It’s behind you! 2022: “Oh no it isn’t!” 2023: “Oh yes it is!”

Posted on January 1, 2023 by frazerlee

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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As is customary on this blog, time for a quick glance back before looking ahead.

2022 was a political pantomime of giant horse costume proportions, and I live in hope of a General Election in 2023… Aside from all that, it was a great year for creativity, and for reconnection with others, but an absolute stinker for illness as we all started circulating once more after the lockdowns. Covid finally caught up with me in June, and it hit me real bad, but I was grateful to have gotten over the worst of it after a couple of weeks. Yuletide gifted the Winter vomity bug, which was as unpleasant as it sounds, but I recovered just in time for the obligatory glass of Guinness on NYE.

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My big news of the year was of course the publication of Damnation: The Gothic Game (the official novelisation of my favourite board game of all time) on Halloween. The re-vamped (yes, pun intended AGAIN, sorry-not-sorry) game will be unleashed in Spring of 2023 after a few inevitable delays, along with the game’s soundtrack, so that’s already something to look forward to. Thanks again to Kris Rees & Blackletter Games for the opportunity, and to the Gothic Game’s co-creator Robert Wynne-Simmons, who also published an official novelisation of his own, the most excellent Blood on Satan’s Claw, which I was only too happy to support on the Unbound platform. It was a fanboy thrill to see my name in the book’s end credits!

I completed my PhD thesis in 2022 and will have my viva voce in early 2023 (not sure if that’s something to look forward to or not, i’ll let you know how it goes!). My short story Ill Met By Moonlight was republished in Castle of Horror Vol. 7, and my historical horror novel The Skintaker returned in paperback thanks to the wonderful people at Crossroad Press/Macabre Ink. My film The Stay went from strength to strength, picking up another five awards on the festival circuit, including Best Horror in Austin & Hollywood, and Best Mystery Thriller in sunny Cyprus. I’m so grateful to all the festival organisers and audiences for supporting my film, and as ever to my cast, crew, and backers for their hard work and belief in the end product.

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In-person events were back on the menu, and I had such a blast at Chillercon in Scar(e)borough, meeting horror heroes old & new, almost selling out of books & blu rays, and finally getting to sit on Bram Stoker’s bench (another ambition fulfilled). My thanks to organisers Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane, and to all the awesome guests and attendees. As hoped last year, The Cure did indeed go on tour in 2022 and I was lucky to see them in Birmingham and London (times three) bringing my show tally up to a respectable 42 since my first Cureshow on December 6th, 1987. 2022’s Shows of a Lost World Birmingham gig was on December 7th, so 35 years and a day since my first! No new album yet, though we were treated to five of the new songs, so that’s also something to look forward to in 2023 (we hope!). It was a pleasure to return to teaching in-person creative writing classes at Brunel University and to see my students graduate at the first offline ceremonies in three long years (not a dry eye in the house!).

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And in the spirit of looking forward, I have my first ever Blake’s 7 story published early 2023 in a charity annual endorsed by series star Jan (Cally) Chappell. I’m looking forward to presenting Writing Horror at University of Hull’s Faculty of Arts, Cultures & Education later this month. One or two other things are in the works, but I’m not at liberty to say anything about them (yet!). Who knows what else 2023 will bring? Come what may, I hope yours is a happy and healthy one.

Thanks again for all your support & best wishes,
Frazer x

The best books that make you the inmate of a sinister institution

Posted on November 29, 2022 by frazerlee

https://shepherd.com/best-books/making-you-the-inmate-of-a-sinister-institution

The titular Greyfriars Reformatory in my recent horror novel is one place you would never want to spend the night!

A lifelong horror fan, I have always been fascinated by haunted landscapes and creepy buildings. My childhood in the Midlands of England prepared me for my career as a horror writer and filmmaker with its abundance of spooky ruins and foggy canal paths.

I have since explored ancient sites all across the U.K. and Europe and my novels are inspired by these field trips into the uncanny, where the contemporary everyday rubs shoulders with the ancient and occult. Places become characters in their own right in my work and I think this list of books celebrates that.

I hope you find them as disturbing and thought-provoking as I have!

