Peter Straub, Horror Novelist and Poet, Has Died at 79

Author Peter Straub died this past Sunday in Manhattan due to complications of a broken hip.

Straub, born in Milwaukee on March 2, 1943, was a popular horror novelist with a somewhat unorthodox pedigree— before turning to writing about the fantastical, he had published short collections of poetry. Although he was reluctant to label his writing as horror at times, he brought his poet’s eye to his writing within the genre, drawing comparisons to Henry James and Phillip Roth by other writers.

His first horror book, Julia (1975), was followed by  If You Could See Me Now (1977), and his breakout hit  Ghost Story (1979). Julia was adapted into the 1977 movie The Haunting of Julia starring Mia Farrow, and Ghost Story into a 1981 movie starring Fred Astaire.