Authors A to Z - Christopher Fowler

Christopher Fowler lives in King's Cross, London.

After writing several humour books, including How To Impersonate Famous People, he shifted into 'Dark Urban' writing. His first short story anthology City Jitters featured interlinked tales of urban malevolence. He has since had seven further volumes of short stories published; City Jitters Two, The Bureau Of Lost Souls, Sharper Knives, Flesh Wounds, Personal Demons, Uncut and The Devil In Me, with another, Demonized, due out Christmas 2003.

His story The Master Builder became a movie starring Tippi Hedren and Richard Dean Anderson. Seven other short stories have been filmed as short films, and almost all of his novels are currently under option as features for a wide variety of actors and directors.

The film version of Left Hand Drive won Best British Short Film of 1993. Wageslaves won the 1998 BFS Best Short Story Of The Year. On Edge, was a theatrically released short starring Doug 'Pinhead' Bradley and Charley Boorman. Other stories have been published in Time Out, The Big Issue, the Independent On Sunday and the Mail On Sunday.

His first novel, Roofworld (Century Hutchinson), concerns rival gangs on the rooftops of London, fighting arcane battles while the city sleeps. The book is currently in print with Warner Books and film rights are owned by producer Marc Samuelson.

The second novel, Rune (Century Hutchinson) is a modern take on Jacques Tourneur's Night Of The Demon, and was reissued in May 1998 by Warner Books.

Red Bride (Century) chronicles a modern marriage that descends into a supernatural hell because the participants cannot trust each other - even though their lives come to depend on it. Published by Warner Books.

Darkest Day (Century) is the epic tale of an occult Victorian legacy that destroys a family and has horrific repercussions throughout the modern business world. Published by Warner Books.

The controversial cover of Spanky (Little, Brown) heralded a change of pace and style. This Top Ten bestseller is a modern-day Faust novel concerning a young man and his demonic, amoral alter-ego. Scripted as a feature by director Guillermo Del Toro (Mimic, Blade 2), published by Warner Books.

Psychoville (Little, Brown) is a dark suburban satire in which a young couple who share a psychologically damaging upbringing return to wreak havoc on their old neighbourhood. Currently owned by Jude Law and Sadie Frost. Published by Warner Books.

Disturbia (Little, Brown) concerns a young working class journalist who is challenged by an upper-class adversary to solve a series of bizarre puzzles and survive the night in London. Published by Warner Books in July, 1997.

This was followed by a full-length graphic novel Menz Insana, concerning murderous insanity and the pursuit of happiness, drawn by acclaimed Batman artist John Bolton. Published by DC Comics in July 1997.

Soho Black concerns a stressed executive who takes a trip into lifestyle-hell after he suffers a heart attack in a fashionable bar. This thriller was reprinted in November 1999 by Warner Books.

Calabash is a coming-of-age novel set in a rundown British seaside town and in ancient Persia. It was published by Warner Books in May 2000.

Full Dark House is the first Bryant & May mystery novel, spanning a tale of murder from the London Blitz to the present day, published by Transworld in August 03.

The Water Room 2004, Bryant & May's second investigation, is about a series of bizarre deaths connected to the lost underground rivers of London, as corpses are found in dry rooms with their mouths full of river-water.

Breathe 2004 Telos Books - Winner of the BFS Best Novella Award. Working Girl meets Night Of The Living Dead as a young rebel with a forged CV finds that an office building is accidentally sending its staff mad by flushing chemicals through the air-conditioning system.

Seventy Seven Clocks 2005 has Bryant & May investigating deaths in an upper class family, terminated in a variety of grotesque ways, by reptile, by bomb, by haircut.

Ten Second Staircase 2006 has a controversial artist found dead in her own art installation, inside a gallery with locked doors and windows. The only witness is a small boy who insists that the murderer was a masked man riding a stallion...

White Corridor 2007 strands Bryant & May on a snowbound motorway as a killer moves from car to car. Back in London, their own pathologist is found dead in his morgue...

Old Devil Moon, coming Christmas 2007 is Fowler's first collection of new stories in five years.

Christopher reviews for the Independent on Sunday, and produces articles for publications including The Third Alternative, Dazed & Confused, Pure and Big Magazine. Recent short stories have appeared in The Time Out Book Of London Short Stories 2, The New English Library Book Of Internet Stories, Dark Terrors 5 & 6, Best New Horror, London Noir, Neon Lit., A Book Of Two Halves, Vengeance Is, Love In Vein 2, Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, Destination Unknown, 100 Fiendish Little Frightmares, The Time Out Book Of New York Stories and many others.