(And if you’re looking for similar reads, why not browse this book list featuring more titles set in psychiatric hospitals)

Cheers,
Frazer x

#TheCure concerts I have known & loved: Kilburn National Ballroom, 3rd May 1992

Posted on May 3, 2022 by frazerlee

Thirty(!) years ago today I was beside myself with excitement for a very special The Cure gig. Ahead of the full Wish Tour, the band announced a clutch of warm-up dates at club venues.

All the shows I had seen up to that point had either been in enormous arenas, or outdoor shows. The Kilburn National Ballroom was a relatively tiny venue for The Cure, and that only added to the feeling of anticipation. Seeing your #CultHeroes live is honour enough, but up close and personal? Even better.

The journey to seeing this gig was fraught. I was studying for a Journalism degree at the time and had an in-class assessment the day that tickets went on sale (at only £10 each!). In these pre-internet days phoning up to book tickets, or queuing in person, were the only options. The only person I knew who would want to go wasn’t able to queue up either, so I had to knuckle down and complete my class assessment while the clock ticked down and – you guessed it – the gig sold out.

First world problems, I know! (Hey, I was still very young back then.) And it turns out I passed the in-class assessment so there is that. I was trying to be responsible, even in the face of my borderline insane Cure obsession! And, luckily I was working a part-time job to support myself so I rolled up my baggy black sleeves, put in several extra hours and saved up some cash.

Long story short, the £10 ticket ended up costing me £60 on the night, but I had enough cash left over for a tour shirt and a couple of beers. People danced and sang along. There were promotional balloons! Happy the man, as the old b-side goes.

The gig itself was a loud, joyous, sweaty sprint through the amazing new double album Wish plus several hits and surprises. The crane camera swinging and floating above the crowd added a showbiz touch to proceedings, and from what I recall there was a fair bit of crowd-surfing going on during the faster numbers. (Hey, this was ’92, the golden age of grunge…)

I emerged from the tiny, packed out venue with a massive grin on my face. I would see The Cure a further nine times on the ’92 Wish tour, in those huge arenas again. But, as an intimate introduction to a massive tour, the 3rd May 1992 would be very hard to beat.

*The shirt still fits!* (pic taken on 6music #tshirtday November 2021)

See what The Cure played on 3rd May 1992 here.

Follow The Cure on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and visit the official website.

Comment below with your Cure memories! I’d love to hear them!

A glance over the shoulder at 2021

Posted on January 2, 2022 by frazerlee

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A wee glance over the shoulder at last year before embarking upon the challenges of the new.

2021 was a painful time for so many people struggling with the loss of loved ones during the pandemic, amidst safety restrictions that kept us at a distance from one another. (Meanwhile, the UK government was hosting piss-ups at Downing Street. I hope the electorate will never forget this, but I don’t hold out much hope. The UK has collective memory loss at the best/worst of times, and certainly whenever a general election comes around again. Oh well.)

After losing my dear friend Marcus Campbell Sinclair to cancer in December 2020, this year also hit hard. Norman J Warren, friend, mentor & collaborator, and my old band mate and good friend Paulo Turin both left us far too soon. (COVID-19 killed Paulo after three weeks in the care of medical staff in the ICU in Brazil.) My heart goes out to their families and friends. I know I’ll miss them a lot. Please get vaccinated & boosted if you can. Wear a mask. Just do. Take good care of yourselves and others.

Like many, I found it hard to keep motivated creatively during 2021. My University teaching workload more than doubled with colleagues on sabbatical or off sick, and the pressures of online learning provision left little time or headspace for creative work. That said, it was still a pretty good year. I was promoted from Senior Lecturer to Reader. I supervised a student charity anthology – and Covid safety measures even relaxed enough to allow for a launch party event, which was a great way to reunite with the students and to celebrate their efforts. I wrote two feature length screenplays, published two short stories, and released a CD soundtrack (also in support of NHS charities). I published limited edition hardcovers of my back catalogue of novels. And I began work on my next novel, due out this year.

