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Fright
A man. A woman. A kiss in the dark. That is how it begins. But before his nightmare ends, Prescott Marshall will learn that kisses and darkness can both hide evil intent – and that the worst darkness of all may be lurking inside him.
Lost for more than half a century and never before published under Cornell Woolrich’s real name, FRIGHT is a breathtaking noir crime novel worthy of the writer who has been called “the Hitchcock of the written word” and “one of the giants of mystery fiction.”
Lost for more than half a century and never before published under Cornell Woolrich’s real name, FRIGHT is a breathtaking noir crime novel worthy of the writer who has been called “the Hitchcock of the written word” and “one of the giants of mystery fiction.”
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1950
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
November 3, 2011
Soon to be married Prescott Marshall goes on a bender and winds up sleeping with a young lady that isn't his fiancee. She starts squeezing him for money afterwards and on the morning of his wedding, Prescott snaps! He spends the rest of his life running, but you can't run from Fright!
Actually, the name of the book should have been Guilt, not Fright. The entire story is about Prescott's guilt leading to paranoia and eventually drunken insanity. There's defintely a Hitchcockian vibe to the whole affair. It also reminds me of Poe's A Telltale Heart to an extent. It's a pretty gripping yarn.
So why only a three? It's a pretty dated book. It takes place in 1917 or thereabouts and Majorie, Prescott's wife, is the stereotype submissive housewife that lives to please her man. She's a doormat for most of their marriage. Other than that, it was pretty good, if not a little predictable, although I didn't see the epilogue coming.
Actually, the name of the book should have been Guilt, not Fright. The entire story is about Prescott's guilt leading to paranoia and eventually drunken insanity. There's defintely a Hitchcockian vibe to the whole affair. It also reminds me of Poe's A Telltale Heart to an extent. It's a pretty gripping yarn.
So why only a three? It's a pretty dated book. It takes place in 1917 or thereabouts and Majorie, Prescott's wife, is the stereotype submissive housewife that lives to please her man. She's a doormat for most of their marriage. Other than that, it was pretty good, if not a little predictable, although I didn't see the epilogue coming.
December 6, 2023
9/2012
Pretty disappointed. I adore Woolrich and Hard Case Crime so I was looking forward to this. It really wasn't that good. I think he's better with shorter works (though Married a Dead Man was great). This is the first time this book's been printed under his name, and maybe there was a reason. Woolrich was definitely a working writer, sometimes maybe rushing things out - it reminds me of PK Dick, the way the works often feel like they could have benefitted from more editing and care.
Pretty disappointed. I adore Woolrich and Hard Case Crime so I was looking forward to this. It really wasn't that good. I think he's better with shorter works (though Married a Dead Man was great). This is the first time this book's been printed under his name, and maybe there was a reason. Woolrich was definitely a working writer, sometimes maybe rushing things out - it reminds me of PK Dick, the way the works often feel like they could have benefitted from more editing and care.
June 26, 2010
This one seems to have gotten crappy reviews from other readers, but I thought it was brilliant. This is the first Cornell Woolrich I've read unless you count the Rear Window screenplay, and I thought it was really disturbing, sort of the written equivalent of Hitchcock. I felt very tense throughout and actually gave myself a cramp in my back because I was sitting so awkwardly in the chair, freaking out as I read it. That absolutely never happens; most books I read at emotional arms-length. This I was totally engaged by and it actually scared me.
I can only assume the bad reviews come from the weirdly gothic esthetic of the language, which makes it very different than the typical Hard Case Crime books and a mite difficult to identify with the narrator, in maybe the same way Lovecraft's narrators can be alienating to the reader. I found that brilliant, though, the ending completely caught me off guard.
Loved it.
I can only assume the bad reviews come from the weirdly gothic esthetic of the language, which makes it very different than the typical Hard Case Crime books and a mite difficult to identify with the narrator, in maybe the same way Lovecraft's narrators can be alienating to the reader. I found that brilliant, though, the ending completely caught me off guard.
Loved it.
October 18, 2013
As film noir as it gets - ‘Fright’ took me back to the black and white and sepia scenes of classic film noir in its pristine yet shaded glory. Aptly titled ‘Fright’, the protagonist of sorts, Prescott Marshall, is in a perpetual state of paranoia over the alleged murder of a one-time-fling prior to his wedding. Following the drunken escapade that led to the violent confrontation with the comely woman of the night, Press is forever running; paving a path to a hell of his own violation. From city to city, he sees accusations in the faces of passers-by - the guilt destroying his sense of self and damaging his marriage beyond repair. Rich in intensity and full of emotion, 'Fright' is a pure roller coaster ride brimming with edge-of-the-seat tension at every twist and turn. Throw in a devastatingly good epilogue and an ending drowning in a pool of deep despair and you've all that epitomises the core elements of the genre. 4 stars.
May 30, 2020
Prescott Marshall is about to tie the knot, but a drunken misadventure shortly before his big day sees him wind up in bed with another woman. It isn’t long before the young woman shows up and begins to blackmail Marshall for money in exchange for keeping her mouth shut. The situation comes to a head when she arrives on his doorstep the day of his wedding. Having hit his limit, Marshall murders her in a fit of rage. Thinking his problem is now in the rear view mirror, his troubles are only just beginning.
Following the murder, Marshall spends the rest of the book dancing on the edge of a razor blade. Woolrich takes the Marshalls out of New York City and ships them to some “faraway town” (it’s literally stated as such) where things really begin to spiral out of control. Woolrich never allows the reader to get too comfortable by constantly providing an enemy for Prescott to focus on. This creates - at most points - a good page turner. That said, the novel does tend to drag in a few places - especially in the moments where Woolrich starts to wax philosophically about the nature of life and death. Don’t get me wrong, the writing is particularly strong but mostly when it comes to the subtle conflict between Prescott and his wife Marjorie building to an intense confrontation.
