Synopses & Reviews
A hotel offers a taboo service for its troubled clients. A young man must wind a thousand clocks before sunset. A vampire library attacks its readers. A shy young man loses a dog and discovers the cutlery of the Marquis de Sade. A lottery winner soon wishes he hadn't won. Deranged office workers take over a building.
Incarceration, incantations, revenge, romance and the end of the world twice. Personal Demons are Christopher Fowler's tales of the macabre, the fantastic and the wilder side of modern urban living. They reflect the rich and various literary talents of a writer called "ghoulishly irresistible" by The Times of London.
Review
"A damp, cold wind blows through these 17 resolutely British, chillingly cerebral horror stories....Fowler courts the unexpected in a way that brings the best of Ray Bradbury to mind; he is an accomplished poet of dark disquietude." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Seventeen atmospheric and entertaining horror stories....It's not merely beautiful writing. A hint of Promethean promise." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"All in all a very good, representative collection of stories by a writer who still has a day job...not bad!" Michael Garry Smout, Barcelona Review
Review
"A writer of extraordinary imagination." Sunday Express (U.K.)
Review
"Ghoulishly irresistible." The Times (London)
Synopsis
At a time when extreme, no-holds-barred horror is at its peak, acclaimed British author Christopher Fowler reminds us that true, bone-chilling horror can often be had without as much as a drop of blood spilled. With his short story collection, Personal Demons, Fowler offers 17 thought-provoking, quiet tales of terror that mark the author as a major voice in literary horror. Open this book to any page every demon here is well worth conjuring.
Synopsis
Short stories by well known horror writer.
About the Author
Christopher Fowler is the author of ten novels, as well as numerous screenplays and collections of short stories. In 1998 he won the BFS Best Short Story of the Year and three of his novels Roofworld, Psychoville, and Disturbia are now in production. One short story, "The Master Builder," became a CBS movie starring Tippi Hedren. Another, "Left Hand Drive," won Best British Short Film in 1993. Christopher Fowler runs The Creative Partnership, a film promotion company in Soho, London.
Table of Contents
Preface
Spanky's back in town 1
Dracula's library 25
Phoenix 41
Unforgotten 65
The man who wound a thousand clocks 87
Inner fire 99
Wage slaves 118
Armies of the heart 145
Five star 162
Scratch 177
Still life 188
The cages 197
The Grand Finale Hotel 202
Midas touch 219
Permanent fixture 245
Looking for Bolivar 252
Learning to let go 281