Horror novelist Peter Straub has died at the age of 79.

Straub died on Sunday, Sept. 5 in Manhattan's Columbia University Irving Medical Center due to complications after breaking his hip, his wife, Susan Straub, told The New York Times.

Born on March 2, 1943 in Milwaukee, WI, Straub was a celebrated novelist and a poet, best known for novels placed into the supernatural/horror genres such as 1975's Julia, 179's Ghost Story and The Talisman, published in 1984, which he co-wrote with his good friend and collaborator, Stephen King. Both Julia and Ghost Story received their own film adaptations. In 1977, Julia was adapted into Full Circle starring Mia Farrow, while the adaptation of Ghost Story in 1981 starred Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and John Houseman.

"He was a unique writer in a lot of ways," King told NYT about Straub. "He was not only a literary writer with a poetic sensibility, but he was readable. And that was a fantastic thing. He was a modern writer, who was the equal of say, Philip Roth, though he wrote about fantastic things." Straub and King also published Black House together in 2001.

Straub attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he studied English and graduated in 1965, and went on to receive his MA in English at Columbia University. He and his family would then move to Dublin, Ireland in 1969 where he would begin his Ph.D.

His daughter, fellow novelist Emma Straub, wrote a lengthy thread on Twitter following his death, celebrating his life and accomplishments. "When I wrote my first novel, he left me a voicemail that said 'Emma, you are going to sell this book for $200k.' I sold it to no one, for zero dollars, but it didn't matter. It took me ten years to sell a novel but when I did, he was in the first fucking row, every time," she wrote.

Emma Straub's recently published book, This Time Tomorrow "was all about him dying, which is a weird thing to give your parent when they are, in fact, still alive, but I am so glad I did." Straub continued, "Every bit of my love for him is in that book, and it is one of the great joys of my life that he read it (so many times) with so much pleasure and pride. That book, and our mutual understanding, meant that when he died, I didn't doubt for a second that he knew how grateful I was to be his, and vice versa."

Straub's other novels included Koko (1988), Mystery, The Throat, The Hellfire Club, and Mr. X, among others. He also published poetry, with books including My Life in Pictures in 1971, a chapbook in 1972 titled Ishmael, and his third book of poetry, Open Air, published that same year. He was awarded several literary honors such as the Bram Stoker Award, World Fantasy Award and International Horror Guild Award.

Straub is survived by his wife, Susan; his daughter, Emma; his son, Benjamin. his brother, John; as well as three grandchildren.

Source: The New York Times, Twitter