The ending was definitely on the shocking end of things and not one that I saw coming at all. There’s a brief epilogue, or postscript, that didn’t do a whole lot for me.
This isn’t a boring book by any means, but it’s certainly not the best of the best that I’ve read from their collection. However, Charles Ardai and the folks at Hardcase really know what to look for when selecting a book to publish as this basically ticks all the boxes on the noir checklist.
Following the murder, Marshall spends the rest of the book dancing on the edge of a razor blade. Woolrich takes the Marshalls out of New York City and ships them to some “faraway town” (it’s literally stated as such) where things really begin to spiral out of control. Woolrich never allows the reader to get too comfortable by constantly providing an enemy for Prescott to focus on. This creates - at most points - a good page turner. That said, the novel does tend to drag in a few places - especially in the moments where Woolrich starts to wax philosophically about the nature of life and death. Don’t get me wrong, the writing is particularly strong but mostly when it comes to the subtle conflict between Prescott and his wife Marjorie building to an intense confrontation.
The ending was definitely on the shocking end of things and not one that I saw coming at all. There’s a brief epilogue, or postscript, that didn’t do a whole lot for me.
This isn’t a boring book by any means, but it’s certainly not the best of the best that I’ve read from their collection. However, Charles Ardai and the folks at Hardcase really know what to look for when selecting a book to publish as this basically ticks all the boxes on the noir checklist.
December 2, 2008
Like the Tell-Tale Heart, this story is about the toll that guilt takes even after someone gets away with a crime. Set in the early 20th century, it's an interesting take on watching someone destroy his own life with paranoia and fear. Very well written.
May 24, 2021
Beautifully written and full of suspense.
What an ending.
What an ending.
October 16, 2019
Fright is a novel that never appeared under the name of its' author, Cornell Woolrich, in his lifetime. Once again we can thank the Hard Case Crime line for rescuing what proved to be a really good book from obscurity and giving it a new lease on life. Woolrich was a master at suspense-he knew how to turn the screws and ratchet up the tension with exquisite precision. Prescott Marshall only makes one mistake-after that things go right to hell and stay there. This was a fun noir reading experienceand I loved it.
January 19, 2010
Do you love the adjective "desultory"? Do you also love it used as an adverb? Do you love the words "desultory" and "desultorily" so much that you get depressed if they don't show up every few pages? Then, brother, have I got a book for you.
This is the second Cornell Woolrich novel I've read. The first was Rendezvous in Black, which I remember having more palatable prose, but it was several years ago, so who knows? What both novels have in common is a palpable sense of anguish, despair, and paranoia. Neither novel, however, ever convinced me that its characters or situations were real. Woolrich was a fine plotter, but his characters were strangely flat.
Fright, which Woolrich originally published in 1950 under the name George Hopley, takes place during the Great War (1914-1918), for no apparent reason. The war is never mentioned, and all of the anachronisms seem shoehorned into the narrative. Woolrich even writes things like "as was the fashion at the time" after some of them.
The prose was my biggest problem with Fright. It reads like exactly what it is, the product of an alcoholic recluse. The descriptive passages are long, sloppy messes in which any adjective that might fit the bill seems thrown in, never to be edited or re-thought.
The plot, on the other hand, was grim and nightmarish. Despite the cloddish writing, Fright retains its power to shock and horrify. If you're looking for a truly noir novel in which there are no admirable characters, well thought-out courses of action, or redemption, Fright fits the bill.
This is the second Cornell Woolrich novel I've read. The first was Rendezvous in Black, which I remember having more palatable prose, but it was several years ago, so who knows? What both novels have in common is a palpable sense of anguish, despair, and paranoia. Neither novel, however, ever convinced me that its characters or situations were real. Woolrich was a fine plotter, but his characters were strangely flat.
Fright, which Woolrich originally published in 1950 under the name George Hopley, takes place during the Great War (1914-1918), for no apparent reason. The war is never mentioned, and all of the anachronisms seem shoehorned into the narrative. Woolrich even writes things like "as was the fashion at the time" after some of them.
The prose was my biggest problem with Fright. It reads like exactly what it is, the product of an alcoholic recluse. The descriptive passages are long, sloppy messes in which any adjective that might fit the bill seems thrown in, never to be edited or re-thought.
The plot, on the other hand, was grim and nightmarish. Despite the cloddish writing, Fright retains its power to shock and horrify. If you're looking for a truly noir novel in which there are no admirable characters, well thought-out courses of action, or redemption, Fright fits the bill.
September 11, 2018
No PI or smoky office here.. just a guy, Preston Marshall. He makes a mistake one day, and tries to keep it a secret from his fiancée, until it comes home to roost on his wedding day.
He thinks he takes care of it.. but it haunts him, as he flees to 'a faraway city' to try to start over with his new wife.. but are the authorities on his trail?
While I can see why this book isn't for everyone, the timing of quite a few of the scenes is just brilliant.. it's a great look inside the head of a man trying to deal with what could be considered an eternal struggle... does he tell his wife what's happened, and risk losing her, or keep it a secret and risk losing her because of his erratic actions?
Things got a little weird at the end, and took more of a turn than I expected, but it made sense once all was made clear. Also, the irony of the postscript was awesome.
He thinks he takes care of it.. but it haunts him, as he flees to 'a faraway city' to try to start over with his new wife.. but are the authorities on his trail?
While I can see why this book isn't for everyone, the timing of quite a few of the scenes is just brilliant.. it's a great look inside the head of a man trying to deal with what could be considered an eternal struggle... does he tell his wife what's happened, and risk losing her, or keep it a secret and risk losing her because of his erratic actions?
