- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Serpent's Tail (6 Dec 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1852429259
- ISBN-13: 978-1852429256
- Product Dimensions: 19.7 x 13.2 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 426,129 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"'Fowler repeatedly challenges the reader to redraw the boundaries between innocence and malevolence, rationality and paranoia. His strength lies in the way he unveils the darker side of the ordinary: fresh and thought-provoking, elegant and playful' Guardian 'Fowler hides a powerful narrative in a slyly experimental text to superb effect' Time Out 'Gothic stories in a realist vein... Ian McEwan used to mine a similar seam. Fowler does it better' Arena 'These deadly funny stories are like short sharp shocks of adrenalin administered to the unsuspecting in the dead of night' Metro"
Guardian
'Short, sharp shockers: gothic fantasies played out with noughties accessories... these are imaginative, bleak, cautionary tales, which shed their little pools of perverse candlelight on both new and familiar places'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Old Devil Moon is Christopher Fowler's first short story collection in nearly five years. The wait has been a long one but was it worth it? The answer is a resounding YES. The short story is a difficult thing to pull off but when it is done right it can send a shiver down the spine that the longer forms of prose just can't. The Old Devil Moon is a definite spine tingler. From the achingly atmospheric and melancholic "The Twilight Express" through the laugh-a-long barmyness of "The Night Museum" to the shuderingly intimate "All Packed" The Old Devil Moon delivers time after time and delivers in ways and forms that will keep you guessing, not only right to the very end of each story, but also where the next perfectly formed piece will take you. But be warned! This is an eclectic collection that will have your emotions on a rollercoaster. So if you want a safe ride down the middle lane of the fictional highway then this is not for you. However, if you fancy a horse whipped coach ride on the foggy cliff edge of a rampant imagination then you can not do better than Old Devil Moon.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
As the author's website promises a signed copy to the first person who reviews the book on Amazon, I thought it would be nice to be the first person to review the book who has actually read it (ie the first to review it after the publication date), rather than before. And I thought it would be nice, in this vein, to say something about the book itself!
Christopher Fowler has been writing for about twenty years, and seems to always suffer from book shops not knowing where to place his novels and collections of short stories. Are they crime, or horror? This short story collection, his tenth, belongs most firmly in the latter category.
The author, in his preface, questions the need for a book about a dark and strange world, and quotes a large number of real life dark and strange stories to prove the point - many of which, if they were fiction, would sound laughable. However, the stories themselves make one glad that Mr Fowler bothered. From his own backyard of Kings Cross in 'Exclusion Zone', to Africa and the Middle East in 'The Threads' and 'Cupped Hands', Fowler tells genuinely unnerving tales of the world that lies just beneath the facade that most of us see on a daily basis. Classical Fowler themes are revisited, including, on several occasions, the horrific effects when westerners try to take advantage of what they perceive as being less civilised cultures, always with results that are unsettling and disturbing.
Fowler's work makes one look at the world in a slightly different way, and the closest analogy that I can draw is to compare his short stories to those found in Clive Barker's Books of Blood. Whilst Barker has gone onto worldwide fame and fortune, this seems somehow to have eluded Fowler to some degree, despite the success of the Bryant & May crime novels. This is truly an injustice, and any fans of crime, horror or any other genre should give him a go. Beneath the book's slightly cheap looking cover are 20 or so gems which are asking to be read, and read again - it will be worth your time if you do so.
Christopher Fowler has been writing for about twenty years, and seems to always suffer from book shops not knowing where to place his novels and collections of short stories. Are they crime, or horror? This short story collection, his tenth, belongs most firmly in the latter category.
The author, in his preface, questions the need for a book about a dark and strange world, and quotes a large number of real life dark and strange stories to prove the point - many of which, if they were fiction, would sound laughable. However, the stories themselves make one glad that Mr Fowler bothered. From his own backyard of Kings Cross in 'Exclusion Zone', to Africa and the Middle East in 'The Threads' and 'Cupped Hands', Fowler tells genuinely unnerving tales of the world that lies just beneath the facade that most of us see on a daily basis. Classical Fowler themes are revisited, including, on several occasions, the horrific effects when westerners try to take advantage of what they perceive as being less civilised cultures, always with results that are unsettling and disturbing.
Fowler's work makes one look at the world in a slightly different way, and the closest analogy that I can draw is to compare his short stories to those found in Clive Barker's Books of Blood. Whilst Barker has gone onto worldwide fame and fortune, this seems somehow to have eluded Fowler to some degree, despite the success of the Bryant & May crime novels. This is truly an injustice, and any fans of crime, horror or any other genre should give him a go. Beneath the book's slightly cheap looking cover are 20 or so gems which are asking to be read, and read again - it will be worth your time if you do so.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It always amazes me that Chris Fowler is not more popular, mention his name to my friends & all I get is a blank stare. Christopher who ???
This latest collection of short stories is getting back to what he does best, a superb collection of 'Urban Unease'. If you have never sampled his work before then this is an excellent place to start, his most recent books feature the ageing detective duo 'Bryant & May' are great reads, but I prefer a lot of his earlier work, with 'Soho Black' being a particular favourite. This collection is as good as any of his earlier work & is a good way to get into this seriously under-subscribed authors back catalogue. Chris, you are our favourite Author. (Phil & Donna) xxx
This latest collection of short stories is getting back to what he does best, a superb collection of 'Urban Unease'. If you have never sampled his work before then this is an excellent place to start, his most recent books feature the ageing detective duo 'Bryant & May' are great reads, but I prefer a lot of his earlier work, with 'Soho Black' being a particular favourite. This collection is as good as any of his earlier work & is a good way to get into this seriously under-subscribed authors back catalogue. Chris, you are our favourite Author. (Phil & Donna) xxx
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