Mrs. God (1990) by Peter Straub

Mrs. God (1990) by Peter Straub: If you've ever been immersed in the attenuated horror show that academia in the humanities can be, Mrs. God is your horror novel. Peter Straub probably drew on some of his own experiences as a graduate student in the 1970's. Even if not, the novel still makes terrific, witty horror out of a struggling academic's quest to finish his thesis.

All But Dissertation (ABD) Ph.D. candidate William Standish is hard at work on a thesis about an obscure female American poet who also happened to be his grandfather's first wife. He's also languishing at a small Ohio college, under pressure to finish, his wife in her third trimester, personal and marital problems still fresh in his mind.

Then he gets the call from Esswood House, an English estate where once literary giants that included Henry James, T.S. Eliot, and Ford Madox Ford frolicked and fornicated and left rare manuscripts as thanks for the festivities to the Estate's library and Esswood's owners, the Seneschal family. Standish will have three weeks on a Fellowship at Esswood to go through his (sort of) grandmother's papers. It could be the academic break he's been pining for.

Well, it is and it isn't.

Mrs. God is a brilliant piece of academic horror. One wonders what horrors Straub himself faced during his years of graduate studies. The petty politics of Standish's life at small colleges in the United States ring true, providing a suitable backdrop to the increasingly weird and outlandish horrors and secrets of Esswood.

We also get a great scene in which Standish discovers what a Plowman's Lunch is, and is quite disappointed. Kippers also prove to be a small horror for the American. At least Esswood's wine cellar and whisky selection are both top-notch.

Straub is certainly nodding here to Robert Aickman's strange stories, ably, while mining his own territory of ancient evil, wryly served. Highly recommended.