Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 281

Are The ‘Psycho’ London Years Back?

Remember the eighties? If you do, you’ll either recall a halcyon era awash with ‘Loadsa Money’, glass winebars and bad hair or a morally bankrupt time of tastelessness, selfishness and appalling greed. And for London, those times are clearly back again. Although this time around, there are a couple of new twists.

It’s no longer about [...]

A Writer’s Life No.7: The Story Isn’t The Most Important Thing

This week I’m researching again, and wondering just how much of a plot I really need in a book.

It’s often been pointed out that the most important part of the Bryant & May novels isn’t the storyline. This is becoming an increasingly conscious decision on my part. Few of us remember the identity of the [...]

The Disreputables Of Mayfair

Londoners tend to think of the city’s oddest corner, Mayfair, as the home of embassies and billionaires, and leave it well alone. The only time I ever seem to cross it is when I’m a/ heading to the dentist, b/ taking a wander down Bond Street or c/ cutting through on my way to the [...]

In Celebration Of Oscar Moore – Film Quiz 1

With World AIDS Day having just passed, I thought this would be a good time to remember Oscar Moore.

Oscar wrote for the Guardian newspaper and Screen International. He also bravely chronicled the horror of suffering from Aids-related illnesses and failing experimental therapies, and continued to write his column until his death (this was long before [...]

Re:View – ‘Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House of God’

Alex Gibney, the director behind the Wikileaks documentary, looks at another kind of whistleblower. It begins with a letter, an accusation of pedophilia, and spreads out like a stain as the deaf children’s abuse scandal takes grip within all levels of the Catholic Church – a global religion that is rapidly growing in the developed [...]

The Top Soundtrack Albums of 2013

I don’t collect soundtracks,I have always been obsessed by them; I have thousands, catalogued (in the way sad men do) without slipcases so that I can store them without it feeling as if I live in a warehouse. Some of these are temp scores given to me by directors who used them to shoot with [...]

The Best Movies Of 2013

Sight & Sound just published its annual round-up of critics’ choices from around the world for 2013, andit’s a healthy celebration of some superb films, although I take exception to quite a few of the choices (well, that’s what lists are there for).

I disagree with the rapture that greeted Italy’s ‘The Great Beauty’, which felt [...]

In Search Of Another Series

It’s a known fact – series sell. My career could best be described as ‘jobbing writer’, with no too books the same except the Bryant & May series, and no reaction as strong from readers except in that series.

So the thinking is, maybe I should do another series. Fun though they were, books like ‘Psychoville’ [...]

London’s Rare Views No.2: Anchor At Bankside

Most views that tourists assume to be very English have, in fact, been massively tampered with. Bankside had a power station plonked onto it, but a couple of 450 year-old houses survived by themselves by Cardinal Cap Alley. There’s a rather good book on the subject called ‘The House by the Thames, and the [...]

Finding Christmas

Europe does Christmas very well; it’s just as cheesy but less corporate and nakedly sales-oriented than the UK or US, and Berlin is better than most, with its plethora of Christmas markets and art and craft fairs. The biggest problem in a weekend jaunt is allowing for travel on a subway system that’s (understandably perhaps, [...]