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Read Magic Terror (2002)

Magic Terror (2002)

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Rating
3.56 of 5 Votes: 3
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ISBN
0007109911 (ISBN13: 9780007109913)
Language
English
Publisher
not avail

Magic Terror (2002) - Plot & Excerpts

***1/2A solid short story collection with only one dud, 'Hunger: an Introduction,' which is an unfocused rambling glimpse of a man's becoming a ghost.This collection of 7 stories offers a series of portraits of either murderers 'in-the-making' or seasoned and happily practicing their alternative passion.I listened to the Audiobook version. Beth MacDonald's matter-of-fact delivery of the first story was chilling. Ron McLarty's deep sonorous actorly voice brought the rest of the stories to life in a way that my internal voice could not (especially on 'Porkpie Hat' and the final story). Many thanks to Mr. McLarty.1)'Ashputtle' - a portrait of an unexpected monster. In its references to Art it is Straub's opposite answer to Kafka's 'The Hunger Artist.' Grade: A2) 'Isn't it Romantic?' - The cliched 'final job of a hit-man' story. Grade: B.3) 'The Ghost Village' - An eerie mass murder and its aftermath at a small village in Vietnam during the War. This story was included, in part, in Straub's THE THROAT. Grade: B+4) 'Bunny is Good Bread' - One of the finest (is this the correct word?) stories written about child abuse. Very disturbing and sad. If you read THE THROAT you MUST READ THIS STORY! It adds another dimension to the 'Blue Rose' killings. Grade: A+5)'Porkpie Hat' - An enigmatic jazz musician recounts a life-changing Halloween incident that occurred when he was eleven years old. A writer has to piece together the truth. A beautiful piece of writing. Grade: A6) 'Hunger, an Introduction - BOMB7) 'Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff' - A story of jealousy and revenge taken to extremes. If Poe had written Melville's 'Bartleby the Scrivener' you would get this story. Grade: A-

Magic Terror contains 7 vividly rendered tales of horror, though the word "horror" doesn't do the book justice. Mr. Straub is a brilliant writer who states only what a reader needs to know...and not a word more than that. The result keeps you fixed to the pages--housework and yardwork and business be damned. I read the book a decade ago, and reread it last week. Must like the first read, a decade ago, the stories haunt me...like big, sooty ashes rising from a burn pile, free-floating and dogging me and dropping on my head. Rationally, I know they won't hurt me...the characters CANNOT come alive...but it's worrisome all the same. Brilliant writing!Wendy Joyce

What do You think about Magic Terror (2002)?

Peter Straub is one of the best authors of all time, and this anthology is evidence enough to prove it. He writes circles around Stephen King, natch', but then again, one isn't reading King because of that man's fine style (with the exception of Misery), one reads King in order to wallow in a folksy story, pure campfire horror tale. Not so with Straub, whose depictions of twisted human psychology are so internally consistent that they make me suspect that (a) he's psychic and (b) he's been hanging around some terrible asylums or something. You believe every word these characters say.The opening vignette alone, "Ashputtle," is well worth the price of admission. I read it through in a single gulp, while waiting for my daughter to get out of dance class, and at first I was simply enjoying the bizarre voice Straub gives to his narrator, a totally compelling mixture of self-aggrandizement and guilty whining that he revisits in the excellent "Hunger: an Introduction." It wasn't until I finished, though, that the full meaning of the story really dawned on me. It's a classic bit of what TV Tropes calls "fridge horror," the moment after the movie or story, when you're at the refrigerator, making a sandwich, and you suddenly 'get' what actually happened. I had to race right back to the beginning of the story and read the whole thing through again, this time through the lens of that realization. Then I had to IMMEDIATELY check on my darling daughter, and I did not take my eyes off of her for the rest of the evening. I checked on her twenty times during the night. I almost could not drop her off at school the next day.That, folks, is some good writing.
—P. Aaron Potter

I've decided that I'm giving up on this one. Officially quitting. I've read three of the seven stories, and I can't say that I was impressed by any of them. The first story was just... weird. Like, "Let me think of as many weird things as possible and squeeze them into 18 pages with no connecting narrative and call it a story" weird. It was like a crazy dream that gives you an odd crawly feeling without knowing why. Creepy, yes. Story, no. OK I take that back... if you're adept at putting square pegs in round holes when reading, meaning if you can interpret your way through bunch of words and find a story, then there is one. But it's still not a GOOD one.The second story was... something, but not horror, not magic, but a weak espionage-like thriller with a predictable twist. Better than the first story, but not impressive. Third is a Vietnam story, and while it held my curiosity, I wasn't sure what the point was. *shrug*I read a page of the fourth story, and just... gave up. Other reviews seem to indicate that a reader who sticks with it would be rewarded at the end, but life is too short to waste time on something that I'm not enjoying. I gave this book three chances to grab me, and the most it did was lay a weak hand on my arm after about 3 weeks of trying. Not a great introduction to Peter Straub. I'd expected better, honestly.Moving on...
—Becky

Wow, it's not often you come across such an unsatisfying collection of stories from such a gifted author. A couple of them start out ok, but by the end I'd lost all interest, despite the quality of Straub's writing. From virtually every page this book screams out it's desire to be taken seriously as "literary" horror: "literary" in the sense that it's more work than fun to read. It does have its occasional enjoyable moments, but it is overall too self-aware and lacking in the seemingly effortless brilliance of Stephen King, who is perfectly happy to be continually underestimated by those elite snobs who think books that entertain are inherently stupid. Straub's writing style is actually remarkably similar to King's (one reason perhaps why they've collaborated well together in the past), and perhaps it's for that reason that Straub tries to be more experimental in his work. Still, I'll take a good story over intellectual masturbation any day.
—John

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