Who Would Like This Book:
If you love your horror on the eerie, psychological side rather than just buckets of blood, this is your jam. Straub's writing is quietly chilling, with haunting prose and intricate layers. Expect an intriguing cocktail of haunted house mystery, family drama, sinister secrets, and just the right touch of supernatural dread. Fans of literary horror, slow-burn suspense, and those who enjoy unraveling multiple timelines or unreliable narrators will find this one hard to put down. If you've read Straub's earlier stuff or enjoy authors like Shirley Jackson or early Stephen King, you'll appreciate the sophistication here.
Who May Not Like This Book:
Folks after non-stop action, tidy storylines, or jump-scare horror might find themselves restless. Some readers found the pacing slow to start, the structure confusing (think shifting timelines and perspectives), or felt emotionally distant from the characters. If you prefer a straightforward, fast-moving plot or depend on neat resolutions, you might not vibe with this book's dreamlike, layered storytelling. Also, the bleak subject matter and ambiguous ending didn't land for everyone.
About:
'Lost Boy Lost Girl' by Peter Straub is a chilling mystery novel that follows the story of a horror novelist, Timothy Underhill, as he searches for his missing nephew Mark, who disappeared after his mother's suicide. The plot unfolds in a small town with eerie ties to a haunted house and a serial killer on the loose. The narrative shifts through time and space, delving into familial bonds, dark secrets, and the supernatural elements surrounding the mysterious disappearances.
The writing style of Peter Straub in 'Lost Boy Lost Girl' is described as intricate, with vivid descriptions and multiple narrative framings that add depth to the story. The book offers a mix of horror, mystery, and ghostly elements, keeping readers engaged with its well-developed characters and unsettling plot twists.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of suicide, murder, childhood trauma, and psychological distress, which may be triggering for some readers.
From The Publisher:
A woman commits suicide for no apparent reason. A week later, her son- fifteen-year-old Mark Underhill-vanishes. His uncle, novelist Timothy Underhill, searches his hometown of Millhaven for clues that might help unravel this horrible dual mystery. He soon learns that a pedophilic murderer is on the loose in the vicinity, and that shortly before his mother's suicide, Mark had become obsessed with an abandoned house where he imagined the killer might have taken refuge. No mere empty building, the house whispers from attic to basement with the echoes of a long-hidden true-life horror story, and Tim Underhill comes to fear that in investigating its unspeakable history, Mark stumbled across its last and greatest secret: a ghostly lost girl who may have coaxed the needy, suggestible boy into her mysterious domain.
Ratings (6)
Loved It (4) | |
Liked It (1) | |
Hated It (1) |
Reader Stats (8):
Read It (6) | |
Want To Read (2) |
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Lost Boy Lost Girl?
About the Author:
Peter Straub is the New York Times-bestselling author of more than a dozen novels. In the Night Room and lost boy, lost girl were winners of the Bram Stoker Award, as was his collection 5 Stories. Straub is the editor of numerous anthologies, including the two-volume American…
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