Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 164

The Friday Song

You probably saw the whole cast and crew of Doctor Who sing it at the end of David Tennant’s er, tenancy (it’s had well over a million hits), but here it is as it appeared in the film ‘Sunshine On Leith’. (Does anyone know if they subtitled the film for US release?)I’m off to see […]

Absolutely Mental

Autumn in Britain is the best time to nourish the mind, and kicking off this month is another terrific exhibition at the Wellcome Collection on Euston Road in London. The subject is Bedlam, and through the study of this institution in its three incarnations and asylums like it, uncovering the history of madness. The Wellcome […]

It’s Time To Bury Giallos

I saw my first Italian dubbed crime/horror movie at around 16, (Argento’s ‘Four Flies on Grey Velvet’) and loved it. The term ‘giallo’ was term used to describe themainly 1970’s Italian genreof literature and film with mystery, slasher and later fantastical elements. The three star directors to look out for were Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci […]

The Case Of The Author Who Won’t Stay Dead

In 1953 Britain entered the New Elizabethan age, but in many ways it was – and continues to be – an extension of the Victorian era. Most of us still live in Victorian houses, with the same social and religious principals, the same class and value system. At the outbreak of the First World War […]

Remake It? Please Don’t!

The biggest mistake directors commit when they remake classic films is misunderstanding the intent of the original. The last few years have seen one weak reboot after another, the most recent being Disney’s decision to remake its animation films as live action features. Originality is born out of time and place; Hollywood’s great screwball comedies, […]

Discovering Rituals & Ceremonies

The Pahlevani and Zoorkhanei rituals in Iran are a peculiar mixture of weight-lifting, dancing, gymnastics and music which have been around for 2,000 years, and now it’s possible for outsiders to experience them. Iran is opening up to travel (although it’s a massive country and there are no internal flights due to a lack of […]

And Her Mother Came Too

Recently I went todinner with a publisher who brought along his 85 year-old mother without even thinking to mention it. She proved to be sharp and funny, and enhanced the table considerably, preventing it from descending into an endless discussion about book rights. She certainly knew the square meterage of her home. (‘You must come […]

Stuck For A Title

Okay, so you’ve written your story, short or doorstop-length, and you no longer like the title you started out with, or maybe you never had one in the first place. What do you do? I know it may seem that I have it in for ‘The Girl on the Train’ (I have) but the one […]

Expect The Unexpected

Surprise at the unexpected is one of the most delightful things I can think of. I remember watching children’s faces when they peered into a room at the British Museum and saw Anthony Gormley’s installation featuring hundreds of little clay people looking back at them. For a moment they felt like gods. The delight of […]

The Collectors

That’s it for me; it’s the end of summer and I’m returning to the UK this weekend with two new stand-alone novels and a non-fiction book under my belt. It’s been a great period of intensely hard work. Having finished, I was strolling about yesterday and thinking about the strange habits of collectors when I […]