Book Review: Pork Pie Hat by Peter Straub

An unnamed grad student discovers that one of his favorite musicians, jazz legend Pork Pie Hat -- whom he thought had long since passed -- is performing at a small club in New York. Excited by the prospect of hearing a legend, he tracks down the small night club and settles in for some good music. The band on the little stage has some well-known musicians playing, but Hat hasn't shown up. Even so, the grad student's enjoying himself, almost hoping Hat won't show. But when he does and adds his saxophone to the mix, the music becomes more than notes and melodies, and the grad student gets so enchanted that he wants to learn more about Hat. Finding next to nothing in the university library on him, the grad student musters up enough courage and asks Hat himself for an interview.

Seeming to pay scant attention to the grad student, Hat agrees, asking the grad student to stop by his apartment in a few weeks, on Halloween. When he arrives, he gets more than he bargained for as Hat weaves a tale about his childhood, and that one night in the woods near the off-limits place known as The Backs where something happened that terrifies him to this day about Halloween.

Pork Pie Hat sets up the perfect tale for Halloween -- one of those spooky tales of kids traipsing into the woods, going to some place forbidden by everyone in town, just because they want a good scare and want to know why it has such a reputation. And the stories a good one, too, leaving much up to the imagination as to what's real and what's supernatural. The character of Hat is nicely drawn: from the 11 year-old Hat forcing himself to follow his friend into the woods to the older, grown-up Hat who has a way of talking that makes you feel as though you're being let in on some great secret.

For the most part, I got into the story following young Hat and his cohort, Dee Sparks, as they encountered the mysteries of The Backs, with the makeshift shacks and greasepaper windows, the eerie noises and glowing lights. But once I reached Part Three of the book, the story didn't so much lose steam as it lost some believability and puts into question everything that I just read. If some parts, like characters or sequence of events may have been changed, that would have seemed reasonable; memories can re-configure how events took place in our minds as we age, and I could understand Hat telling things slightly out of order or not remembering a name correctly. The way Pork Pie Hat left the story, I think I know what may have actually happened with Hat's tale, but not knowing for certain or being allowed to know either way, I felt dissatisfied.

Pork Pie Hat
by Peter Straub
Cemetery Dance Publications
ISBN: 978-1-58767-232-3
hardcover, 149 pgs.

borrowed book from Long Beach Public Library

Image from Fantastic Fiction UK.