Film-wise, it was exciting to see so many film festivals coming back online and my folk horror film The Stay screened at 15 events, garnered 4 nominations and won 10 awards including Best Short at V.i.Z. Bulgaria, Best Short at Medusa Film Festival, Best Short at Cinestesya Portugal, and Best Horror at 4th Dimension in Bali. A pretty amazing year!

I enjoyed reading new (to me) voices such as Christa Carmen and Clare Castleberry, and re-reading some old classics this year (the highlights being Frank Herbert’s Dune, and F. Paul Wilson’s The Keep). Movies and box sets too numerous to mention kept the freak flag flying, and I was glad to be back in the cinema again for Dune, Halloween Kills, and the new Spidey adventure. The live immersive theatre of Doctor Who: Time Fracture made me feel like my bony old self again. Albums of the year were supplied by CHVRCHES, Duran Duran, and John Carpenter. Much as I tried to enjoy online gigs, a welcome return to real world concert-going couldn’t have come a moment sooner, with trips out-out to see The Sisters and The Nephs. 2022 is promising a full-blown tour (and maybe even an album!) by The Cure and I for one cannot wait.

Looking ahead to 2022, I am hoping that Chillercon UK will finally happen in-person. Contemporary Folk Horror in Film & Media (at Leeds Beckett) looks set to be an online event. That new novel I was talking about above will be published around Springtime. I won’t talk about other projects here… because i’ve learned the hard way that the more you talk them up, the less likely they are to happen!

So I’ll sign off for now by wishing a happy, healthy new year 2022 to you all!

Thanks so much to anyone who took the time to big up my film at a festival, or picked up one of my books and posted a rating/review on Goodreads or Amazon, liked/shared a post, or sent encouraging words or thank yous.

I appreciate the support more than you can ever know.

Cheers,
Frazer x

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#HappyHalloween2021 #SpookySamhainBlessings to all, and to all a good night!

Posted on October 31, 2021 by frazerlee

Many of us have felt like this spider, clinging on for dear life during what has been a very challenging year:

Hang in there kids, it’s almost time!

But some of us are lucky enough to be emerging from our solitude – for a while, at least! And for that I, for one, am truly thankful. As the veil grows thinner this weekend I’ll be thinking of those I’ve lost to Covid-19, cancer, and old age this year, and finding ways to carry some of their light into the dark corners of the year ahead.

I think it’s very true to say that horror fans take great solace in spooky season. (It’s also true all year round, I know, but October is THE special month for many). And whether it’s an opportunity to party with family/fiends, go trick or treating, or hunker down and watch some scary movies (or all of the above!) I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all Spooky Samhain blessings, a Happy Halloween, a very merry little Goth Xmas, or whatever macabre moniker is the best fit for you!

And by way of a modest treat (or trick?) for this year, I have recorded the first ever reading from my new tie-in novel Damnation: The Gothic Game, with another to follow soon. Check it out below, or over at the Damnation Kickstarter, where you can pick up a copy along with the game.

Damnation awaits!

I hope the extract gives you pleasant nightmares! And if it does, perhaps it is testament to how important it is right now to treat yourselves, and those that you love.

Because if we try, we can also feel like this spider – feasting on the stuff of life – if only for one, perfectly spooky night:

Pleasant screams!

Beast witches,
Frazer x

In Memoriam: Paul O Turin

Posted on July 2, 2021 by frazerlee

So sorry to have to say that my good friend & collaborator Paulo (aka Paul O) Turin has passed away after contracting Covid-19.

My sincere condolences to his family & many friends. We were all hoping he’d pull through after three weeks in the ICU in Brazil. Thanks to all the doctors & nurses who tried so hard to keep Paulo alive.

*Here’s a photo from much happier times, taken when we worked on the music for ‘On Edge’ together with our band Self Destructive Nature*

My friendship with Paulo began in the mid-90s when we were introduced via mutual contacts. We spent many happy hours writing and recording music together, discussing life the universe & everything — and eating penne arabiatta, or pizza, or both. Paulo worked & studied hard and was always inquisitive and determined to master whatever he put his mind to. His musicianship was second to none. Our song Cycles of Abuse featured in my film On Edge, as did Paulo’s killer dance moves (you can spot him in the nightclub scenes that bookend the film). Another composition Defiler featured on the Planet Metal compilation and on Brazilian rock radio.

