In the Night Room - by Peter Straub (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

WINNER OF THE BRAM STOKER AWARD - After a grotesque accident, a famous author discovers that her reality is not what it seems in this "imaginative, intricate, and electrifying" (Associated Press) horror novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Story.

"A powerful and arresting foray into the dark fantastic."--The Washington Post Book World

Willy Patrick, respected author of the award-winning young adult novel In the Night Room, thinks she is losing her mind. She is drawn helplessly into the parking lot of a warehouse, knowing somehow that her daughter, Holly, is being held in the building. But this is impossible--Willy's daughter is dead.

On that same day, author Timothy Underhill, who has been struggling with a new book about a troubled young woman, is confronted with the ghost of his nine-year-old sister, April. Soon after, he begins to receive eerie, fragmented emails from people he knew in his youth--people now dead. Like his sister, they want urgently to tell him something. When Willy and Tim meet, the frightening parallels between Willy's tragic loss and the story in Tim's manuscript suggest that they must join forces to confront the evils surrounding them.

Review Quotes

"A powerful and arresting foray into the dark fantastic."--The Washington Post Book World

"So imaginative, intricate, and electrifying that readers will be tempted to race through the novel."--Associated Press

"A chase novel and a metafictional fun ride that, like much of Straub's work, takes genre elements and twists them into something unexpected."--Time Out New York

"A twisting, fast-paced plot."--USA Today

"A brilliant work of horrific fantasy . . . Anyone looking for a good read providing plenty of thrills while doling out literary meditations on the nature of fantasy vs. reality won't find a better book."--St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"[A] brilliant novel . . . Moving briskly while ranging from high humor to the blackest dread, this is an original, astonishingly smart and expertly entertaining meditation on imagination and its powers; one of the very finest works of Straub's long career, it's a sure bet for future award nominations."--Publishers Weekly

"Popular fiction of an intriguingly high order, deftly exploring how imagination not only draws on reality but can actually shape it."--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"A fascinating jumble of fantasy and reality."--BookPage

"Straub's truly twisted talent for weirdness takes off into a full-blown hurricane of reality-bending, mind-boggling proportions. . . . This book will really unravel your brains. Definitely a must-read."--Realms of Fantasy

"This must-read horror tale is simply incredible in every way. Tender, dark, and simmering with a wry irony that is just plain inspired, it's the perfect book for a cold autumn afternoon."--New Mystery Reader

"Yet another brilliant piece of work by a writer who should long ago have been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award."--Amazing Stories

About the Author

Peter Straub authored numerous bestselling novels, including Ghost Story, Floating Dragon, Shadowland, and Julia--as well as The Talisman and Black House, which he co-authored with Stephen King. He also published short fiction, poetry, and a graphic novel. A prolific Grand Master of Horror, he won the British Fantasy Award; ten Bram Stoker Awards; three International Horror Guild Awards; ten World Fantasy Awards; and was the recipient of several Lifetime Achievement Awards. He passed away in 2022.