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Blue Rose Trilogy
The Juniper Tree and Other Blue Rose Stories
Peter Straub's Blue Rose trilogy (Koko, Mystery, and The Throat) is one of the landmark accomplishments of modern popular fiction. Ranging from the Caribbean to Vietnam to the American Midwest and spanning decades of tumultuous history, these books are both unforgettable narratives and indelible portraits of people in extremis, struggling to survive in a world marked by grief, loss, pain, trauma, and homicidal madness. The four stories gathered here are offshoots of that larger fictional universe. Each one stands entirely on its own. Together, they shine a revelatory light on the mysteries and hidden corners of the novels that inspired them.
"Blue Rose" recounts a defining moment in the childhood of Koko's Harry Beevers, the moment when the ten-year-old Harry discovers his capacity for violence and brutality. "The Juniper Tree" describes, with almost unbearable clarity, a lonely young boy's encounter with adult betrayal, and with the darker aspects of human sexuality. "The Ghost Village" takes us to the phantasmagoric landscape of Vietnam, where the barriers between the living and the dead begin to dissolve, to mesmerizing effect. "Bunny is Good Bread" is arguably Straub's single most harrowing story. With relentless attention to detail, it anatomizes the creation of a human monster through abuse, cruelty, and neglect.
These disturbing, beautifully written stories have a moral weight and emotional resonance that only the finest fiction achieves. They are the clear product of a master storyteller at the very top of his game. No one who reads them is likely to forget them, or come away unchanged.
"Blue Rose" recounts a defining moment in the childhood of Koko's Harry Beevers, the moment when the ten-year-old Harry discovers his capacity for violence and brutality. "The Juniper Tree" describes, with almost unbearable clarity, a lonely young boy's encounter with adult betrayal, and with the darker aspects of human sexuality. "The Ghost Village" takes us to the phantasmagoric landscape of Vietnam, where the barriers between the living and the dead begin to dissolve, to mesmerizing effect. "Bunny is Good Bread" is arguably Straub's single most harrowing story. With relentless attention to detail, it anatomizes the creation of a human monster through abuse, cruelty, and neglect.
These disturbing, beautifully written stories have a moral weight and emotional resonance that only the finest fiction achieves. They are the clear product of a master storyteller at the very top of his game. No one who reads them is likely to forget them, or come away unchanged.
287 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
About the author
Peter Straub
263 books4,242 followersPeter Straub was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Gordon Anthony Straub and Elvena (Nilsestuen) Straub.
Straub read voraciously from an early age, but his literary interests did not please his parents; his father hoped that he would grow up to be a professional athlete, while his mother wanted him to be a Lutheran minister. He attended Milwaukee Country Day School on a scholarship, and, during his time there, began writing.
Straub earned an honors BA in English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1965, and an MA at Columbia University a year later. He briefly taught English at Milwaukee Country Day, then moved to Dublin, Ireland, in 1969 to work on a PhD, and to start writing professionally
After mixed success with two attempts at literary mainstream novels in the mid-1970s ("Marriages" and "Under Venus"), Straub dabbled in the supernatural for the first time with "Julia" (1975). He then wrote "If You Could See Me Now" (1977), and came to widespread public attention with his fifth novel, "Ghost Story" (1979), which was a critical success and was later adapted into a 1981 film. Several horror novels followed, with growing success, including "The Talisman" and "Black House", two fantasy-horror collaborations with Straub's long-time friend and fellow author Stephen King.
In addition to his many novels, he published several works of poetry during his lifetime.
In 1966, Straub married Susan Bitker.They had two children; their daughter, Emma Straub, is also a novelist. The family lived in Dublin from 1969 to 1972, in London from 1972 to 1979, and in the New York City area from 1979 onwards.
Straub died on September 4, 2022, aged 79, from complications of a broken hip. At the time of his death, he and his wife lived in Brooklyn (New York City).
Straub read voraciously from an early age, but his literary interests did not please his parents; his father hoped that he would grow up to be a professional athlete, while his mother wanted him to be a Lutheran minister. He attended Milwaukee Country Day School on a scholarship, and, during his time there, began writing.
Straub earned an honors BA in English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1965, and an MA at Columbia University a year later. He briefly taught English at Milwaukee Country Day, then moved to Dublin, Ireland, in 1969 to work on a PhD, and to start writing professionally
After mixed success with two attempts at literary mainstream novels in the mid-1970s ("Marriages" and "Under Venus"), Straub dabbled in the supernatural for the first time with "Julia" (1975). He then wrote "If You Could See Me Now" (1977), and came to widespread public attention with his fifth novel, "Ghost Story" (1979), which was a critical success and was later adapted into a 1981 film. Several horror novels followed, with growing success, including "The Talisman" and "Black House", two fantasy-horror collaborations with Straub's long-time friend and fellow author Stephen King.
