Peter Straub has been one of my favorite authors since I was a little too young to have been reading his rich, multi-layered and often deeply frightening novels. As an adult, I have enjoyed his work even more and I urge you to go out and read him. Publishers Weekly star-reviewed his novella today or, as the man himself put it, “this nasty sliver I trimmed off A Dark Matter. Waste no part of the animal!”

With Mr. Straub’s permission, I offer you this reprint of the review, originally printed in Publisher’s Weekly, 5/10/10.

05/10/2010 Fiction

A Special Place: The Heart of a Dark Matter

Creepy to the core, this novella shines a terrible light on the backstory of Straub’s acclaimed A Dark Matter (2010). Young Keith Hayward idolizes his charming, charismatic Uncle Till. When Keith’s mother asks Till to talk to Keith after the boy is found dismembering a dead cat, Till recognizes a kindred spirit and begins to instruct Keith on smart, secret ways to pursue his evil endeavors. As the years pass, Keith grows older and bolder in his sadistic pleasures, and when Till comes back into town, Keith finds the perfect way to impress him. Vivid but never overly graphic or grotesque, Straub’s words paint horrific pictures of two depraved men. The violence is minimal, but understood in the most subtle of ways. This beautifully horrifying, delightfully disturbing tale of a family tree of evil will stay with the reader long after the last page is done. (July)