Patrick Thompson
Book
Thu, 01.17.08
02:02 am

"On Edge" and "Red Lines" showed that Frazer has a talent for making exquisitely creepy horror shorts but "Urbane and other Horror Tales" shows that Frazer’s got a lot more to show us. It confirms his ability at writing horror in both prose and for film, that like Clive Barker he is a true horror renaissance man as skilled at writing diverse kinds of horror in different styles.

"Urbane" is made up of four short stories including the title story and six previously unpublished screenplays. Two of them the aforementioned On Edge and the terrifying Red Lines have been filmed but the other four are yet to be realised and I seriously hope they will be.

First of the bat let me say I am a terrible reader. Back when I was younger I could have two or three books on the go and actually finish them. The last book that truly gripped me was Joe Hills heart shaped box and that was back in June. But I speed through this in three days. Seriously I couldn’t wait to come home to catch up with Urbane. This book grabs you in the first few paragraphs and doesn’t let go. It shows Frazer’s ability to grab with the first few paragraphs/ minutes of a film/short story.

First up is the short stories kicking of with the title story. Without giving it away it follows a young woman on a night out that goes terribly wrong. Lee, s descriptions of night time New York are stunningly vivid , really putting you right there. The story is excellent both as a short story and as a teaser of the delicious sounding Urbane. It should be interesting to see how it links in with the "Urbane" film

The other three stories are excellent. They show Lees diversity in terms of writing style and subject matter. Honestly I would not have twigged that he wrote them all had they not been in the one book and I mean that in a great way. “Ill met by moonlight” is an excellent short spin on the werewolf myth, “conspiracy of silence” shows Lee can do dark humour as well and is a creepy tale of a lifeless loner that works both as a character study and a short horror story though it is a bit slight and “Pendragon Rising”… wow. Currently a contender for my favourite short story, I originally thought it would be a rather straight Arthurian story but was I wrong. This tale of an undead King Arthur and his quest for the (un)holy grail combines the best elements of fantasy, horror and the sword and sorcery story in a genuinely shudder inducing tale. Though I was reading this twisted tale in public places during the day I was genuinely shuddering and letting out audible gasps. Truly horrific!

Frazer’s scripts are a fascinating read for horror fans, for aspiring directors (infact id say aspiring writers should really check this book out) or just normal horror fans. Each script has a short introduction by Frazer that puts the script in context or gives us some info about the film. Frazer writes quite well , often using sparse descriptions but really putting across his visions for the shorts. it’s a joy to read these scripts and then watch Frazer’s shorts. The little differences between the scripts and the filmed shorts are fascinating Amazingly they read quite well and showcase Lees talent for writing. Reading Frazer’s unfilmed scripts you can really imagine them being made and they would make great horror shorts. URbrain in particular is a great tale of a tube journey going horribly wrong while “Hair of the Dog” is an interesting modern werewolf story. “Love will tear us apart” is very different, a visceral pro- safe sex short. “Time is a ghost” is Frazer’s segment from a proposed apocalyptic anthology film. Frazer’s England segment follows a convicted murderer in jail who is visited by an angel at the eve of Armageddon who wishes to save his soul. it’s a fascinating story of epic, scale and scope. Each character is really well drawn and the debate is fascinating and genuinely thought provoking.

“Urbane……” is a must read , a genuinely horrific well written book. The only problem is that all the shuddering and gasping you will be doing while reading Lees tales of terror this is definitely not a book to read on public transport! Well at least Lees not writing the next Da Vinci Code……
Now that’s truly scary!!!!

Keep it Gory!