Absolute Horror Book Forum

Magic Terror by Peter Straub.

In this book are a collection of se7en short works by the king of the purple prose. Not all of them are horror stories, in fact I would probably class these as more dark fiction than anything else.

You have Ashputtle a tale of an overweight teacher and her story of her youth and growth. The first two paragraphs got me hooked, being on the weighty side myself, it was easy to relate to the teacher and her feelings (which Straub has done a great job of putting onto paper). It's a nice and nasty little tale which brings you right into the rest of the book. 7/10

Isn't It Romantic, is a thriller story based around a hit-man and his last job. Straub builds the story up really well, right from the start. I only had a couple of problems with the telling and that was the non-use of names. Instead he used just initials, e.g "Mr. N." at the beginning this is a little confusing, but after a few pages it's not so bad, though for me, it did make some of the reading awkward. The other was the ending (no spoilers here) to me if felt dropped in, instead of a twist in the tale. 7/10

The Ghost Village, This seemed to be a smaller scene which should have been included within a bigger story, probably KOKO. It's told in flashback style about a platoon in Vietnam who come across an abandoned village and a grisly secret hidden within. It's well written and an easy read though I did feel unfulfilled by it. There was too much vegetable and not enough meat for me. Though I may have gotten more out of it had a read KOKO before hand. 4/10

Bunny Is Good Bread is dedicated for Stephen King and is one of the strongest and chilling tales in the book. It is the story of a young man, his estranged father, and sick mother. This is a very dysfunctional family to say the least, though Straub's telling they don't seem that strange, and that makes it very chilling. You could see this actually taking place. This story is a must read. 9/10

Porkpie Hat, tells the tale of Jazz musician as told through the eye's of one of his fans (and not a psycho one at that). You have a lot of story before you get to the sinews the tale which is a story the musician had never told anybody before, but tells his fan when giving an interview. Unlike The Ghost Village though it works well with this story and adds to the allover feeling of the piece. 8/10

Hunger, An Introduction gives the ghost story a new slant. Not one that I would've considered, and not one that I particularly like. But hey, these are only my opinions, feel free to disagree. It was the slant, the twist, which spoilt this story for me - I'm more of a conventionalist than I thought! 4/10

Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff is the perfect way to end the book. I would've purchased the book for this story alone. It's a nasty revenge tale of a business man whose wife has been cheating on him. He gets a trusted employee, a man who'd know men of a certain nature and calibre to find him someone who can take care of the business at hand. In enter Mr. Clubb and Mr; Cuff. These are not your usual thugs for hire, nor are they akin to any hit-man known. These gentlemen have a style all of their own and they demand respect and always receive payment. for work done... or not done. The writing within this piece is Straub at his best. Because of his characters, the business man and the two gentlemen the wordage is very crucial to the telling of the story. Do yourself a favour and read this story. 10/10

For the book - 7/10

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PENNYWISE Stephen



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