Things got a little weird at the end, and took more of a turn than I expected, but it made sense once all was made clear. Also, the irony of the postscript was awesome.
May 26, 2015
Fright is Hard Case Crime's 34th crime novel, published with the author's real name for the first time since it originally appeared in 1950 under the pseudonym George Hopley. I had never read Woolrich before and was impressed with this dark, sleek, violent melodrama. This is old-school pulp writing, in the vein of James M. Cain, darker than anything Lawrence Block, Jason Starr, or Max Allan Collins is writing today.
In the opening chapters, Prescott Marshall is blackmailed by a greedy woman he hooked up with during a drunken one night stand. She threatens to tell his fiancée, which would not only derail his wedding to a rich New York socialite but also ruin his budding reputation on Wall Street. Marshall murders her in a blind rage minutes before he heads to the altar. He leaves the body hidden in his apartment and never returns to New York City. This one act changes his life. He becomes consumed with paranoia, which ultimately leads to more lies and more murders. He mistrusts every new stranger, and this paralyzing fear eventually consumes his life and poisons his relationship to his new bride. The plot reminded me a lot of Seymour Shubin's WITNESS TO MYSELF, although in this book the point of view character seems to be motivated more by fear and paranoia than by simple guilt.
Woolrich was a contemporary of Hammett, Gardner, and Chandler. His posthumous legacy has not been as bright, though, as people have all but forgotten his novels and stories, except "Rear Window" which was made into a famous Alfred Hitchcock movie. Fright could have also made a good Hitchcock thriller, relying not on action or elaborate plot twists but on slowly ratcheting the psychological suspense from scene to scene. He used a couple of literary techniques to great effect:
1. Excellent use of an unreliable narrator. The initial murder scene is especially compelling, as Marshall describes strangling someone to death as an elaborate poetic dance around the room. Getting inside Marshall’s head also creates what another reviewer termed a “claustrophobic sense of dread”.
2. Use of historical setting, a rarity in most early noir fiction. Set in 1915 at the onset of World War I, the author takes advantage of the lack of modern technology (like fingerprinting) or a federal bureau. He also develops a key scene involving silent movie theaters.
3. Short, choppy scenes that begin and end abruptly without any connective tissue to tie to the preceding event. This creates a feeling akin to a montage or collage, and adds to the ominous desperate atmosphere.
4. The author sometimes freezes a scene and describes it in excruciating detail as if it were a still painting. One of the most memorable scenes in the book was such a "word portrait" of Marshall hiding in his house while a strange unknown man framed in the light of his doorway repeatedly rings the bell.
The book had some flaws. It tended toward melodrama, especially near the end. Part of the problem was that Marshall left a trail of clues any police rookie could have followed. His increasingly bizarre paranoid fantasies felt a little over the top. It was clear to the reader that the police would not need any complicated traps; they would eventually simply track him down and arrest him without any fanfare.
The story also relied too heavily on the trope of the drunken protagonist who acts out of instinct during drunken blackouts.
There are two very effective dream sequences in which Marshall suspects his wife is turning him over to the police. These scenes were so good that I was disappointed when they didn't really happen; that story would have been more fun to read than the "real" ending.
Despite these minor flaws, the book is still highly entertaining and effective. The epilogue is a real corker. I won't spoil the ending, but I will say I plan to read more Cornell Woolrich in the future.
In the opening chapters, Prescott Marshall is blackmailed by a greedy woman he hooked up with during a drunken one night stand. She threatens to tell his fiancée, which would not only derail his wedding to a rich New York socialite but also ruin his budding reputation on Wall Street. Marshall murders her in a blind rage minutes before he heads to the altar. He leaves the body hidden in his apartment and never returns to New York City. This one act changes his life. He becomes consumed with paranoia, which ultimately leads to more lies and more murders. He mistrusts every new stranger, and this paralyzing fear eventually consumes his life and poisons his relationship to his new bride. The plot reminded me a lot of Seymour Shubin's WITNESS TO MYSELF, although in this book the point of view character seems to be motivated more by fear and paranoia than by simple guilt.
Woolrich was a contemporary of Hammett, Gardner, and Chandler. His posthumous legacy has not been as bright, though, as people have all but forgotten his novels and stories, except "Rear Window" which was made into a famous Alfred Hitchcock movie. Fright could have also made a good Hitchcock thriller, relying not on action or elaborate plot twists but on slowly ratcheting the psychological suspense from scene to scene. He used a couple of literary techniques to great effect:
1. Excellent use of an unreliable narrator. The initial murder scene is especially compelling, as Marshall describes strangling someone to death as an elaborate poetic dance around the room. Getting inside Marshall’s head also creates what another reviewer termed a “claustrophobic sense of dread”.
2. Use of historical setting, a rarity in most early noir fiction. Set in 1915 at the onset of World War I, the author takes advantage of the lack of modern technology (like fingerprinting) or a federal bureau. He also develops a key scene involving silent movie theaters.
3. Short, choppy scenes that begin and end abruptly without any connective tissue to tie to the preceding event. This creates a feeling akin to a montage or collage, and adds to the ominous desperate atmosphere.
4. The author sometimes freezes a scene and describes it in excruciating detail as if it were a still painting. One of the most memorable scenes in the book was such a "word portrait" of Marshall hiding in his house while a strange unknown man framed in the light of his doorway repeatedly rings the bell.
The book had some flaws. It tended toward melodrama, especially near the end. Part of the problem was that Marshall left a trail of clues any police rookie could have followed. His increasingly bizarre paranoid fantasies felt a little over the top. It was clear to the reader that the police would not need any complicated traps; they would eventually simply track him down and arrest him without any fanfare.
The story also relied too heavily on the trope of the drunken protagonist who acts out of instinct during drunken blackouts.
