When the Light-Bulb Is Bare: Notes on Noir and Horror

Barry Graham's horror fiction has earned him comparisons with Bram Stoker, M.R. James and Stephen King, while his neo-noir fiction has been compared to that of James M. Cain, Richard Stark, David Goodis, Quentin Tarantino and Jim Thompson. In this collection of essays examining what Graham contends are the two most important and enduring genres, he combines literary analysis with memoir, and shows us that the monsters we imagine lurking in the shadows are all too real. In doing so, he remembers the significance of horror to a child in a Glasgow slum, and discusses artists including Stephen King, Elmore Leonard, Robert Mitchum, Paul Schrader, Robert Bresson, George Pelecanos and David Goodis, and books and films including THE EXORCIST, THE MOON OF THE WOLF, THE CONVERSATION and THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE. He considers crime fiction as a Marxist art form, and, while sitting in a Scottish courtroom, observing a trial for attempted murder, he realizes he has a met a werewolf.

About the Author

Dogo Barry Graham is a novelist, journalist, poet and Zen Buddhist monk. His novels are set in his native Scotland, or in the U.S., where he lived for more than 20 years. His articles have been published in magazines and newspapers including Harper's, Salon, Narratively, Parabola, The Big Click, Flaunt, Nerve, The Arizona Republic and Scotland on Sunday. He is the teacher of The City Cave Zen Sangha.American Book Review called him "the awesome Barry Graham...where innovative writing meets issues that matter." Premiere (France) called him "a white trash Buddhist monk" with "an uncompromising vision, but also full of tenderness and compassion, that makes him one of the most touching and interesting authors of his generation."  Subscribe to his newsletter for book news and the occasional free story: tinyletter.com/BarryGraham

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