*SDN’s track Defiler featured on Planet Metal Volume 2*

When Paulo returned to Brazil, we kept in touch and exchanged family photos (and godawful Dad jokes!). A couple of years ago, Paulo asked for my help in putting together a Wikipedia page about him. But the Wiki editors rejected the page as ‘not notable’!!!

Well, screw them. I’m including the Wikipedia text below in full, in tribute to Paulo, who was very notably a gentle giant, and a brilliantly talented musician. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

(And if any Wikipedia wizards out there can create a page for Paul O Turin, please do so. He would have liked that!)

*Sweet dreams Paulo, be at peace, the world will rock a lot less without you x*

Paulo in his own words…

Paul O Turin

Background information

Birth name: Paulo Eduardo Turin

Born: Sao Paulo, Brazil

Genres: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, Instrumental Rock/Metal

Occupation: Guitarist, songwriter

Instruments: Guitar

Associated acts: Gangland UK, Battlezone, Paul Di’anno, Self Destructive Nature, Aquiles Priester, Felipe Andreoli, Realm of Illusion

Labels: Pony Canyon, Encore Records, Magick Records, Zoom Club Records

Biography

Paulo Turin was born in Brazil but made his mark in metal music in England where he lived for 22 years. He was of Italian heritage. His grandparents moved to Brazil from Venice during the first world war. He spoke English, Italian and Portuguese.

He started playing his father’s acoustic guitar at a very young age and learned music from some music books that also belonged to his father. After begging his parents to buy him an electric guitar for two years, he finally got it at the age of 13. It was a Fender Jaguar copy. The first songs he learned on the electric guitar was from Credence Clear Water Revival, Slade and Chuck Berry but when he heard Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin his guitar playing and musical taste went to a new dimension.

Turin then started taking private guitar lessons with some well known teachers around the Sao Paulo area. The lessons included rock, jazz and music theory. During this period he played with some local bands.

In 1986 Paul took advantage of his European (Italian) citizenship and moved to England where he worked part time and took guitar lessons at the Musicians Academy and at the Guitar Institute. Paul also held a degree in management and graduated to be a University teacher.

Career

In England, Paul went to several auditions for bands in the underground metal scene of London and got the job as the guitarist of an up and coming act called Gangland UK. They toured the UK nonstop for two years and recorded two songs Beyond the Law and Death Threat for the album Metal for Muthas ‘92 released in Japan. Gangland also put out a single One in a Million/Crazy Angel for the Japanese market.

Paul composed the soundtrack song Cycles of Abuse for the horror film On Edge with Self Destructive Nature (SDN), a band he formed with vocalist and writer/director Frazer Lee. Another SDN song Defiler featured on the Planet Metal compilation. Paulo did session work and played for bands as a hired hand also.

In 1997 he was invited to join Paul Di’anno’s (former Iron Maiden vocalist) Battlezone. They recorded and toured the album Feel My Pain. Paul returned to Brazil in 1999 and put together a band for Paul Di’anno which recorded and toured the album Nomad. Nomad was re-released in 2006 with a few bonus live tracks under the name of The Living Dead.

Since then Turin was writing and recording solo instrumental Rock Metal, and with thrash metal oufit Realm of Illusion, in addition to producing, and hosting guitar masterclasses.

In memoriam: Norman J. Warren

Posted on March 11, 2021 by frazerlee

I’m devastated to hear of filmmaker Norman J. Warren‘s passing, and touched to see social media buzzing with fond memories of, and tributes to, this gentleman of horror.

The late, great Norman J. Warren (photo: Vice.com)

My friendship with Norman began just over a decade ago, when a producer recommended me to him as a potential screenwriter on his new movie project. We met in a hotel bar in London and got along like a haunted house on fire. I was hired to do rewrites on Norman’s script ‘Beyond Terror’, which was both a sequel to ‘Terror’ and a ‘greatest hits’ showcase. I was thrilled to be working with him, as I was a fan of Norman’s cult-occult movie ‘Satan’s Slave’ (aka ‘Evil Heritage’) from my VHS video nasties days.