There are two very effective dream sequences in which Marshall suspects his wife is turning him over to the police. These scenes were so good that I was disappointed when they didn't really happen; that story would have been more fun to read than the "real" ending.
Despite these minor flaws, the book is still highly entertaining and effective. The epilogue is a real corker. I won't spoil the ending, but I will say I plan to read more Cornell Woolrich in the future.
February 19, 2011
Cornell Woolrich is the guy who wrote the story "It Had To Be Murder," which was the basis for Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window." Woolrich apparently is considered one of the four greatest writers of noir detective novels. Fright was first published in 1950 under a psuedonym, George Hopley. The cover copy of the Hard Case Crime edition says "first publication in over 50 years." I'm glad HCC brought it back into print.
I haven't read much noir fiction. In fact, I may not have ever read any. I know, it's a sin, not having read any Chandler, Hammett or Gardner. I should fix that. In the meantime, this book. I found it to be incredibly evocative and moody, as noir should be. There are some moments of almost melodrama, and some somewhat cliched turns of events -- but remember, it was written 57 years ago and much of it was probably not cliched at the time.
Fright is the story of Prescott Marshall, who meets, woos and marries the woman of his dreams. But before the wedding, Prescott has a night he doesn't remember and that night brings the problems that set the novel in motion. The story maintains Prescott's POV throughout, and although it's not told in first person, it almost feels like it is. Woolrich alternates scenes heavy in sensory detail with scenes that are so completely in Prescott's mind that they are almost stream of consciousness poetry, and for the most part, both styles work. The tension that Prescott carries with him for the whole novel is palpable, and my nerves jangled along with his in many scenes.
What is remarkable, though, is what Woolrich leaves unsaid. Some of the most key moments in the book are implied rather than made explicit, and that makes them all the more effective. It's like the difference between slasher flicks and more psychological horror: the implications are more un-nerving than the details would be.
All of the HCC books have covers reminiscent of classic noir pulp covers. Fright's cover is by the great Arthur Suydam and should be a new classic of "bad girl" art.
I definitely recommend this one.
I haven't read much noir fiction. In fact, I may not have ever read any. I know, it's a sin, not having read any Chandler, Hammett or Gardner. I should fix that. In the meantime, this book. I found it to be incredibly evocative and moody, as noir should be. There are some moments of almost melodrama, and some somewhat cliched turns of events -- but remember, it was written 57 years ago and much of it was probably not cliched at the time.
Fright is the story of Prescott Marshall, who meets, woos and marries the woman of his dreams. But before the wedding, Prescott has a night he doesn't remember and that night brings the problems that set the novel in motion. The story maintains Prescott's POV throughout, and although it's not told in first person, it almost feels like it is. Woolrich alternates scenes heavy in sensory detail with scenes that are so completely in Prescott's mind that they are almost stream of consciousness poetry, and for the most part, both styles work. The tension that Prescott carries with him for the whole novel is palpable, and my nerves jangled along with his in many scenes.
What is remarkable, though, is what Woolrich leaves unsaid. Some of the most key moments in the book are implied rather than made explicit, and that makes them all the more effective. It's like the difference between slasher flicks and more psychological horror: the implications are more un-nerving than the details would be.
All of the HCC books have covers reminiscent of classic noir pulp covers. Fright's cover is by the great Arthur Suydam and should be a new classic of "bad girl" art.
I definitely recommend this one.
January 21, 2008
Hard Case Crime rocks, but they're also digging up a lot of Z-list work from A-list noir writers. When Woolrich is bad he's miserable, and "Fright" fits the bill.
It's basically the shaggy dog story of the rich guy of spotless reputation who kills and then has to cover up the body, flipping out and getting paranoid every three pages. The tension is never broken up to allow the panic to renew itself. It's akin to being stuck in an airplane next to a terrified crash-freak. F+
It's basically the shaggy dog story of the rich guy of spotless reputation who kills and then has to cover up the body, flipping out and getting paranoid every three pages. The tension is never broken up to allow the panic to renew itself. It's akin to being stuck in an airplane next to a terrified crash-freak. F+
January 3, 2010
Not so much a crime/mystery as a study in fear and paranoia, which is common Woolrich territory. This tale pushes the limits of believabilty, especially given the time period of the story, but still has its creepy moments. The story doesn't date all that well as Marjorie would have a different set of reactions by pushing the piece ahead by fifty years, so it is up to the reader to keep that constant reminder in the forefront while reading.
February 17, 2018
Great plot but the constant paranoia is a bit wearing and overly repetitive. Would have been awesome if this had been leaned down to novella length. A screenplay would have streamlined this story and it would have been a great film noir, as so many of Woolrich's other stories were.
September 17, 2017
For me, with Woolrich, there is always something, I don't know, a little something, just keeping him from being great.
September 2, 2024
Cornell Woolrich is a well known noir author. He wrote "Rear Window".
This never pulled me in or held my interest.
This never pulled me in or held my interest.
May 8, 2020
A beautifully written noir crime story with a socko finish
July 27, 2017
Cornell Woolrich was one of the most accomplished noir writers of the century and is often ranked just behind Hammett, Chandler, and Gardner. He also wrote under the pen names William Irish and George Hopley. Dozens of films were adapted from his books, including Black Angel, Fear in the Night, Rear Window, The Bride Wore Black, and Original Sin. His work is dark and brooding and often features a protagonist who has sinned and cannot ever get his or her hands clean. His best known novels include The Bride Wore Black, Black Alibi, and Waltz Into Darkness.
Fright was originally published in 1950 and more recently re-published by Hard Case Crime. It takes place ostensibly in 1915 and focuses on the life and times of an and coming young man, Preston Marshall, who is working on Wall Street. He is engaged to one Marjorie Worth, a sweet young woman from a wealthy family whose family connections are all but guaranteed to take Marshall to the top. Marshall is all set to propose to her, but that evening a family emergency takes Marjorie away.
