Magic Terror: 7 Tales - Paperback

by Peter Straub (Author), Kelly Link (Foreword by)

A collection of seven exquisite tales about living, dying, and the horror that lies in between, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Story

"Elegant, terrifying, provocative."--The Washington Post Book World

Welcome to a new kind of terror as Peter Straub leads us into the outer reaches of the psyche. Here the master of the macabre is at his absolute best in seven chilling stories that explore the darkest depths of the human mind.

"Bunny Is Good Bread" takes us into the mind of a small boy trapped in grotesque circumstances to portray the creation of a serial killer in a manner that compels pity, sorrow, comprehension, and grief--as well as judgement.

"Hunger, an Introduction," narrated by the ghost of a pompous, self-pitying murderer, evokes a profoundly beautiful vision of earthly life, one appreciated far more by the dead than the living.

The award-winning novella "Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff," a masterpiece of black comedy, draws upon Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" to create a revenge tale in which torture is a moral art and the revenger undergoes a transforming, albeit painful, education.

The terrain of these extraordinary stories is marked by brutality, heartbreak, despair, wonder, and an unexpected humor that allows empathy to blossom within the most unlikely contexts.

Front Jacket

Welcome to another kind of terror as Peter Straub leads us into the outer reaches of the psyche. Here the master of the macabre is at his absolute best in seven exquisite tales of living, dying, and the terror that lies in between. . . .
AshputtleIsn't It Romantic?
"CHILLING.""SKILLFULLY CONSTRUCTED."
"-The New York Times-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"The Ghost VillageBunny Is Good Bread
Winner of a World Fantasy Award"TERRIFYING."
"VERY, VERY SCARY."-"The Washington Post Book "World
-"The Philadelphia Inquirer
Porkpie HatHunger, An Introduction
"DARK TWISTS AND"BRILLIANTLY SUBVERSIVE."
DARKER HUMOR."-"Locus
"-USA Today
"Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff
Winner of a Bram Stoker Award
"[A] TOUR-DE-FORCE . . . [THAT] WILL HAUNT READERS LONG AFTER THEY'VE CLOSED THE COVERS."
"-The Denver Post
"PETER STRAUB IS AN EXCELLENT WRITER. . . .
HE MAKES US FEEL THE TERROR."
-"The Philadelphia Inquirer

Author Biography

Peter Straub authored numerous bestselling novels, including Ghost Story, Floating Dragon, Shadowland, and Julia--as well as The Talisman and Black House, which he co-authored with Stephen King. He also published short fiction, poetry, and a graphic novel. A prolific Grand Master of Horror, he won the British Fantasy Award; ten Bram Stoker Awards; three International Horror Guild Awards; ten World Fantasy Awards; and was the recipient of several Lifetime Achievement Awards. He passed away in 2022.