A young woman meets and interviews a legendary sax-player and hears a wild, but probably true story about his life growing up in the South as a poor black kid. ( )

A well written tale within a tale on the impact witnessing evil can have on a person. ( )

A short Halloween story, presented in the classic tale-within-a-tale format. I enjoyed this for the most part, although I have to confess that I was not quite sure what was going on at the end there. The narrative voice was interesting, and the story was both spooky and different enough from the tried-and-true ghost story that it kept my interest. I think Straub's shorter writing is stronger than his novels, for the most part. ( )

A graduate student with a passion for jazz finds out that the legendary “Pork Pie Hat,” far from being dead as previously presumed, is alive and well and playing at a dive bar in the East Village. The student goes down to see him play, and the mysterious “Hat” soon becomes an object of fascination. As the compulsion to see him play begins to push aside his coursework, the student manages to snag an interview with the strange and reculsive saxophonist. On Halloween night, Hat tells the student a story from his childhood, of screams in a dark and lonely wood, of mysterious and menacing men in big black cars . . .

I had no idea what to expect when starting this book. At a mere 175 pages, it really qualifies as a novella (or extra-long short story) rather than a true novel. The shorter length, however, is perfect for devouring in one sitting (which I highly recommend).

This is my first time reading something by Peter Straub, but I knew he had written with Stephen King in the past, so I felt like I had some idea of what I was getting into. Pork Pie Hat both confirmed and defied my expectations. Straub’s style in this book is vaguely Lovecraftian (even if the subject matter is not), and overall the book is a creepily atmospheric tale, even if it is given more to “all monsters are human” than the supernatural (but hey, being black in the South in the early part of the 20th century would have been terrifying a;ll by itself).

So, if you’re looking for a quick bite of a story to get yourself into the Halloween spirit, this is a great book for you. Straub does a wonderful job putting you in Pork Pie Hat’s shoes on a dark Halloween night so long ago. ( )

Pork Pie Hat is a novella from Peter Straub, recently reissued by Cemetery Dance Publications in a handsome hardcover illustrated edition. The story involves an old jazz musician who goes by the name Pork Pie Hat, and a young graduate student who "discovers" Hat's brilliant saxaphone playing and decides to write a definitive biography of the man. He does this by interviewing Hat over one very long night, but the story Hat wants to tell isn't about music at all; instead it has to do with events that took place in The Backs, a lawless area near his small Southern hometown, on Halloween night many years ago.... This being Peter Straub, of course the events include elements of horror, but the story is also an elegy of sorts for a type of music and type of world that barely exists anymore, and Straub's writing is equally as lyrical as it is horrific in parts. Recommended. ( )