Personal Demons [Paperback]

Christopher Fowler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1998

Short stories by well known horror writer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A damp, cold wind blows through these 17 resolutely British, chillingly cerebral horror stories. Fowler's (Roofworld, etc.) narrative locus?the moment when "logical events lurch into alarming disarray, and all the human mind can do is try to cope"?is unbloodied but psychologically addled. The Orwellian story "Wage $laves" (recent winner of the British Fantasy Award) confirms our fears about technology when a "smart building" designed for perfect efficiency drives its occupants mad, forcing them to resort to the most drastic measures to reestablish equilibrium. Londoners facing a new Ice Age in the literally chilling "Inner Fire" find, after 22 years without warmth, that "the milk of human kindness had been the first thing to freeze." Although the author touches on the supernatural in almost half of the stories, the twilight zone in which his characters find themselves results from human nature and the darkness inherent in modern society. Fowler courts the unexpected in a way that brings the best of Ray Bradbury to mind; he is an accomplished poet of dark disquietude.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Seventeen atmospheric and entertaining horror stories, though boasting few deaths and little blood, by British novelist Fowler (Red Bride, 1993, etc.). Fowler kicks off the collection with Spanky's Back in Town, about a mysterious small Faberg casket, once owned by Rasputin and now about to be opened in the basement of the British Museum by swanky curator Amy Dale. And what's in it? Well, that goes back to Genesis, or even earlier. The Stokeresque Dracula's Library tells of Jonathan Harker, whos lured and then held fast in the Count's Carpathian castle while cataloguing a fabulous hoard of books, some so old that human warmth turns each poisonous page to smut. (And he's visited by a few vampirellas whose nudity seems borrowed from Coppola's glorious film version.) In the revenge tale Five Star, a crooked British MP and his wife escape from his recent badveddy badpress by holing up on a resort island and finishing off a bottle of five-star cognac that is a more potent digestif than theyd ever suspected. In Scratch, a man playing a scratch card wins . . . something very unpleasant. And in Learning to Let Go, Fowler's latest invention, a professor of oral history is certain that everyone has some story to tellyet finds his life as a fictional character decaying all around him. This masterpiece draws on all the earlier tales here and then discards them as their creator declares his farewell to genre writing. Does this mean that Fowler will turn to really personal writing? His rich descriptive ability in Learning to Let Go shows a sensitive touch like that in James Agees evocation of his Knoxville summer nights: all the description emerges from character, like a warm evening mist. Its not merely beautiful writing. A hint of Promethean promise. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Serpent's Tail (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852425970
• ISBN-13: 978-1852425975
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,718,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christopher Fowler was born in Greenwich, London. He is the multi award-winning author of thirty novels and ten short story collections, and the author of the Bryant & May mystery novels. His first bestseller was 'Roofworld'. Subsequent novels include 'Spanky', 'Disturbia', 'Psychoville' and 'Calabash'. His books have been optioned by Guillermo Del Toro ('Spanky') and Jude Law ('Psychoville'). He co-founded Creative Partnership, a company that changed the face of film marketing, and spent many years working in film. His memoir of growing up without books, entitled 'Paperboy', was highly acclaimed.

He has written comedy and drama for BBC radio, including Radio One's first broadcast drama in 2005. He writes for the FT and the Independent on Sunday, Black Static magazine and many others. His graphic novel for DC Comics was the critically acclaimed 'Menz Insana'. His short story 'The Master Builder' became a feature film entitled 'Through The Eyes Of A Killer', starring Tippi Hedren and Marg Helgenberger. In the past year he has been nominated for 8 national book awards. He is the winner of the Edge Hill prize 2008 for 'Old Devil Moon', and the Last Laugh prize 2009 for 'The Victoria Vanishes'.

Christopher has achieved several pathetic schoolboy fantasies, releasing a terrible Christmas pop single, becoming a male model, writing a stage show, posing as the villain in a Batman graphic novel, running a night club, appearing in the Pan Books of Horror, and standing in for James Bond.

His short stories have appeared in Best British Mysteries, The Time Out Book Of London Short Stories, Dark Terrors, London Noir, Inferno, Neon Lit, Cinema Macabre, the Mammoth Book of Horror and many others. After living in the USA and France he is now married and lives in King's Cross, London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding feat of literature., January 6, 2000

By 

Hassan Galadari (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Personal Demons (Paperback)

I have a number of books that I haven't read and always keep them till the time is right. There are many that you just can't take on if you had a great deal of things to do. This book fell once into this category, and I regret it to this day.

I'm all for short stories. You can learn a great deal through reading them and you just can't beat the feeling that you can finish one every night before bed. These stories written by Fowler are more than that. You just can't get enough of one and you have to jump into the other. The book is not just an amazing read, but a feat altogether. This book was recommended through a review I had written for another book. I ignored the recommendation at first, but at a time I could not find anything to do, I thought I would give it a try. It's a very fast read and really entertaining. The horror touch, though there, is really set in thwe background, and the flavor of literary fiction is the one that takes control through the pages.

The last story sums up every other story and makes sense of everything that has gone through and through. Hearts in Atlantis by King, played on the same theme of intermixing characters, but it was Fowler who devise that role in this book taht was published before Hearts time, but some time.

In all, this is really an entertaining read that just grasps you and won't let go. Fowler is successful in bringing all his stories to life. It's just a shame that his books are not readily available in bookshops and you really have to dig deep to find what this underrated author has produced.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stylish and incisive, with an edge of urban unease..., February 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Personal Demons (Paperback)

This collection is masterly! Lay aside all your preconceptions about the horror genre and just read these stories: they're intelligent, witty, wistful, genuinely unsettling and written with a wonderful eye for the small and horrifyingly day-to-day details which make life so much crueller than fiction. What a pity that this guy has been pigeonholed as a mainstream horror writer when in fact he's so much better than what I've come to expect from the genre nowadays. "Looking For Bolivar" is my favourite: a terrific story in any context. His novels are great, too. Try them!