The ambitious mainstream thriller "The Hellfire Club" was published in 1996; the novel applied the lessons learned in the Blue Rose period to a more overtly gothic plot. "Mr. X" followed in 1999 with a doppelgänger theme. In 2001, Straub and King reteamed for "Black House", a loose sequel to "The Talisman" tying that book in with King's Dark Tower Series. 2003 saw the publication of a new Straub novel "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" followed by the related "In the Night Room" (2004). Both of these novels won Stoker awards.