Peter Francis Straub was an American novelist and poet. He had success with several horror and supernatural fiction novels, among them Julia (1975), Ghost Story (1979) and The Talisman (1984), the latter co-written with Stephen King. He explored the mystery genre with the Blue Rose trilogy, consisting of Koko (1988), Mystery (1990) and The Throat (1993). He fused the supernatural with crime fiction in Lost Boy, Lost Girl (2003) and the related In the Night Room (2004). For the Library of America, he edited the volume H. P. Lovecraft: Tales and the anthology American Fantastic Tales. Straub received such literary honors as the Bram Stoker Award, World Fantasy Award, and International Horror Guild Award.

Ghost Story is a horror novel by American writer Peter Straub. It was published on January 1, 1979, by Coward, McCann and Geoghegan. The story involves a writer named Donald "Don" Wanderley who goes to the town of Milburn in the upstate New York after the death of his uncle, finding out that the death is somehow related to the local Chowder Society and the "ghost stories" told in its inner circle. The novel was a watershed in Straub's career, becoming a national bestseller and cementing his reputation.