Marshall heads to the bars and, after one drink after another, ends up making a mess of things. A few weeks later, a young lady- a femme fatale- looks him up and begins blackmailing him about that one drunken evening. She torments him and he hopes she will go away. She knows where he lives and where he works and follows him home no matter what. He cannot escape her.
This woman confronts Marshall yet again on the very day of his wedding as he is putting on his suit and getting ready, his best man soon to arrive. When the woman intimates that she will go to Marjorie and tell Marjorie everything, Marshall loses it and chokes the woman to death, hiding the body in his closet under his clothes when his best man arrives to take him to his wedding.
The real story begins now and it is the story of guilt that wrecks Marshall and Marjorie in ways that the reader can barely begin to comprehend. Through the wedding, Marshall wants to yell out that he is the one who objects, that Marjorie should not have to marry a murderer and there on his shirt she later points out is a spot of blood. He tells her he got it from shaving, the first of many lies.
The murder haunts Marshall every day of his life. They honeymoon in Atlantic City and he is seen brooding on the boardwalk rather than dancing with his bride. When another hotel guest offers Marshall a job in a small town away from New York City, he jumps at the chance and tells Marjorie they will go straight to this new town and not even return to the City. In fact, he endeavors never to return to the city for he believes that the entire police force is hunting for him - the brutal murderer.
Marshall is more wracked by guilt than anyone who has ever lived. He is suspicious of every caller and every salesman that comes to the door. And, his downfall rips apart their lives as one lie builds on another on another. He refuses to return to the city even for his mother-in-law's funeral. He doesn't want to make friends or put down roots for he might have to be on the run very quickly.
It all builds to a shocking conclusion.
The story is well-written and it is engrossing. It is a fantastic psychological study of an individual whose soul is torn apart and wrecked by the guilt of what he has done. It is not just a waltz into the
darkness, but a sinking into a well filled with despair and misery. Step by step, Woolrich does a masterful job of building this picture.
Fright was originally published in 1950 and more recently re-published by Hard Case Crime. It takes place ostensibly in 1915 and focuses on the life and times of an and coming young man, Preston Marshall, who is working on Wall Street. He is engaged to one Marjorie Worth, a sweet young woman from a wealthy family whose family connections are all but guaranteed to take Marshall to the top. Marshall is all set to propose to her, but that evening a family emergency takes Marjorie away.
Marshall heads to the bars and, after one drink after another, ends up making a mess of things. A few weeks later, a young lady- a femme fatale- looks him up and begins blackmailing him about that one drunken evening. She torments him and he hopes she will go away. She knows where he lives and where he works and follows him home no matter what. He cannot escape her.
This woman confronts Marshall yet again on the very day of his wedding as he is putting on his suit and getting ready, his best man soon to arrive. When the woman intimates that she will go to Marjorie and tell Marjorie everything, Marshall loses it and chokes the woman to death, hiding the body in his closet under his clothes when his best man arrives to take him to his wedding.
The real story begins now and it is the story of guilt that wrecks Marshall and Marjorie in ways that the reader can barely begin to comprehend. Through the wedding, Marshall wants to yell out that he is the one who objects, that Marjorie should not have to marry a murderer and there on his shirt she later points out is a spot of blood. He tells her he got it from shaving, the first of many lies.
The murder haunts Marshall every day of his life. They honeymoon in Atlantic City and he is seen brooding on the boardwalk rather than dancing with his bride. When another hotel guest offers Marshall a job in a small town away from New York City, he jumps at the chance and tells Marjorie they will go straight to this new town and not even return to the City. In fact, he endeavors never to return to the city for he believes that the entire police force is hunting for him - the brutal murderer.
Marshall is more wracked by guilt than anyone who has ever lived. He is suspicious of every caller and every salesman that comes to the door. And, his downfall rips apart their lives as one lie builds on another on another. He refuses to return to the city even for his mother-in-law's funeral. He doesn't want to make friends or put down roots for he might have to be on the run very quickly.
It all builds to a shocking conclusion.
The story is well-written and it is engrossing. It is a fantastic psychological study of an individual whose soul is torn apart and wrecked by the guilt of what he has done. It is not just a waltz into the
darkness, but a sinking into a well filled with despair and misery. Step by step, Woolrich does a masterful job of building this picture.
November 15, 2007
A disclaimer: despite the almost universal veneration in which Cornell Woolrich is held by mystery fans and writers, this is in fact the first of his books which I have ever read. Bear this in mind.
This book was written, to within an inch of its life, in 1950, and has been out of print ever since. The events in the book take place from 1915 through 1918, and involve a nebbish named Prescott Marshall, annoyingly called "Press" throughout the book, and his nonentity of a wife, Marjorie.
The plot, which runs on interminably, involves murder, guilty conscience, fear, all that good stuff, and may very well have been written under the influence of Dostoyevsky. The portrayal of period details comes off as utterly hamfisted, and really, there is no apparent reason for it to have been a period piece; I don't know, maybe he lost a bet with a fellow writer.
The prose, the prose, the prose...the man is absolutely enamored of adverbs and adjectives; he is the very anti-Hammett. There is no simple sentence which he does not feel capable of cluttering up with excess verbiage. When he can't find the proper modifier, is he discouraged? Not a bit of it! He'll make one up on the spot! In one passage a rainstorm is characterized as "maelstromlike" and, more audaciously, a "borealislike conflagration". I am NOT making this up; I couldn't, I don't have the gift. Later we get to read how our hero "calms the saturation from his face" (sweat this time, not rain), which I think would make a dandy party trick, and how Marjorie is seen "in all her lovely, downcast, heartquickening desirableness". I mean, did the man never listen to what he was writing?
