The news arrived of the death of writer Peter Straub (Photo ©KyleCassidy), which happened on September 4. According to the information that emerged, his death occurred due to complications that followed a hip fracture.

Peter Francis Straub was born on March 2, 1943, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was only seven years old when he was forced to become aware of his own mortality after being hit by a car, an accident that forced him to spend months in the hospital and a period of rehabilitation to be able to walk again.

A book enthusiast since childhood, Peter Straub earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1965 and a master’s degree from Columbia University the following year. In 1966, he married Susan Bitker, with whom he had their son Benjamin and their daughter Emma, ​​who also became a writer.

For some time, Peter Straub worked as an English teacher but in 1969 he decided to move to Ireland to work on his Ph.D. and start a career as a writer. He never completed his Ph.D. studies but published his first works, two poetry books.

Peter Straub’s first novels, “Marriages” (1973) and “Under Venus” (1974), weren’t very successful. Things got better when he started writing horror novels by publishing “Julia” and “If You Could See Me Now” in 1975 and achieving great fame with “Ghost Story” (1979).

In the following decades, Peter Straub explored different variations of the horror and thriller genres, sometimes with elements more typical of the fantasy genre. In 1984, his collaboration with Stephen King, “The Talisman” was published, which had a sequel in 2001 with “Black House”. His last novel, “A Dark Matter”, was published in 2010 while in recent years, he reduced his activity writing only short fiction.

Over the course of decades of his career, Peter Straub has received ten Bram Stoker Awards for his works including novels, stories fiction, anthologies, and a special career award in 2005. He also received three World Fantasy Awards for his works and one for his career, a Special Award from the International Horror Guild as a Living Legend in 2005, and the World Horror Grandmaster Award in 1997.

The news of Peter Straub’s death was given by his daughter Emma. It was followed by a comment by Stephen King, who reminded his colleague and friend. Many more words of esteem have come from colleagues, critics, and fans who appreciated his works for decades.