A dark past

The unparalleled master of horror and suspense returns with a powerful and terrifying book that redefines the genre in a unique and unexpected way. In 1966, a charismatic and cunning guru, passing through a Midwestern college campus, gathers a small group of disciples, including high school students and fraternity students, in a secret ritual that results in a horribly mangled body, a missing boy, and the shattered souls of all involved. Forty years later, a relatively successful writer and childhood friend of most of the boys who participated in the ritual—as well as the husband of one of the girls involved—sets out in search of information about that terrifying night, with a book project in mind. However, to obtain it, he will need not only to reconnect with old classmates with whom he lost contact decades ago, but also to urge them to reexamine the unspeakable events that have haunted them ever since. By revealing the individual stories of the group's members, A Dark Past electrifies the reader in chilling and unpredictable ways – and proves that Peter Straub is, indisputably, a master of modern horror.