In addition to his many novels, he published several works of poetry during his lifetime.
In 1966, Straub married Susan Bitker.They had two children; their daughter, Emma Straub, is also a novelist. The family lived in Dublin from 1969 to 1972, in London from 1972 to 1979, and in the New York City area from 1979 onwards.
Straub died on September 4, 2022, aged 79, from complications of a broken hip. At the time of his death, he and his wife lived in Brooklyn (New York City).
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 11, 2022
Peter Straub is able to write some magic prose. The Juniper Tree is about a boy being regularly molested by a pedophile. Later on he becomes an author. He never knew the real name of the man who looked similar to Alan Ladd... Hard stuff told in a brilliant way. Highly recommended!
July 9, 2010
Incredibly horrifying stories and disturbing characters are a testament to Peter Straub's ability. Don't read these after dark.
September 24, 2020
I love horror stories and horror novels (and horror movies too, especially the horrifically awful stuff like "Martyrs" and "A Serbian Film" and "Frontier(s)") but no other author lives in his own immensely fucked up world like Peter Straub, and I love him for it. Sure, he has these other novels ("Ghost Story", "Julia"...) but his Blue Rose works are the quintessence of massively fucked up. I don't get squeamish often, but reading Straub is like doing something horrifically awful or grossly shameful and trying to get to your next day like it never happened. Shame, terror, bile-inducing, nasty, gross, but ultimately 100% enjoyable and oh-so satisfying. Things you never tell anyone, not because you aren't proud you accomplished something epic and overlarge, but mostly because not only would you be arrested and shackled - forever - but no one would either believe you, or, if they did, they would never be seen near you again. Ever. Stephen King writes great stories and taps into horror elements like few authors could ever even imagine, but Straub goes well past any boundary you might think exists in any sort of morality or ethics or worldview. Straub is fucking scary. 100%. He will push your limits, as a prologue, and then just steamroll you, just for fun. And it all starts so regular and normal and matter-of-fact, like a typical plot scenario you have seen before and think you understand. Well, you don't. I am going to avoid the massively unsettling details, if you are reading this book you know what to expect. If you want to shit on it and provide some substantive criticism, you missed the point. You don't live anywhere near Straub's plane of existence, and that is probably for the best. If you love his works like I do, you would be well-served to stick to the run of the mill fuckery that is popular and accepted and safe (I won't list authors because being Not-Straub isn't necessarily correlated to shit-tastic fake-horror, but it surely speaks to the author's inability to be horrifying and outstandingly nastyyawfulbrutal). Straub is UNSAFE. He probably had H.H. Holmes as a classmate, or not-to-distant relative. Straub needs to be read while you are disassociated mentally, to be appreciated properly. If you don't like him, fine. But all that means is you're reading dumpster-drippings and trying to sell it as champagne horror on GR. Horror isn't a genre, bitches. It's a sickening wrenching of what is acceptable and being alright with passing over it and living with the nausea of what is truly out there. f you need examples, you're not ready for Peter Straub yet, and probably won't ever be. It's fine, probably. Hah!
June 26, 2022
I read these stories after finishing the
Blue Rose trilogy of books which are 'Koko', 'Mystery', and 'The Throat'. The stories in this book enrich that reading experience immensely. This provides a better understanding of situations and character traits in the original books. So
much so that I intend to now go back and re-read the aforementioned books. Highly recommended.
Blue Rose trilogy of books which are 'Koko', 'Mystery', and 'The Throat'. The stories in this book enrich that reading experience immensely. This provides a better understanding of situations and character traits in the original books. So
much so that I intend to now go back and re-read the aforementioned books. Highly recommended.
February 22, 2022
Four novellas, each linked, and each suffused with pain. Straub made a turn midway through his career, a turn from supernatural horror and into real horror. The trauma here, much of it deriving from child abuse, is almost unbearable. It isn’t an enjoyable book (although Straub’s mastery has its pleasures), but it is an unforgettable one.
December 7, 2018
Blue Rose - The main reason I got a hold of this book. It's a really bizarre story. I'm not sure how I feel about it, or even the collection as a whole. I'm not generally a fan of war-oriented/war-related stories, but reading Harry and how he got into hypnotism and what he did with his brother was so creepy. I don't think I've ever had a book truly disgust or bother me, but all these stories did.
