Camera Shy: A gripping psychological thriller

by Jon Towlson

Raymond lives a life of silence and shadows, running a quiet camera shop by day and developing strangers' photographs by night. When a woman named Debbie moves into the flat opposite his, her beauty and loneliness captivate him. From his window, he begins to observe her—harmlessly at first. But soon, watching turns to obsession.

When Debbie becomes entangled in a violent crime, Raymond is the only one who knows the truth. Caught between protecting her and preserving his own fragile world, he makes a fateful choice that sets off a chain of betrayal, sacrifice, and ultimately, tragedy.

As the net tightens and the past refuses to stay hidden, Camera Shy unfolds as a haunting tale of voyeurism, guilt, and unspoken love in the darkest corners of the human heart.

94 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 7, 2025

About the author

Jon Towlson is a film critic and the author of 40 CULT MOVIES: FROM ALICE, SWEET ALICE TO ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU (2023), MIDNIGHT COWBOY (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2023), DAWN OF THE DEAD (DEVIL'S ADVOCATES) (Auteur/ Liverpool University Press, 2022), GLOBAL HORROR CINEMA TODAY (McFarland, 2021), CANDYMAN (DEVIL'S ADVOCATES) (Auteur/Columbia University Press, 2018), THE TURN TO GRUESOMENESS IN AMERICAN HORROR FILMS, 1931-1936 (McFarland, 2016), CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (CONSTELLATIONS) (Auteur/Columbia University Press, 2016) and SUBVERSIVE HORROR CINEMA: COUNTERCULTURAL MESSAGES OF FILMS FROM FRANKENSTEIN TO THE PRESENT (McFarland, 2014). He is a regular contributor to STARBURST MAGAZINE, and has also written for the BFI, Scream, The Dark Side, Diabolique, Paracinema, Exquisite Terror, Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies, Shadowland Magazine, Bright Lights Film Journal, Offscreen, Cine Excess and Digital Film-Maker Magazine. Jon has contributed extras to Blu ray releases by Arrow, Second Sight, Eureka and 101 Films. Jon has been nominated several times for a Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award 'honoring the best in classic horror research'.

Jon hosts the official STARBURST horror podcast
FRIDAY NIGHT FRIGHTS.