A Clarification on Peter Straub’s THE SKYLARK and His Novella A SPECIAL PLACE
Peter Straub asked us to post the following clarification on the various incarnations of his novels The Skylark, A Dark Place, and the related novella, “A Special Place,” which, we hope, makes everything clearer to his fans:
I have altered the section of The Skylark now called “A Special Place: the Heart of A Dark Matter” in a hundred different places, and that version of the text is the one preferred by its author. Also, A Dark Matter is no longer The Skylark but something trimmer and tighter, and I would like those who read the finished version of the novel then to read the novella called A Special Place, which would alter their understanding of a central part of the novel — I see this as like having a wonderful meal, followed by a bomb for dessert. The Skylark is a tremendously interesting way-station that I took for my final destination, and it bristles with all kinds of ideas and scenes and situations that were never really fully worked out, but it shows exactly what I thought I was doing at the time. However, it is not an alternative to A Dark Matter: those who read it should also read the novel it became. Ideally, they should then go on also to also read the novella, which would have a different impact and create a different effect than it does and can in the early version of my novel.