Peter Straub On His Love for Soap Operas

From: Blank on Blank
Series: Blank on Blank
Length: 05:38

"I’ll do email and work until 1:30, 2 because at two is the holy hour when I must watch 'One Life to Live.' My Soap." - Horror Author Peter Straub. Interview by David Gerlach Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: Peter Straub On His Love for Soap Operas
From: Blank on Blank

Peter_straub_square_small Peter Straub is a novelist that works in some of the darkest, bloodiest realms of horror fiction. He’s sold millions of books. And after I pressed record, I thought we’d get into his secrets to co-writing two books with Stephen King. Or maybe how he comes up with his stories in the first place. But instead he dropped a detail of a guilty pleasure. A key to his writing ritual that ends with him playing a retired, blind cop.

INTERVIEW NOTES
- The Interviewer: David Gerlach
- The Date: March 2011
- The Scene: Straub’s House on the Upper West Side of Manhattan
- The Source: Recorded on an iPhone with external mic

Also in the Blank on Blank series

Wilt Chamberlain on Tall Tales (05:05)
From: Blank on Blank

"Can you imagine going through America at that time, a man of color, a little boy, 14 years old, that height? You know, I was looked upon as a freak." - Wilt Chamberlain. ...

Beastie Boys on Being Stupid (08:10)
From: Blank on Blank

"There’s a way we talk and it includes profanity. We never figured we’d be arrested for it." - Mike "Mike D" Diamond. Back in May 1985, the Beastie Boys were fresh on the ...

Jim Morrison on Why Fat is Beautiful (05:50)
From: Blank on Blank

"What's wrong with being fat? That's what I want to know. Why is it so onerous to be fat?" - Jim Morrison Interview by Howard Smith | TheSmithTapes.com | Los Angeles, 1969

Larry King on Getting Seduced (04:56)
From: Blank on Blank

"I’m playing these records. The phone rings and I pick it up: 'WAHR'. And this lady’s voice--I can still hear her voice--she goes: 'I want you.'" Larry King tells the story ...

Sam Pickering on How to Teach and Not Dead Poets Society (07:01)
From: Blank on Blank

"I looked in the mirror the other day and I said: My God, what happened to that handsome young man? Who is this grizzled b-a-s-t-a-r-d staring at me?" Interview by John ...

Art Blakey on How to Build a Band (05:46)
From: Blank on Blank

"You’re in your birthday suit up there. People can see clean through you. And your music, your actions and the vibes you bring forth to the audience come out. You cannot hide ...

David Sedaris on Breast Milk and Book Tours (07:42)
From: Blank on Blank

"People would come and defecate on the floor of the dressing room. So I just thought that was his Gap, but I came to find out that it happens in all stores across America." - ...

Brian Selznick on Einstein, God, and Reaching His Potential (06:36)
From: Blank on Blank

"So I bought the postcard, memorized it and sent it off to a friend. And I never thought about God again after that." - Brian Selznick Brian Selznick is the author and ...

Rodney King on Forgiveness and Being a Negro (06:48)
From: Blank on Blank

"I have been challenged to fight for saying 'can't we all get along.' I’ve had people say I want to kick your ass for saying that." - Rodney King Interview by Bobbi Booker ...

Amber Heard on Not Sitting Pretty and Shutting Up (06:46)
From: Blank on Blank

"It’s easier to deal with a woman who is compliant and sweet and sunny and nice and non-confrontational." Interview by Jason Feifer // NYC hotel in 2011 // digital recorder ...

Piece Description

Peter Straub is a novelist that works in some of the darkest, bloodiest realms of horror fiction. He’s sold millions of books. And after I pressed record, I thought we’d get into his secrets to co-writing two books with Stephen King. Or maybe how he comes up with his stories in the first place. But instead he dropped a detail of a guilty pleasure. A key to his writing ritual that ends with him playing a retired, blind cop.

INTERVIEW NOTES
- The Interviewer: David Gerlach
- The Date: March 2011
- The Scene: Straub’s House on the Upper West Side of Manhattan
- The Source: Recorded on an iPhone with external mic

Transcript

David Gerlach: This is Blank on Blank. Where lost interviews come to life. Distributed by the Public Radio Exchange. PRX dot org. I'm David Gerlach. Some months back I sat down with Peter Straub. He’s a novelist that works in some of the darkest, bloodiest realms of horror fiction. He’s sold millions of books. And after I pressed record, I thought we’d get into his secrets to co-writing two books with Stephen King. Or maybe how he comes up with his stories in the first place. But instead he dropped a detail of a guilty pleasure. A key to his writing ritual that ends with him playing a retired, blind cop.

Peter Straub: I’ll get to my desk at like 11 o’clock. I’ll do email and work until about 1:30, 2:00 because at 2:00 is the holy hour when I must watch “One Life to Live.”

CLIP: “One Life to Live”

Peter Straub: My soap.

close transcript

CLIP: “One Life to Live” Theme...
Read the full transcript