Our collaboration continued and we met up for coffee-fuelled story meetings and regular chinwags at the National Film Theatre café on the South Bank, and sometimes at Norman’s home in West London, where I got to see his vintage movie posters and memorabilia over mugs of tea. Norman had so many great stories from his decades in the film industry, and I loved hearing about him driving around in an open topped car with ‘Terror’ star Glynis Barber in the passenger seat.

(Glynis Barber in Norman J. Warren’s TERROR)

‘Beyond Terror’ was retitled ‘Delusion’ (we joked that we were deluded if we thought it was going to get made) and Norman eventually took the project to China with producer Yixi Sun, to pitch for financing. Sadly, it just wasn’t meant to be.

Following our work on ‘Delusion’, Norman invited me to brainstorm ideas with him for a horror/thriller film called ‘Shadows’ and I worked up a story outline based on our creative discussions with producer Yixi Sun.

Horror can be a notoriously hard sell when trying to attract funding, especially state funding, and so Norman decided to pursue the art house/surreal thriller route. Following on from ‘Shadows’, Norman and Yixi then developed a script called ‘Susu’, which Norman was going to direct in China. When ill health prevented him from directing, Norman moved into a producing role, with Yixi directing. Norman made a fun short too, for the ‘Turn Your Bloody Phone Off’ segment at FrightFest London.

Alongside all this, I was hard at work on my short folk horror film ‘The Stay’, and Norman mentored me throughout the process with his trademark enthusiasm and words of encouragement. You’ll see his name on the thank you credits at the end of the film (I apologised in advance, in case he didn’t like the movie!).

Norman was a lovely friend and collaborator who always had time for others, even when he was unwell. And I have never known someone to be so excited and upbeat when discussing grisly death scenes over lunch! Norman survived polio during his younger years, and I think that maybe gave him some of his appreciation for life’s possibilities. He was a proper gent, and I will miss him.

Listen to Norman discussing his filmmaking roots and influences on Radio 4’s The Film Programme here.

And you can relive Norman J Warren’s greatest hits in this stonking Indicator Blu Ray box set.

Glancing back at 2020, looking ahead to 2021

Posted on January 1, 2021 by frazerlee

(we were all this screaming tree at some point in 2020…)

2020. A year during which any horror writer would be hard pressed to outdo real-life events with any of their fictional terrors.

Glancing back, here’s my horror writing year in review.

Novels

Greyfriars Reformatory my sixth novel, which was published by the fine folks at Flame Tree Press, got some of the most positive reviews i’ve ever had (from Chicago Review of Books, and others). My thanks to all the readers, raters & reviewers!

Non-fiction

I published two academic chapters:
“Not everything that moves, breathes and talks is alive”: Christianity, Korean Shamanism and Reincarnation in Whispering Corridors (1998) and The Wailing (2016) – published in Scared Sacred: Idolatry, Religion and Worship in the Horror Film, editors: Rebecca Booth, Valeska Griffiths, Erin Thompson, R.F. Todd (House of Leaves Publishing, 2020)
&
Koji Suzuki’s Ring: A world literary perspective – published in Horror Literature From Gothic to Postmodern: Critical Essays. Editors Nicholas Diak, Michele Brittany (McFarland Publishing, 2020).

I penned guest blogs & articles for the HWA, CrimeReads & Kendall Reviews (among others you can find here).

Screenwriting

I lost two screenwriting commissions due to the pandemic in 2020. I know many film & TV writers struggled last year, and here’s hoping the industry picks up again in 2021, but there’s a way to go yet.

I put my time & energy into writing two speculative feature film screenplays (I’ve learned never to speak too much about those, so let’s just wait and see if they actually become movies).

My screenplay adaptation of Bram Stoker Award®️ nominated debut novel The Lamplighters was a Semi-finalist in the ScreenCraft Horror Screenplay Contest 2020.