Outside of the works of Frank Herbert, and the time I was forced to read CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR for an anthropology class (to view examples of bad anthropology, not bad writing), this has to be the most badly written book I have ever finished. It is just fascinatingly awful, magnetically bad. Was it an aberration? Was he going through a bad stretch when he penned this tripe? Was he being paid by the word, by the number of words over six letters long? Had he gone senile?
Which brings me back to my disclaimer: can somebody out there please direct me to a well written Cornell Woolrich novel? I feel that I owe it to a writer who has been so widely hailed as a genius of his genre before I pull the plug on him.
This book was written, to within an inch of its life, in 1950, and has been out of print ever since. The events in the book take place from 1915 through 1918, and involve a nebbish named Prescott Marshall, annoyingly called "Press" throughout the book, and his nonentity of a wife, Marjorie.
The plot, which runs on interminably, involves murder, guilty conscience, fear, all that good stuff, and may very well have been written under the influence of Dostoyevsky. The portrayal of period details comes off as utterly hamfisted, and really, there is no apparent reason for it to have been a period piece; I don't know, maybe he lost a bet with a fellow writer.
The prose, the prose, the prose...the man is absolutely enamored of adverbs and adjectives; he is the very anti-Hammett. There is no simple sentence which he does not feel capable of cluttering up with excess verbiage. When he can't find the proper modifier, is he discouraged? Not a bit of it! He'll make one up on the spot! In one passage a rainstorm is characterized as "maelstromlike" and, more audaciously, a "borealislike conflagration". I am NOT making this up; I couldn't, I don't have the gift. Later we get to read how our hero "calms the saturation from his face" (sweat this time, not rain), which I think would make a dandy party trick, and how Marjorie is seen "in all her lovely, downcast, heartquickening desirableness". I mean, did the man never listen to what he was writing?
Outside of the works of Frank Herbert, and the time I was forced to read CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR for an anthropology class (to view examples of bad anthropology, not bad writing), this has to be the most badly written book I have ever finished. It is just fascinatingly awful, magnetically bad. Was it an aberration? Was he going through a bad stretch when he penned this tripe? Was he being paid by the word, by the number of words over six letters long? Had he gone senile?
Which brings me back to my disclaimer: can somebody out there please direct me to a well written Cornell Woolrich novel? I feel that I owe it to a writer who has been so widely hailed as a genius of his genre before I pull the plug on him.
March 15, 2015
Cool premise, but then it begins. It probably began right at the start, but I didn't really notice because introduction was so good.
You see, in Fright nobody ever simply says something. Instead they relate, protest, admit, confine, echo, demand (and counter-demand), exclaim, interject, concur, chortle, parry, admonish, note, retort and even - I kid you fucking not - ejaculate!
And they do so palpitating, pensively, assiduously, obdurately, demurely, strenuously, vociferously, amiably, ebulliently, wonderingly, charitably, ruefully, inwardly, magnanimously, caustically, neutrally, stonily, guilelessly, reticently, deprecatingly, parenthetically. Or simply in dazed exaltation, in disquietude, in discomfiture, in fervent gratitude, in attitude of morose pensiveness, with aching diffidence, or surrounded by surreptitious air of excitement.
It is unforgettable, but for the wrong reasons. And I'll be definitely reading the next Woolrich on my Kindle with built-in dictionary.
More here (review includes spoilers!):
http://a60books.blogspot.ie/2014/11/f...
You see, in Fright nobody ever simply says something. Instead they relate, protest, admit, confine, echo, demand (and counter-demand), exclaim, interject, concur, chortle, parry, admonish, note, retort and even - I kid you fucking not - ejaculate!
And they do so palpitating, pensively, assiduously, obdurately, demurely, strenuously, vociferously, amiably, ebulliently, wonderingly, charitably, ruefully, inwardly, magnanimously, caustically, neutrally, stonily, guilelessly, reticently, deprecatingly, parenthetically. Or simply in dazed exaltation, in disquietude, in discomfiture, in fervent gratitude, in attitude of morose pensiveness, with aching diffidence, or surrounded by surreptitious air of excitement.
It is unforgettable, but for the wrong reasons. And I'll be definitely reading the next Woolrich on my Kindle with built-in dictionary.
More here (review includes spoilers!):
http://a60books.blogspot.ie/2014/11/f...
January 3, 2009
Cornell Woolrich fans (myself included) are highly skilled at praising his strengths while discounting his weaknesses. Usually, this means reveling in the momentum of his plots while overlooking their inherent absurdities. Though I give Fright passing marks on the whole, its weaknesses are too great to ignore. Yes, as other reviewers have complained, the prose is overwrought, but the greater problem is that the book's protagonist, Prescott Marshall, is not a sympathetic character. I found him self-absorbed an unlikeable from the start, and his problems are problems of his own creation. He is not an innocent victim of the fates, as are many Woolrich heroes. Nice ending, though.
Footnote: Fright makes an interesting pair with Seymour Shubin's Witness to Myself (Hard Case Crime, 2006), which covers a similar (but different!) noir landscape.
Footnote: Fright makes an interesting pair with Seymour Shubin's Witness to Myself (Hard Case Crime, 2006), which covers a similar (but different!) noir landscape.
August 4, 2008
Woolrich is one of the all-time greats, and this book is fantastic. Support Hard Case Crime so they can keep getting masterworks like this back into print!
