Floating Dragon was published by Putnam in 1983. The affluent Connecticut suburb of Hampstead is struck by a double catastrophe: a secret military chemical (DRG-16) escapes from a research facility and contaminates the area, causing hallucinations and psychotic episodes; simultaneously, an ancient evil — the “Dragon” — that has attacked the community every thirty years returns for its latest cycle of destruction.
Straub deliberately pushes horror to its extremes: the novel is more violent, more grotesque, and more structurally chaotic than his other work. People melt, houses burn, reality distorts, and the community disintegrates into collective insanity. Four residents — each connected to previous manifestations of the Dragon — must unite to defeat both threats. The novel asks whether the supernatural evil and the man-made poison are really different things, or whether they are expressions of the same underlying sickness in American life.
The book was controversial among Straub’s readers: some found it his most terrifying work (the sequences of suburban reality dissolving into nightmare are genuinely disturbing), while others felt it sacrificed the literary control of Ghost Story for excess. Straub himself has acknowledged that the novel is deliberately excessive — an attempt to push genre horror to its limits and see what remains on the other side.
Collecting Floating Dragon
First edition (Putnam, New York, 1983): Cloth with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $40–$100
- Very good: $15–$40
Projected values (2026–2036): Moderate appreciation.
Connecticut Gothic
Floating Dragon (1983) is Straub’s most overtly horrific novel — a sprawling, deliberately excessive story of a Connecticut suburb besieged simultaneously by a toxic chemical leak and the return of an ancient evil that manifests every thirty years. The novel is Straub’s response to critics who said his horror was too restrained; he pushed every element to extremes, including graphic violence, hallucinations, and body horror. Opinions are divided: some readers consider it his most entertaining book, others find it indulgent. It was a bestseller and remains one of his most accessible novels.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does this compare to Ghost Story? Floating Dragon is broader, louder, and more deliberately pulpy — Straub later described it as a “critique of the horror novel” in which he intentionally exceeded the genre’s conventions. Ghost Story is the more sophisticated work, but Floating Dragon has passionate admirers.