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I Wake Up Screaming
The classic novel of sexual obsession and murder amid the star-making machinery of Hollywood in the 1950s.
"She was as white as marble, but she looked lovely. Her hair was splayed out in fine strands of gold, and her lips were bright, rich red, and there was a green eyeshadow on her eyelids. You could see that because her eyes were closed and she was lying very still. She was lying still and she wasn't breathing."
With its portraits of washed-up directors, jaded leading men, and a ruthless cop whose one-track mind leads straight to a cyanide pellet, I Wake Up Screaming is a magnificent thriller by a Hollywood insider whose screenplays included Lady in the Lake and I, Mobster .
"She was as white as marble, but she looked lovely. Her hair was splayed out in fine strands of gold, and her lips were bright, rich red, and there was a green eyeshadow on her eyelids. You could see that because her eyes were closed and she was lying very still. She was lying still and she wasn't breathing."
With its portraits of washed-up directors, jaded leading men, and a ruthless cop whose one-track mind leads straight to a cyanide pellet, I Wake Up Screaming is a magnificent thriller by a Hollywood insider whose screenplays included Lady in the Lake and I, Mobster .
145 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1941
2 people are currently reading
249 people want to read
About the author
Steve Fisher
115 books14 followersBorn in 1912 in Marine City, Michigan, Stephen Gould Fisher was thirteen when he sold his first story to a magazine. At sixteen he joined the Marines. He was still in the service when he began to publish stories and articles in US Navy and Our Navy. Discharged from the Marines in Los Angeles in 1932, Fisher stayed in L.A., where he continued to write for US Navy, for which he was paid one cent a word. He was also, by this time, writing for a number of sex magazines.
In 1934 he moved to New York where, despite near destitution, he continued to pursue a career as a writer, and met, for the first time, his friend Frank Gruber.
Prior to his arrival in New York, Fisher had corresponded with Gruber, but the two had never met. It was in the Manhattan office of Ed Bodin, an agent who represented both authors, that the writers finally crossed paths.
They, of course, hit it off immediately, and left Bodin’s office on Fifth Avenue just below 23rd Street, on their way to Greenwich Village where, in Washington Square Park, they talked for three hours about their hopes, ambitions and their writing.
Over the years, the two men would remain close. Gruber, some fifteen years older than Fisher, was from a small farming town in Iowa. Already a prolific pulp writer, he counted amongst his friends the future father of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard (the latter once told Gruber that his shift from science fiction to religious fiction occurred when he was shot in the neck with a poison dart while travelling up the Amazon). In 1941, the same year Fisher published I Wake Up Screaming, Gruber, under the name Charles K. Boston, published an all-but-forgotten Hollywood satire entitled The Silver Jackass. Much lighter, yet no less bitter than I Wake Up Screaming, Gruber’s whodunit was, in many ways, the other side of the coin from Fisher’s novel. At Warners, Gruber would go on to write the screenplay for Eric Ambler’s The Mask of Dimitrios (1946) and Bulldog Drummond. A.I. Bezzerides remembers Jack Warner walking into the writers’ building and finding Gruber, Fisher and himself not at their desks, but on the floor shooting craps. He looked at his three writers, turned and walked away, knowing there was little he could do about such recalcitrance.
Gruber and Fisher constituted something of a two-person mutual admiration society. At a party for the release of The Blue Dahlia, Gruber nearly came to blows with his hero Raymond Chandler when the latter said some unfavourable things about Fisher. The reason for the altercation was that Fisher and Chandler were in dispute over screen credits for The Lady in the Lake. Chandler was convinced that his name should have appeared on the screen as well. Though he defended his friend, Gruber would remain a life-long admirer of Chandler’s writing. Foreshadowing Gruber’s run-in with Chandler, Fisher, hearing someone unfairly criticise one of Gruber’s stories in the Black Mask office, launched such an attack on the unfortunate writer that the editor had to throw the Gruber-critic out of the office and declare him persona non grata at Black Mask.
Recounting his early days as a writer in The Pulp Jungle, Gruber attests to Fisher’s burning ambition to succeed as a writer, a quality which, at times, assumed humorous dimensions. Such as when Fisher wrote to the New York electricity company, which, because of an outstanding bill, was about to switch off his power, asking them how they would feel if they had turned off the electricity on Jack London. He told them that he too would become a famous writer and they would be ashamed of themselves for cutting off his electricity. But cut him off they did, after which Fisher was forced to write by candlelight. In that same book, Gruber goes on to say that Fisher was most adept at writing romance.
In 1934 he moved to New York where, despite near destitution, he continued to pursue a career as a writer, and met, for the first time, his friend Frank Gruber.
Prior to his arrival in New York, Fisher had corresponded with Gruber, but the two had never met. It was in the Manhattan office of Ed Bodin, an agent who represented both authors, that the writers finally crossed paths.
