Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 265

London’s Most Sinister Street

When I lived in Eze-Sur-Mer on the Cote D’Azur, there was a beautiful old 1920s hotel near me on Pointe De Cabuel (you can see it here from above on Google Maps) that had been bought by a Russian oligarch as a private residence. As it was forced to remain as a hotel, the owner […]

Some Authors Are Dead But Still Writing

Remember Virginia Andrews? Her ‘Flowers In The Attic’ novels began appearing in 1979 and became surprise bestsellers. They were airless, claustrophobic works about four siblings locked in an attic in order to gain an inheritance. The incestuous melodramas appealed to teenaged girls, so when Andrews died she was replaced by another writer called Andrew Neiderman, […]

Inside The Language Maze

There’s been a bit of controversy lately about videogames – this time not about levels of violence, but about the rise of characters with differing ethnicity, sexuality and faith – you know, characters who reflect real life. Some people are very, very unhappy about this, complaining that the (white, Christian) children are being corrupted and […]

Re:View – ‘The East’

Co-produced by Ridley and Tony Scott, sand starring Ellen Paige, you’d think this thriller would have been released by now, but more and more, underperforming US films simply don’t open in the UK as the sure-fire hits take the big budgets (See ‘Does Rowling Destroy Writers?’) This is a smart thriller, taut and thoughtful, with […]

Does Rowling Destroy Other Writers?

The historical mystery author Lynn Shepherd has caused outrage by suggesting that JK Rowling’s move into adult fiction is drawing away money from new writers. Having seen inside the publishing house that handles her marketing, you’d be forgiven for thinking so. I took a look atShepherd’s author page on Amazon.com and found that her books […]

Why The Prostidude Couldn’t Find Work

Back in 2010, Nevada licensed its first male prostitute, working out of the Shady Lady Brothelunder the name ‘Markus.’ The Shady Lady, billed as the ‘A gem in the high desert’, is about 150 miles outside of Las Vegas. Once Markus was licensed, he he had to wait ten days before his first ‘Jane’ arrived. […]

Captain America VS A Real Story

The other day we went to the flicks and saw ‘Captain America: Winter Soldier’ (it’s not all art house round here, you know),. We knew it would employ Hollywood’s main two modes, violence and sentiment, but it was quite enjoyable in its own way. However, it set me thinking. Hollywood is the only cinema in […]

Five New H-H-Half Hours

BBC Radio 4 is to recreate lost episodes of 1950s radiositcom Hancock’s Half Hour, with a new cast including Pirates of the Caribbean actor Kevin McNally in the title role originally taken by the late Tony Hancock. The Missing Hancocks will consist of five of the 20 episodes missing from the BBC archives. They are […]

Keeping Up (Public) Appearances

This spring season I’ll be at the London Metropolitan Archive in Clerkenwell on Friday 11th April, then to the former oyster village turned London-on-Sea, Whitstable, for their first literary festival, WhitLit, on May 10th, then heading to Bristol for Crimefest over the weekend of May 17/18th, and in Waterstones Piccadilly for ‘OxCrimes’, the Oxfam book […]

The Village Preservation Society

Battersea Power Station. Iconic building defining an entire area of London.The Pink Floyd album. James Bond (he dropped a bloke in a wheelchair down one of the chimneys). And something else, probably. It looked for a moment as if the redesign was going to get it right this time. According to the Evening Standard,Rob Tincknell, […]