This novel is much less a ghost story and much more something else entirely.Įventually, the Chowder Society seems to be seeing some fairly mysterious stuff and call on a member's nephew, Donald, who has written on the occult, to take a look. Well, that's usually what ghost stories are like, but this one is different. They need to take place at an indeterminate time and in a place that has old history to it. This is because ghost stories need that vague attitude about them to usually be effective. Most of the great ghost stories are, in fact, short stories or novellas at most. It makes no difference whether I believe in ghosts or not, ghosts do not seem to really have the power to carry an entire novel. Oh, spooky! Now, I jest, of course, but ghost stories tend to not interest me in the slightest. It had looked like he had been frightened to death.

There was once a fifth member of their group who died suddenly and unexpectedly at a party to celebrate a visiting actress years ago. The whole tagline of this book should be something like: This is where ghost stories. The novel revolves around four members of a group called the Chowder Society, who have, for fifty years, been telling ghost stories to one another. Well, technically it is about multiple ghost stories, some absolutely fictitious, and some. It is about, you guessed it, a ghost story. I'm supposed to be talking about Ghost Story, one of the most appropriately titled works there ever was. What? No picture!? This is blasphemy, I say! Blasphemy!

Ghost story by peter straub summary