They, of course, hit it off immediately, and left Bodin’s office on Fifth Avenue just below 23rd Street, on their way to Greenwich Village where, in Washington Square Park, they talked for three hours about their hopes, ambitions and their writing.
Over the years, the two men would remain close. Gruber, some fifteen years older than Fisher, was from a small farming town in Iowa. Already a prolific pulp writer, he counted amongst his friends the future father of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard (the latter once told Gruber that his shift from science fiction to religious fiction occurred when he was shot in the neck with a poison dart while travelling up the Amazon). In 1941, the same year Fisher published I Wake Up Screaming, Gruber, under the name Charles K. Boston, published an all-but-forgotten Hollywood satire entitled The Silver Jackass. Much lighter, yet no less bitter than I Wake Up Screaming, Gruber’s whodunit was, in many ways, the other side of the coin from Fisher’s novel. At Warners, Gruber would go on to write the screenplay for Eric Ambler’s The Mask of Dimitrios (1946) and Bulldog Drummond. A.I. Bezzerides remembers Jack Warner walking into the writers’ building and finding Gruber, Fisher and himself not at their desks, but on the floor shooting craps. He looked at his three writers, turned and walked away, knowing there was little he could do about such recalcitrance.
Gruber and Fisher constituted something of a two-person mutual admiration society. At a party for the release of The Blue Dahlia, Gruber nearly came to blows with his hero Raymond Chandler when the latter said some unfavourable things about Fisher. The reason for the altercation was that Fisher and Chandler were in dispute over screen credits for The Lady in the Lake. Chandler was convinced that his name should have appeared on the screen as well. Though he defended his friend, Gruber would remain a life-long admirer of Chandler’s writing. Foreshadowing Gruber’s run-in with Chandler, Fisher, hearing someone unfairly criticise one of Gruber’s stories in the Black Mask office, launched such an attack on the unfortunate writer that the editor had to throw the Gruber-critic out of the office and declare him persona non grata at Black Mask.
Recounting his early days as a writer in The Pulp Jungle, Gruber attests to Fisher’s burning ambition to succeed as a writer, a quality which, at times, assumed humorous dimensions. Such as when Fisher wrote to the New York electricity company, which, because of an outstanding bill, was about to switch off his power, asking them how they would feel if they had turned off the electricity on Jack London. He told them that he too would become a famous writer and they would be ashamed of themselves for cutting off his electricity. But cut him off they did, after which Fisher was forced to write by candlelight. In that same book, Gruber goes on to say that Fisher was most adept at writing romance.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
May 25, 2023
If you love hardboiled crime fiction from the forties and fifties like I do, you will absolutely feast on this Steve Fisher novel. It was originally published in 1941 and immediately made into a hit movie starring Betty Grable and Victor Mature. Later, Fisher updated the novel in 1961, perhaps to appeal to contemporary (at that time) readers. Black Lizard, one of the great modern crime fiction publishing houses, republished it in 1991. No matter which edition you pick up, it is a dark, hardboiled platter of goodness that I really enjoyed. At 157 pages, it is typical of crime novels of the forties and fifties in length.
I generally don't like Hollywood industry crime novels. Too often, the authors tend to want to impress the reader with how much they know about Hollywood and how well connected they are. Here, however, the setting works just right. The basic story is about about a screenwriter (Peg), who falls head over heels for a stunning secretary in the studio where he works. He then conspires with a few other producers and agents to turn the incredible Vicki Lynn into the next star even though that meant she would be escorted around Hollywood by a male star since Peg as a writer wasn't going to dazzle the public. It tops off with a Hollywood murder and a cynical police detective who is going to find a way to make Peg pay for what he did ( if he did it).
But, to be honest, it wasn't the plot that fascinated me about this book, although when you get to the part about the girl who was white as marble, with hair splayed out in fine strands of gold, her lips bright red, and the green eyeshadow on her eyelids, you know it's coming when the narrator tells you she was lying still and not breathing, but it is still shocking nonetheless. (all of this is on the back cover of the book in my hand).
It was the pulpy writing that I really enjoyed and there were sentences and paragraphs that were so juicy that I had to go back and read them more than once to properly savor them. Fisher simply uses his words to capture the mood of the times and it works like a gem. You can feel Peg's obsession with Vicki Lynn and his passionate affair with her and his determination to give her the gift of stardom.
I generally don't like Hollywood industry crime novels. Too often, the authors tend to want to impress the reader with how much they know about Hollywood and how well connected they are. Here, however, the setting works just right. The basic story is about about a screenwriter (Peg), who falls head over heels for a stunning secretary in the studio where he works. He then conspires with a few other producers and agents to turn the incredible Vicki Lynn into the next star even though that meant she would be escorted around Hollywood by a male star since Peg as a writer wasn't going to dazzle the public. It tops off with a Hollywood murder and a cynical police detective who is going to find a way to make Peg pay for what he did ( if he did it).
