Search - Shadowland

A novel of a different type for Straub. Two boys of different backgrounds go to prep school and bond together while strange tragedies unfold. They then spend a wierd summer together with one of their uncles who is a master magician. Full of wierd twists that leave you thinking about what this magician is really up too.

I did not understand this book!! It was described as a horror story, as you'd expect from Peter Straub, but it was really just strange. I was left with a vague impression of the two boys who were the main characters and I never could understand the girl in Shadowland - was she even a real person or was she an apparition? There were a couple really scary scenes with The Collector but overall I've come to expect a lot more thrill from Straub than this book delivered. I barely finished it.

This book is creepy. A little slow at times.

Excellent. After a stint at a prep school that is haunted with tragedy and strange happenings, two boys spend a summer apprenticed to a mad magician. Ultimately, they have to face and fight him for their freedom, and their lives. Very suspenseful and captivating, like early Stephen King.