July 2, 2023
Fright is what we expect from Cornell Woolrich even if here he was writing as George Hopley. I found this once rare book in the Hard Case Crime edition. This story of a murderer who feels no guilt but wants desperately to elude responsibility for his crimes is historical fiction, set in 1915 New Orleans, 35 years before Fright itself was published. The theme follows the same basic template of his Waltz into Darkness (1947): an angel-faced but greedy woman and a hapless man in a dark skein that leads to murder, but here it's more intense and incisive. I'd say Woolrich had a deep-seated fear of women except that he used the same plot points with genders reversed in I Married a Dead Man (1948). Actually, I do think he had a fear of women but his anxiety and panic were somehow combined with a certain understanding and identification. The protagonist, Prescott Marshall, is not consumed with guilt but with fear of getting caught for what he's done, that fear making him as selfish, savage, and single-minded as a drug addict, with only self-preservation mattering, ruthless, willing to do anything to keep from being found out. What some authors might make plot heavy of how the murderer eludes capture, Woolrich makes a tortuous tale of psychological torture. Even so, the story moves at a glacial pace, Woolrich always trying to up the tension, with his purple prose slowing it down ("she gave his poor heart amorous indigestion"). The story is edgy for 1950, Woolrich is pushing boundaries. The protagonist's fear of capture finally descends into hysterical, alcoholic hallucinations leading to a predictable ending and then a predictable but plausible second ending in the form of a "postscript." Fright is average, not exceptional Woolrich, but only here will the reader find this sentence: "The jazz squawked off-key, as though every instrument were a chicken and their necks had all been wrung at once, then floundered in its death throes, and beat the air a little with crazed wings, and expired." [3★]
June 18, 2017
The word "genius" is not hyperbole when describing Cornell Woolrich's singular talent. America's own dime-store Dostoyevsky.
June 11, 2021
I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. As many have said it would make a great film with a lot of suspense and a constant sense of dread!
April 28, 2021
As I'm trying to build up my collection of books that inspired Hitchcock to make his wonderful films, it was great to read this, by the same Author as Rear Window (love that film) ..
Starting off in 1914 New York, this is written perfectly for the time period, and to me it really does read like a film script - you could see how Hitchcock might have adapted this one too .. reminded me so much of The Rope too, although the arrogance of the protagonist there is a polar opposite of who we find here ..
This is the epitome of how one dreadful act of only a few short minutes has the ripple effect, not only on the life of the main character, but everyone he comes into contact with .. A man who is slowly losing all sense of reality, seeing smoke & mirrors everywhere, on a path that only has one outcome .. The way the tension builds throughout the book is very clever & hardly noticeable until you think back - and just when it seems that the water has stilled, there are some final twists speeding you to a fulfilling final act .. you must read the post script at the end ..
Brilliant !!
Starting off in 1914 New York, this is written perfectly for the time period, and to me it really does read like a film script - you could see how Hitchcock might have adapted this one too .. reminded me so much of The Rope too, although the arrogance of the protagonist there is a polar opposite of who we find here ..
This is the epitome of how one dreadful act of only a few short minutes has the ripple effect, not only on the life of the main character, but everyone he comes into contact with .. A man who is slowly losing all sense of reality, seeing smoke & mirrors everywhere, on a path that only has one outcome .. The way the tension builds throughout the book is very clever & hardly noticeable until you think back - and just when it seems that the water has stilled, there are some final twists speeding you to a fulfilling final act .. you must read the post script at the end ..
Brilliant !!
July 21, 2014
Cornell Woolrich's Fright is number 34 in the Hard Case Crime series, and I found it to be an excellent tale of psychological suspense. It is also a perfect example of his mostly forgotten mastery as a writer (though happily his works are of late enjoying a rediscovery).
Although one would find Fright in the Mystery section of a local book store, there is no mystery to solve. The plot is simple: soon after meeting the girl of his dreams, Prescott Marshall has a drunken one night stand with an unscrupulous bar hopper. The mistake of this one-time-only philandering proves to be monumental as shortly after their tryst the bar hopper begins blackmailing him. Things go very south, as they say, from there and Prescott learns all about the darkness in the world and within himself.
Woolrich, the author of Rear Window (the novel from which Hitchcock based his iconic film), has been called the "Hitchcock of the written word" and fans of both the director and the author can immediately see why the latter's material appealed to the former. They both think in that same sideways fashion and neither is afraid to play with and defy the viewer's/reader's perceptions and anticipations. Fright contains exquisite examples of left turns from the expected.
Published in 1950 under Woolrich's pseudonym "George Hopley," Fright begins in World War I era New York and plays out over just a couple of succeeding years. The author's utterly fine and gorgeous prose (and you can only read it to appreciate it, no description of it can do it justice) manages not only to make the period come alive but adroitly comment on it as well. As an aside, I personally found Woolrich's choice of setting the novel thirty-five years in the past from publication both gutsy and usual, which may possibly explain the use of the pen name. Today's author can set a novel in the 1980s and have it still be quite relatable (discounting cell phones and the web, the world really isn't that different, though it probably should be). I would hazard to say, however, that the worlds of 1915 and 1950 were vastly different. Two wars, a depression and the atomic bomb appeared in the intervening years to say the least.
Woolrich was a maestro of psychological tension, and his choice and description of the time period purposely create a sense of dislocation in the reader that he exploits in masterful fashion. Fright manages to expertly pull the reader into Prescott Marshall's mind. He's portrayed as an Everyman that just made a bad decision, which throws him into an even worse situation, so that he takes horrific action, and so on.
The hat trick of Fright is that through much of the novel the reader feels for Prescott as an antihero before completely changing our opinion of him. After all, we've all been in Prescott's shoes at one time to one degree or another, we've all made mistakes we've tried to cover up or run away from. Also, on the surface Prescott seems to be a likable fellow. He's a gentlemen that loves his wife and he wants to run from his terrible circumstances so that he can protect both himself and her from his mistakes. However, Woolrich slowly reveals that Prescott also has a capacity for self preservation and denial that are either turning him into a monster or revealing the one that was there all along.