Awards

My folk horror film The Stay won two awards on the international festival circuit in 2020:

Exemplar Award – Creepy New Concept & Plot (Creepy Tree Film Festival, USA)

& Best International Film (The Thing in the Basement Horror Fest USA)

The Stay was screened in Official Selection at several film festivals from Los Angeles Lift-off to the Hitchcock Film Awards. Film festivals weren’t the only happenings that were streamed…

Events

Remember those? It was a tough year for conferences and conventions, and my heart goes out to their organisers, who have been forced to postpone, go online, or to cancel outright.

An Evening With Horror Writer Frazer Lee went ahead, and I enjoyed inflicting my horrors on a full house, had fun answering some great questions, and we raised some money for my favourite charity.

The inaugural UK edition of Stokercon was postponed, and then became Chillercon, with the Bram Stoker Awards & Final Frame Film Contest (for which i was a Juror) moving online. Congratulations to the winners & nominees!

I was looking forward to screening The Stay and doing a Q&A about my film work at Contemporary Folk Horror in Film & Media conference, Leeds, until the pandemic delivered its own persistent brand of viral horror. Hopefully it will happen in 2021.

Last but not least — My book launch for Greyfriars Reformatory went online, and together we raised £35 for Hillside Animal Sanctuary through signed book sales — thank you!

Looking forward? I’m hoping to get all kinds of things done in 2021. Making horror stories sometimes helps me to face the real-life ones. And i hope reading/watching them helps you sometimes, too.

If you’re still reading this, I’d just like to wish you & yours the very best of health. And i’ll close on a plea, if i may:

Don’t you dare be one of those characters in horror stories — you know the one who goes down to the basement with a faulty flashlight? Or the one who says, “We’ll cover more ground if we split up.” Just don’t. I’ve written and consumed enough horror stories to know those aproaches rarely pan out so well — for anyone.

Please.

Wear a mask. Wash your hands.

Stay safe out there, and keep others safe.

And if you need to borrow a flashlight, just scream!

x Frazer

#TheCure concerts I have known & loved: NEC Birmingham, 6th December 1987

Posted on December 7, 2020 by frazerlee

In the first of an occasional series, I’m marking the anniversary of The Cure concerts i’ve attended over the years, because they are my favourite band and I love them, and because 2020 has made such things into impossible dreams.

The first post has to be my first gig!

On 6th December, way back in 1987, I boarded a coach from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, to go see my first ever Cureshow at Birmingham NEC Arena.

I had seen a few gigs already. Clannad, Big Audio Dynamite, Spear of Destiny, INXS, The Cult, and Fields of the Nephilim (to name a few i can actually remember) but this was the big one.

This was The Cure.

Earlier that year I had seen The Cure in Orange concert film at my local cinema, in Hanley, Staffordshire, with my school friend Susan Greaves. I played ‘The Blood’ to her on my cassette Walkman because she’d never heard it before. We got up & danced at the back while the movie played. It was magic, but (to coin a phrase) I wished it was all real, I wished it couldn’t be a story.

This time, in Birmingham in Winter, it was brilliantly real.

The seats were the cheapo ones, very near to… the back of the arena. But I didn’t care so much about the seats, I had no intention of staying seated in mine anyhow. The arena lights dimmed and… There was no support band, just ‘Eyemou’ — an experimental film of close-ups on Robert Smith’s mouth and eyes, projected into a screen that covered the stage. The casuals were getting a bit restless during the film, but sixteen year old me was absolutely bloody loving it. The film was the magical bridge between the In Orange movie, and the actual, physical Cure i had yearned to experience live for so long.

I can still feel the goosebumps i felt then, when the opening bars of ‘The Kiss’ kicked in, and the screen dropped to reveal the band I would see again & again & again & again after that fateful first time. Robert’s voice opened like a flower and the crowd went bonkers. And it got better and better.

*The t-shirt is still going strong 33 years later!*

The next couple of hours were my induction into by now familiar Cure traits:

⁃ The mixed crowd of casuals (one guy was very disappointed they didn’t play The Lovecats and couldn’t believe it when i told him the band couldn’t play it live — true at that time) and die-hards.

⁃ the random b-side/obsCure-ity thrown in to the set to rapturous applause from those in-the-know (that night it was ‘A Japanese Dream’ that surprised the most, i’d been playing my copy to death in the run up to the show).

