Ghost Story (1979)

Ghost Story is a horror novel by American writer Peter Straub. It was published on January 1, 1979, by Coward, McCann and Geoghegan. The story involves a writer named Donald "Don" Wanderley who goes to the town of Milburn in upstate New York after the death of his uncle. He discovers that the death may be linked to a group of old men calling themselves the Chowder Society, and the ghost stories told in its inner circle. The novel was a watershed in Straub's career, becoming a national bestseller and cementing his reputation.

Ghost Story was adapted as a 1981 horror film, directed by John Irvin, minus the fifth protagonist, Lewis Benedikt.

Background

Straub recalls that Ghost Story started as a result of reading classic American supernatural fiction, including Stephen King's 1975 novel 'Salem's Lot. He says: I reread Hawthorne and James, and went out and got all of Lovecraft and a lot of the books by his 'set'—this was because I wanted to find out what my tradition was, since I was by then pretty firmly in the field—I also read Bierce, Wharton's ghost stories, and a lot Europeans... The first thing I thought of was having a bunch of old men tell stories to each other—and then I hoped I could think of some device that would link all the stories. I very much like the idea of stories set down in novels—a lot of my life seems to have been spent listening to older people tell me stories about their families, their youth, and all the rest. And it seemed like a formal challenge.

Synopsis

The novel opens with a man named Donald Wanderley, who is traveling with a young girl whom he has apparently kidnapped. Donald and the girl arrive in Panama City, Florida, at which point the novel jumps back in time to the events of the previous winter.

Living in the small upstate New York town of Milburn (a fictional location which is indicated to be in Broome County east of Binghamton) are four men in their seventies: John Jaffrey, a doctor; Lewis Benedikt, a retired entrepreneur; Sears James, an attorney; and Ricky Hawthorne, an attorney and James' partner. For the past 50 years these men - calling themselves the Chowder Society - have met together on a weekly basis to tell stories.

Their group once had a fifth member, Edward Wanderley. But a year before the current events, Edward died in mysterious circumstances at a party at John Jaffrey's house, held in honor of a visiting actress named Ann-Veronica Moore.

Ever since, the friends have been plagued with horrible nightmares, and have taken to telling each other ghost stories. At one of their meetings, Sears tells a ghost story from his youth. Before deciding to study law, James relates how he once took on a teaching post in a rural community. He developed a fascination with one of his students, a mentally disturbed young boy named Fenny Bate. Fenny and his sister were orphans, ostracized by the community. On making enquiries, James found out that the two children had been sexually abused by their older brother Gregory, although at this point Gregory was dead and the children were living together alone. Sears tells his friends that he saw a threatening young man hanging around the school, and came to believe it to be the spirit of Gregory Bate, returning to claim his siblings. Sears attempted to save Fenny from the clutches of his dead brother, but to no avail. Fenny died, and Sears left the small community when he had finished the school year, having satisfied the terms of his contract.

The next morning after telling his story, Sears and Ricky are called to see one of their clients, a farmer who has found his livestock mutilated in his field. Meanwhile, a beautiful and mysterious young woman named Anna Mostyn has taken up residency at a hotel in the town and takes a job at Sears and Ricky's firm, claiming to be the niece of a former Milburn resident called Eva Galli, a name that stirs discomfort in the four men. Later in the car, Sears reveals to Ricky that the previous night's story was not fiction, but reflects a real experience from his youth. Sears also admits that he is scared, as are all the members of the Chowder Society. They decide to write to Edward's nephew, Donald Wanderley, as Donald has written an occult novel, and they think that his research abilities might be employed on their behalf. Before Donald arrives, however, Jaffrey, who has been behaving increasingly erratically, dies by jumping off a bridge.