Writer. Author of Folk Horror (2017), Mothlight (2019), Nettles (2022), Local Haunts (2025) etc. A nerd for film locations, old TV and tailoring on screen.
London, England
Joined September 2011
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Latest On the Row essay explores George Smiley's umbrella (Swaine, Adeney and Brigg) and its connections to Alec Guinness and some genuine espionage. ontherow.substack.com/p/smil…
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Latest On the Row essay continues the hunt for David Niven's first tailor, this time going into the various archives of the Savile Row houses he frequented to see what they made for him. ontherow.substack.com/p/the-…
I reviewed the latest Hammer blu-ray box set of Val Guest's The Abominable Snowman (1957) for the latest issue of @SightSoundmag. A great set for Nigel Kneale fans.
Latest On the Row essay continues the hunt for David Niven's first tailor, this time going into the various archives of the Savile Row houses he frequented to see what they made for him. ontherow.substack.com/p/the-…
The new Indicator blu-ray release of Nadine Trintignant's underrated Défense de savoir (1973) has an essay of mine about her work and the film in its accompanying booklet. It's a beautifully frosty film with a great performance from Jean-Louis Trintignant. powerhousefilms.co.uk/produc…
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Latest On the Row essay explores the stories behind the surviving items of tailoring from the wardrobe of Oliver Reed. ontherow.substack.com/p/thre…
Best television of September was the short series, The Moon Stallion (1978). Lovely, spooky series by Brian Hayles set around an eerie, mystical Wiltshire. Very Garner-esque in parts and especially nice, villainous role for a young David Haig.
Best read of September was Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People (731). Read largely for stylistic and language inspiration for a current project of my own but just generally enjoyed it. A lovely read really, no real notes.
Best films of September:
The Human Condition (Part 1) (1959) – Masaki Kobayashi
The Dawn Patrol (1938) – Edmund Goulding
Overlord (1975) – Stuart Cooper
The Million Pound Note (1954) – Ronald Neame
Executive Suite (1954) – Robert Wise
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I have a chapter on W.G. Sebald in this lovely new volume from @DeadInkBooks called Writing the Real (alongside some great writers as well). deadinkbooks.com/products/wr…
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Pleased to see @Influxpress back and relaunched in America. Their backlog (including a few of my books) is being republished after their acquisition by Diversion Books. You can keep track of things still on their site. Here's Nettles in New York! influxpress.com/
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For the @BFI, I revisited the locations from Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men (2006) twenty years on. bfi.org.uk/features/20-years…
Latest On the Row essay explores the stories behind the surviving items of tailoring from the wardrobe of Oliver Reed. ontherow.substack.com/p/thre…
Currently enjoying (what survives of) the old BBC spy series, Spy Trap (1972-75), and this scene made me think what a wonderful George Smiley Kevin Stoney would have made if they'd done earlier John le Carré adaptations.
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As Horace Ové’s landmark drama Pressure arrives on Blu-ray, we went looking for the exact spots where Ové filmed in Notting Hill and Ladbroke Grove, to find out what’s changed five decades later. theb.fi/4rsp8ko
For the @BFI, I revisited the London locations from Horace Ové's Pressure (1975) bfi.org.uk/features/location…
Adam Scovell retweeted
Two decades after the premiere of Children of Men, we track down the exact spots where Alfonso Cuarón filmed his modern dystopian classic. theb.fi/3UZPMF9
Pleased to see @Influxpress back and relaunched in America. Their backlog (including a few of my books) is being republished after their acquisition by Diversion Books. You can keep track of things still on their site. Here's Nettles in New York! influxpress.com/
Adam Scovell retweeted
Latest On the Row is the first part in a deep dive into the history of a morning suit owned by author Henry James. ontherow.substack.com/p/the-…
For the @BFI, I revisited the locations from Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men (2006) twenty years on. bfi.org.uk/features/20-years…