⁃ and Robert’s charming inability to do onstage banter (’ello! is sometimes the only decipherable phrase to be uttered by our hero).

The coach journey home was a blur as i replayed every note in my backcombed head. I was bewitched, besotted, bewildered — and utterly hooked.

But i’d have to wait until 1989, and The Prayer Tour, to see them again.

And that is another story.

*From my archives – The Kissing Tour 1987 official tour programme*

See what The Cure played on 6th December 1987 here.

Follow The Cure on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and visit the official website.

Comment below with your Cure memories! I’d love to hear them!

Proof that one letter can change your life. #OnEdge20

Posted on July 24, 2018 by frazerlee

OnEdge20

#OnEdge20 is a series of posts commemorating 20 years since I rolled cameras on my first short film.

DAY 1

Today is exactly 20 years since I rolled cameras on my first short film as writer/director, On Edge.

I don’t like looking back so much, I’d much rather keep my focus on what’s ahead. But 20 years does feel like a pretty significant anniversary, so…

To commemorate each day of the film shoot I will be posting about the making of the film, starting today (24th July) and concluding on the day we wrapped (28th July). I have trawled through the archives to find artefacts that have never been shared online before — until now.

And the first of these is a letter.

A single sheet of headed A4 paper, bearing the logo of Soho’s The Creative Partnership, and the signature of author Christopher Fowler.

It’s a letter that changed my life.

Twenty one years ago, I was studying for a Masters in screenwriting under the tutorship of guru Philip Parker. One of our assignments was to adapt an existing story into a short film script. Around that time, I had become aware of an emerging master of the short horror story, British author Christopher Fowler. I had already devoured a couple of his early novels, including the brilliant Roofworld, and was hungry for more, so I invested (very wisely) in a copy of his collection Sharper Knives, which included a blackly-comic, dental horror story called On Edge. I sat bolt upright in bed and told myself that this story had to be made into a film.

With my homework assignment as further impetus (I always work best to a strict deadline, to this day) I set about adapting the story. The assignment brief meant that the script had to be around 30 pages long. The story was at most going to come in at around fifteen minutes, so I created a subplot in which the impatient patient, Peter Thurlow, was set up for a painful fall by his estranged wife. I also opted to include a bit more detail about Doctor Matthews’ background. Visualising his ‘difficult’ schooldays via flashbacks, i intercut these with the main action culminating in some horrific business with a sharp pencil in an exam hall. (The gory escalation was intended to mirror the horror occurring in the dentist’s chair.)

The homework assignment was a success, but I knew that the film would be incredibly expensive to make at 30 minutes long. As a rule of thumb, at that time it would cost around £1,000 to produce each minute of finished film. To explain this further, I was determined that we were to shoot and deliver on 35mm Cinemascope, to present as cinematic experience as possible — an approach very much shared and supported by my producing partner Joseph Alberti at Robber Baron Productions. On Edge was to be our calling card, and we were confident if we got it right, we might get a feature film project off the ground. So, in order to make the film realisable on a budget, I immediately dropped the spousal revenge subplot, cutting the script back to around 18 pages. (Still too long, but further edits were to come, as they always do.)

In a fit of youthful exuberance / pure madness, i decided to send a copy of the script to the author of the short story, Mr Christopher Fowler himself, begging him for the rights to make the film. He replied, and you can see that reply below. I have never shown anyone outside of the production this letter (and I wrote to Christopher last week to ask his permission one more time — 20 years after first doing so — but this time via email, and this time requesting permission to publish his letter on my blog, which I’m happy to say he granted. Thanks again Mr Fowler!).

I remember tucking the letter inside my copy of the shooting script, as a memento of the journey to getting the film made, sure, but also as a reminder to my future self — the future self who is writing this blog entry today — that all it takes sometimes is one person to see some potential in what you are doing, to give you a break, and ultimately to change your life.

Making On Edge changed my life in so many ways. It taught me a lot about directing, screenwriting, and of course the process of adaptation. I have since worked on many screenplays and films as a writer/director and a story consultant, and have published short stories and novels of my own.

Proof that one letter can change your life.