The Juniper Tree - So creepy. I was really surprised, though, by the prominence of pedophilia/child abuse in these stories. I went in knowing really nothing and found a lot of these stories were very similar on their more disturbing aspects.
The Ghost Village - completely war based, I was the most meh about this one, but the atmosphere was very well created and I read the story anyway.
Bunny is Good Bread - Straub mentions in the interview at the end of the book that this was sort of a spin on Juniper Tree, which I agree. I thought these two stories were so similar, I honestly can't tell them apart in memory. That it was apparently for Stephen King just raises all kinds of questions for me.
One thing I did feel about all of them, though, was that I wasn't sure what the point was. I felt like there was some sort of deep meaning I was supposed to take away from the stories. Not necessarily a huge moral or anything, but something. And a lot of the time I felt like the stories just ended and that was that. No reason, no purpose, not even a real ark/story, just some things that happened to some characters. Which isn't to say I thought they were bad, because as I said, they managed to disturb the crap out of me. But it felt like something--and I don't quite know what--was lacking that kept me from being completely satisfied. Maybe I'm too used to the clean cut endings to appreciate the ambiguity.
The Juniper Tree - So creepy. I was really surprised, though, by the prominence of pedophilia/child abuse in these stories. I went in knowing really nothing and found a lot of these stories were very similar on their more disturbing aspects.
The Ghost Village - completely war based, I was the most meh about this one, but the atmosphere was very well created and I read the story anyway.
Bunny is Good Bread - Straub mentions in the interview at the end of the book that this was sort of a spin on Juniper Tree, which I agree. I thought these two stories were so similar, I honestly can't tell them apart in memory. That it was apparently for Stephen King just raises all kinds of questions for me.
One thing I did feel about all of them, though, was that I wasn't sure what the point was. I felt like there was some sort of deep meaning I was supposed to take away from the stories. Not necessarily a huge moral or anything, but something. And a lot of the time I felt like the stories just ended and that was that. No reason, no purpose, not even a real ark/story, just some things that happened to some characters. Which isn't to say I thought they were bad, because as I said, they managed to disturb the crap out of me. But it felt like something--and I don't quite know what--was lacking that kept me from being completely satisfied. Maybe I'm too used to the clean cut endings to appreciate the ambiguity.
January 29, 2023
I have read many of the stories in here in other collections, but not all of them. Each is a separate little horror show, a portrait of the childhood traumas of the little boys who grew up to be the central characters in Straub's other Blue Rose mysteries like The Throat and Koko. Every single one of these boys had an appalling childhood, I can tell you that right now. One of the characters -- never named in his first-person narrative, although I suspect he is little Timmy Underhill -- even describes the process of writing the Blue Rose mysteries themselves, saying he is trying to get answers about his life and in trying to figure it out he writes a story or novel about it, tears it up, then starts over from a completely different angle, never quite satisfied, never able to stop. Now I am picturing Straub's own life this way and I sincerely hope I am wrong about this. You wouldn't wish experiences like these on anyone.
October 17, 2024
Mixed feelings
Peter Straub (God rest his soul) has always been one of my favorite authors. I've read most everything he's ever written but recently I'm revisiting my favorite authors. This collection of short stories is not among my favorites. There's a bit too much cruelty and child abuse in it to make it truly enjoyable. It does, however, offer insight into the mind of the author.
Peter Straub (God rest his soul) has always been one of my favorite authors. I've read most everything he's ever written but recently I'm revisiting my favorite authors. This collection of short stories is not among my favorites. There's a bit too much cruelty and child abuse in it to make it truly enjoyable. It does, however, offer insight into the mind of the author.
October 26, 2025
Peter Straub is one of my favorite authors. This short story collection had very disturbing elements. I really enjoyed the additions to the Blue Rose trilogy and giving more background information on characters from his other stories. If you are a fan of Koko and The Throat I think these are must reads to get more backstory to certain characters.
March 29, 2020
Powerful yet repulsive
This work is powerful yet it repulses ! The abused & the abuser take into fear & loathing but keep you turning the pages unable to put the book down ! Twisted yet fascinating reading .great author!
This work is powerful yet it repulses ! The abused & the abuser take into fear & loathing but keep you turning the pages unable to put the book down ! Twisted yet fascinating reading .great author!
July 24, 2023
Two absolute standout stories in Blue Rose and Bunny is good bread
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April 6, 2024This was horrifying and disturbing to say the least, I would not recommend this book ever
January 23, 2016
Straub always has interesting ideas and disturbing results. I often feel like I'm only understanding the topmost layer of pathology. These stories collected together is a little too much Bleak Shit all at once. I need to go find a puppy and some ice cream.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews