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Trying to stuff a Peter Straub story into a neat little genre box should carry the
admonition: Do not bend, fold, or mutilate. With a literary genius that vibrates between
dark and light, fantasy and reality, horror and humor, Straub is a dedicated storyteller
who dives into our emotional well again and again. He was the kid in high school who told
"The Hook" legend and had everyone believing. He wants you gasping and giggling
in the same breath --- and we do. Now, with MAGIC TERROR, he's put together a collection
of the most bizarre tales, some old, some new, and all designed to give your mind a
vigorous workout.
"Ashputtle" is a first person narrative of a demented soul suffocating under the
weight of its own evil. With eerie references to the voices of her past and present, Mrs.
Ash has chosen to fulfill her adventurous spirit by becoming an elementary school teacher.
She fancies herself elevated to a higher plane than ordinary humans, with the perfect
solution for coping with her own fragile psyche. "I have always known that I could
save myself by looking into my own mind." Where this introspection leads her is both
surprising and sickening.
A predictable conclusion can be found in "Isn't It Romantic," a more earthy
thriller that deals with the familiar theme of secret agents and the old-fashioned double
cross. What makes it interesting is the blend of dark suspense with the more puckish
characterization of agent "N," who lets his cockiness blind him to the obvious
game afoot. In typical fashion, Straub has us smiling at human foolishness as he leads us
toward the blood bath.
"The Ghost Village," set in Vietnam, is a mini collection of stories in itself.
A family tragedy back home, a commander who's gone over the edge, and mysterious murders
in a village are mingled with the accepted ironies of war: drugs, alcoholism, and placing
bets on the lieutenant's life span. The sad trilogy of incidents reveals the haunted minds
of the soldiers trying to cope with the unbearable, and leaves us speculating just how
fictitious these particular tales really are.
And then there's "Bunny is Good Bread," a gruesome scenario of a husband's
malevolence, combining domestic abuse and psychotic behavior in the worst extreme. As the
torture of Anna Bandolier is revealed through the eyes of her son, Straub expands the
cruelty even further with the eventual abuse of the child as well. His imagery is so
explicit it's powerfully disturbing and will take a strong stomach and a good deal of
determination to finish reading.
Last of the seven tales, the inclusion of his famous "Mr. Club and Mr. Cuff"
masterpiece provides the most vivid example of Straub's twin components of horror and
black comedy. The seemingly affable pair of thugs are hired by a man wanting to punish his
unfaithful wife, but he winds up discovering, in hideous detail, that a simple business
transaction may be far more ominous than he imagined. The humorous facet? I'll leave it to
you to decide where, or if, the comic aspect enters in to this mind bender; but it
certainly gives new meaning to the phrase "slice and dice."
If you're thinking by now that Straub is operating the depravity meter at full tilt --- he
is --- yet with an extraordinary gift for commingling a wide range of raw emotions in his
stories. While not all of these stories will appeal to everyone, on the whole, MAGIC
TERROR is as complex a collection as you're likely to encounter.
--- Reviewed by Ann L. Bruns (BkPageWC@aol.com)
© Copyright 1996-2008, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
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