That thought, that terrible realization, that there is a monster hiding in even the most normal and well meaning of souls: your friend, your coworker, your significant other, is at the core of what makes Fright a truly great psychological suspense tale. Do yourself a favor and give Fright a read, its darkness will definitely stick in those little nooks and crannies of your mind....but in a good way.
Although one would find Fright in the Mystery section of a local book store, there is no mystery to solve. The plot is simple: soon after meeting the girl of his dreams, Prescott Marshall has a drunken one night stand with an unscrupulous bar hopper. The mistake of this one-time-only philandering proves to be monumental as shortly after their tryst the bar hopper begins blackmailing him. Things go very south, as they say, from there and Prescott learns all about the darkness in the world and within himself.
Woolrich, the author of Rear Window (the novel from which Hitchcock based his iconic film), has been called the "Hitchcock of the written word" and fans of both the director and the author can immediately see why the latter's material appealed to the former. They both think in that same sideways fashion and neither is afraid to play with and defy the viewer's/reader's perceptions and anticipations. Fright contains exquisite examples of left turns from the expected.
Published in 1950 under Woolrich's pseudonym "George Hopley," Fright begins in World War I era New York and plays out over just a couple of succeeding years. The author's utterly fine and gorgeous prose (and you can only read it to appreciate it, no description of it can do it justice) manages not only to make the period come alive but adroitly comment on it as well. As an aside, I personally found Woolrich's choice of setting the novel thirty-five years in the past from publication both gutsy and usual, which may possibly explain the use of the pen name. Today's author can set a novel in the 1980s and have it still be quite relatable (discounting cell phones and the web, the world really isn't that different, though it probably should be). I would hazard to say, however, that the worlds of 1915 and 1950 were vastly different. Two wars, a depression and the atomic bomb appeared in the intervening years to say the least.
Woolrich was a maestro of psychological tension, and his choice and description of the time period purposely create a sense of dislocation in the reader that he exploits in masterful fashion. Fright manages to expertly pull the reader into Prescott Marshall's mind. He's portrayed as an Everyman that just made a bad decision, which throws him into an even worse situation, so that he takes horrific action, and so on.
The hat trick of Fright is that through much of the novel the reader feels for Prescott as an antihero before completely changing our opinion of him. After all, we've all been in Prescott's shoes at one time to one degree or another, we've all made mistakes we've tried to cover up or run away from. Also, on the surface Prescott seems to be a likable fellow. He's a gentlemen that loves his wife and he wants to run from his terrible circumstances so that he can protect both himself and her from his mistakes. However, Woolrich slowly reveals that Prescott also has a capacity for self preservation and denial that are either turning him into a monster or revealing the one that was there all along.
That thought, that terrible realization, that there is a monster hiding in even the most normal and well meaning of souls: your friend, your coworker, your significant other, is at the core of what makes Fright a truly great psychological suspense tale. Do yourself a favor and give Fright a read, its darkness will definitely stick in those little nooks and crannies of your mind....but in a good way.
August 2, 2012
Ugh. This book was sort of excruciating.
First off, it had a strange sort of "gaslight" tone to it that seemed fake. The book takes place when Woolrich was a teenager, so maybe he has some memories of the time, but a lot of the language and tone seems stolen from things like HG Wells or Edith Wharton.
Then, the main character is so consistantly stupid, that I can feel no pity for him even in his self-inflicted misery. Essentially, the guy has killed a prostitute and a blackmailer. That is a bad thing to have done. However, how hard the police are going to search for the killer of a murdered prostitute in the era of this novel is hard to say, but I'mm guessing not that much harder than they would today, which is to say, not very. He continues to let this one error and the ensuing paranoia dismantle his entire life. As a reader, all it seems you can do is ask, "Why are you being so idiotic!" It never helps.
And really, his wife, while pathetic, does not really do much to help herself here. When you leave someone who is a homicidal maniac, allowing them back into your apartment seems like a bad move, no matter what era you're in.
Definitely not one of the finer books Hard Case has put out.
First off, it had a strange sort of "gaslight" tone to it that seemed fake. The book takes place when Woolrich was a teenager, so maybe he has some memories of the time, but a lot of the language and tone seems stolen from things like HG Wells or Edith Wharton.
Then, the main character is so consistantly stupid, that I can feel no pity for him even in his self-inflicted misery. Essentially, the guy has killed a prostitute and a blackmailer. That is a bad thing to have done. However, how hard the police are going to search for the killer of a murdered prostitute in the era of this novel is hard to say, but I'mm guessing not that much harder than they would today, which is to say, not very. He continues to let this one error and the ensuing paranoia dismantle his entire life. As a reader, all it seems you can do is ask, "Why are you being so idiotic!" It never helps.
And really, his wife, while pathetic, does not really do much to help herself here. When you leave someone who is a homicidal maniac, allowing them back into your apartment seems like a bad move, no matter what era you're in.
Definitely not one of the finer books Hard Case has put out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 5, 2012
this is without a doubt one of the darkest books I've ever read. It's about the way an otherwise ordinary man commits a murder in a moment of rage and stress, and lives the rest of his short time with his new wife in a state of fear and guilt. The main character is sucked deeper and deeper into a black pit that he cannot escape from. He was not a very likable character, but in this type of book, likable isn't really necessary – it's sort of like watching a train wreck in slow motion. The character of the wife seemed a little unrealistic, but when you consider that this was written in the 1950s and set around 1910, her behavior is a little bit easier to understand. Things were very different with women back then. It was frustrating though, seeing her show no backbone. Until the end of course when it was too late. I knew the ending would be the main character getting his just reward, but I wasn't prepared for the way the ending happened. So there was an element of surprise for me. I did find the story suspenseful, as I wondered when and exactly how the main character would be caught. And the twist at the end – the really major twist, caught me completely by surprise and really tied the novel together nicely
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