society had only a few rules: they wore evening clothes (because thirty years ago, Sears had rather liked the idea), they never drank too much (and now they were too old for that anyhow), they never asked if any of the stories were true (since even the outright whoppers were in some sense true), and though the stories went around the group in rotation, they never pressured anyone who had temporarily dried up.” In December, under several inches of snow, Milburn always took on a festive, almost magically pretty look. A tall tree always went up in the square, and Eleanor Hardie matched its light by decorating the front of the Archer Hotel. Children lined up before Santa Claus in Young Brothers’ department store and put in their nonnegotiable demands for Christmas—only the older ones noticed that Santa looked and smelled a little bit like Omar Norris. (December always reconciled Omar not only with his wife, but also with himself—he cut his drinking in half, and talked to the few cronies he had about “moonlighting down at the store.”) As his father had done, Norbert Clyde always drove his old horse-drawn sleigh through town and gave the kids rides so they would know what real sleighbells sounded like—and would know the feeling of skimming through pine-smelling air behind tow good horses. And as his father had done, Elmer Scales pulled open a gate in one of his pasture fences and let the town people come out to sled down a hill at the edge of his property: you always saw half a dozen station wagons pulled up alongside the fence, and half a dozen young fathers pulling Flexible Flyers laden with excited children up Elmer’s hill. Some families pulled taffy in their kitchens; some families roasted chestnuts in their fireplaces. Humphrey Stalladge put up red and green lights over the bar, and started making Tom and Jerries. Ghost Story, directed by John Irvin". Time Out. London. Archived from the original on June 6, 2016 . Retrieved December 14, 2017. I don’t know how her life turned out, but I do know that nobody can protect anybody else from vileness. Or from pain. All you can do is not let it break you in half and keep on going until you get to the other side.”
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New York Times bestselling author Peter Straub’s classic tale of horror, secrets, and the dangerous ghosts of the past… Yes, he admitted to himself for the thousandth time, he did like it here. It went against his principles and his politics and probably the puritanism of his long-vanished religion too, but Sears’s library – Sears’s whole splendid house – was a place where a man felt at ease.”
The men find themselves terrorized by terrible, realistic nightmares. Terrible things start happening in the small, sleepy town of Millburn. I am SO glad that I finally re-read this book! I was afraid that it wouldn't hold up to my memory of it. I worried about that for decades. Silly me-I needn't have worried-it was even better than I remembered!The Time Out film guide deemed it a "disastrous distillation of Peter Straub's overrated but at least tolerably coherent novel." [17] TV Guide awarded the film two out of four stars, criticizing Cohen's screenplay, but adding: "Director John Irvin does manage to evoke some mood and atmosphere from the snowy New England setting, and the performances from the four veteran lead players are enjoyable." [18] Drew is fond of Hannah because she acts like a boy. They spend most of their time together, and he even climbs trees with her. One day, John shows up in his father’s car and becomes friends with Hannah. Drew feels jealous because he knows that they will eventually marry each other according to Aunt Blythe’s story about the family history. This is a story about a beautiful town in New York stat I can totally see why Ghost Story is seen on lists of the greatest classic horror books. This defied many of my expectations, and pre-conceived notions -- both of the book, and of Peter Straub.
Ghost Story was released on DVD on March 25, 1998, by Image Entertainment. [19] [20] Universal repressed the DVD with an alternate cover art, which was released September 7, 2004. [20] The film received its first Blu-ray release in the United States on November 24, 2015, by Scream Factory. [21] This release featured new bonus material, including an audio commentary with director John Irvin, as well as interviews with Peter Straub, Alice Krige, Lawrence D. Cohen, Burt Weissbourd, and Bill Taylor. [21] See also [ edit ] In 1982, the film was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Horror Film. [ citation needed] Home media [ edit ] The story centres around a group of four elderly gentleman, who meet twice a month as members of the Chowder society. The rules are you dress smartly in dinner attire, you don't drink too much and when it's your turn you have to tell a story of something dreadful. This involves the telling of tales of a terrifying and supernatural nature. First off, the writing in this one is absolutely top draw. Straub's story telling ability is at the very top end of the horror genre. It's very literary, but never becomes a barrier to the story being told. It was an absolute pleasure to read.
After publication of his book he took a temporary job teaching at Berkeley, there he meets and falls madly in love with a mysterious beautiful girl. They get on famously, make wedding plans and one day she just disappears; next thing he knows she meets his brother David in another town, they fall in love and soon David dies under mysterious circumstances. The girl disappears again. In a Sufi fable, the elephant fell in love with a firefly, and imagined that it shone for no other creature but he; and when it flew long distances away, he was confident that at the center of its light was the image of an elephant.” Bravo Mr. Straub. I'm so sorry that you've been taken from this world before I've gotten a chance to become a fan.
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