Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 84

The Book That Was Not To Be Touched

My parents owned a forbidden book. I could see it from where I sat in the little reading chair they’d bought me, on the top shelf of the bookcase. It was massive brick with a heavy-looking matt blue cover. The title was printed in gold and was too small to read from down here, and […]

The Lonely Hour Arrives!

In Which Mr May Makes A Mistake And Mr Bryant Goes Into The Dark It’s Bryant & May’s 17th outing, not counting their graphic novel, and their longest novel. We’re in central London just after Christmas, in the present day, where the friendless and lonely are being picked off by a man with a plan. […]

Whatever Happened To Mr Temple?

I suspect there are a few readers out there who not only remember Francis Durbridge’s books but who can also whistle his theme tune, which was either ‘Coronation Scot’ by Vivian Ellis, or Rimski-Korsakov’s ‘Scheherezade’, depending on your age. The author and playwright was born in Hull in 1912 and died in 1998. His output […]

Durbridge’s Out

I suspect there are a few readers out there who not only remember Francis Durbridge’s books but who can also whistle his theme tune, which was either ‘Coronation Scot’ by Vivian Ellis, or Rimski-Korsakov’s ‘Scheherezade’, depending on your age. The author and playwright was born in Hull in 1912 and died in 1998. His output […]

The Best Cures For Sickness

A few years ago I was very ill indeed and spent a lot of time in hospitals, so I always kept a book with me for those ‘surprise’ waiting times when you think you’re about to be seen by a doctor but are sent to sit in another corridor instead. I do remember what I […]

Horrible People, Surreal Potential

There’s something wrong when post-apocalypse drama is more appealing than a sit-com. Here’s what to do when you’re sick. Box-set binge. It was all my dehydrated brain could handle while my body was rejecting the planet, so I watched something called ‘Russian Doll’ on Netflix. My reason for choosing this programme was carefully considered, viz. […]

No Post Today…

…and no 1st Monday Crime night for me either. On Saturday night I contracted a virulent form of food poisoning and am laid low with fever, shakes and throwy-uppy thing…sorry for no-show – beyond my control unforch.

A Song On Sunday

  I’ll be at 1st Monday Crime @ City University London tomorrow night, talking with the always loquacious and criminally delightful Barry Forshaw. And with a full work schedule between now and then I need something to listen to while I’m writing. So let’s have a song. In 1950s Russia young people were suddenly developing […]

London Gets A Design Evolution

The London Underground kept its original look for so many years because of Frank Pick, the unassuming CEO who put together a small team to modernise its design. Frank had no training in art and design, but he knew some people who did; typographer Edward Johnston, whose graceful typeface is still used today, Harry Beck, […]

London’s Darkest Spot

Whenever a TV shows wants us to see the full horror of Victorian poverty, they shoot a sequence at the back of Somerset House, which they dress to look filthy and dangerous. We tend to think of the London poor in terms of Henry Mayhew, whose columns brought us ‘London Labour and the London Poor’, […]