But, to be honest, it wasn't the plot that fascinated me about this book, although when you get to the part about the girl who was white as marble, with hair splayed out in fine strands of gold, her lips bright red, and the green eyeshadow on her eyelids, you know it's coming when the narrator tells you she was lying still and not breathing, but it is still shocking nonetheless. (all of this is on the back cover of the book in my hand).
It was the pulpy writing that I really enjoyed and there were sentences and paragraphs that were so juicy that I had to go back and read them more than once to properly savor them. Fisher simply uses his words to capture the mood of the times and it works like a gem. You can feel Peg's obsession with Vicki Lynn and his passionate affair with her and his determination to give her the gift of stardom.
July 19, 2023
12/2015
Unbelievable that this is from 1941, it's so fast and self aware. Another early dark tale of Hollywood and its demonic gamble. Crime and murder, of course, and flight from the law. Contains great descriptions of Hollywood, Long Beach, San Diego at this time.
I first heard of I Wake Up Screaming in regard to Cornell Woolrich. There is a very important character, Detective Cornell, who is obviously based on the writer, and who Francis Nevins, Woolrich's critic and biographer, says is the best existing description of Woolrich and his creepy looks and his "sad, nasal voice."
I found I had read another book by Fisher, The Sheltering Night. I remember it as tawdry but well-written.
Unbelievable that this is from 1941, it's so fast and self aware. Another early dark tale of Hollywood and its demonic gamble. Crime and murder, of course, and flight from the law. Contains great descriptions of Hollywood, Long Beach, San Diego at this time.
I first heard of I Wake Up Screaming in regard to Cornell Woolrich. There is a very important character, Detective Cornell, who is obviously based on the writer, and who Francis Nevins, Woolrich's critic and biographer, says is the best existing description of Woolrich and his creepy looks and his "sad, nasal voice."
I found I had read another book by Fisher, The Sheltering Night. I remember it as tawdry but well-written.
July 24, 2024
Though a major success for Fisher on its initial publication in 1941, this dark piece of crime fiction has lapsed to be out of print for many years.
Quite inexplicably also that a publisher hasn’t stepped in for a reissue, as it has something of a cult status. It has been called the classic Hollywood novel, based on a corrupt detective that is supposed to be fellow crime novelist, Cornell Woolrich.
It is a Southern California mystery about a film promoter suspected of murdering an upcoming female star. The real skill here is in earning the reader’s sympathy for a protagonist on the run from an obsessed, corrupt and single-minded police detective who is determined to pin the murder on him.
Prior to this, Fisher wrote six other mystery novels, under three different names, without any degree of success. But it is clear that he learned from them, as in this he writes sharp, short prose that moves the plot quickly, and a snappy and captivating dialogue that is typical of the best pulp fiction.
Evident also, is Fisher’s love for Hollywood. Though he struggled to earn any sort of a living prior to this being published, he was not to look back after its release. Hollywood it seemed, now loved him back.
The novel was adapted for two films noir, a 1941 version directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, starring Victor Mature, Betty Grable, and Laird Cregar, and a 1953 remake entitled 'Vicki’, directed by Harry Horner and starring Elliott Reed and Jeanne Crain.
With its setting in the heart of the Hollywood movie scene, and that it is an actual whodunnit, it is a genuine rarity in the pulp genre.
Quite inexplicably also that a publisher hasn’t stepped in for a reissue, as it has something of a cult status. It has been called the classic Hollywood novel, based on a corrupt detective that is supposed to be fellow crime novelist, Cornell Woolrich.
It is a Southern California mystery about a film promoter suspected of murdering an upcoming female star. The real skill here is in earning the reader’s sympathy for a protagonist on the run from an obsessed, corrupt and single-minded police detective who is determined to pin the murder on him.
Prior to this, Fisher wrote six other mystery novels, under three different names, without any degree of success. But it is clear that he learned from them, as in this he writes sharp, short prose that moves the plot quickly, and a snappy and captivating dialogue that is typical of the best pulp fiction.
Evident also, is Fisher’s love for Hollywood. Though he struggled to earn any sort of a living prior to this being published, he was not to look back after its release. Hollywood it seemed, now loved him back.
The novel was adapted for two films noir, a 1941 version directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, starring Victor Mature, Betty Grable, and Laird Cregar, and a 1953 remake entitled 'Vicki’, directed by Harry Horner and starring Elliott Reed and Jeanne Crain.
With its setting in the heart of the Hollywood movie scene, and that it is an actual whodunnit, it is a genuine rarity in the pulp genre.
May 8, 2019
If it is true that Cornell Woolrich was the model for the detective in this, then that is the most interesting thing about it. If not, the detective character is great! Otherwise, this didn't do a whole lot for me. I've always loved the movie (which came out in 1941), but somehow the version of this I read had been redone in the 60s for "modern audiences" and there was all this talk about beatniks and Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe and stuff and it was just really strange and distracting. Who wants an "updated" version of a famous book?? But I couldn't find a 1940s version.
March 7, 2021
I have the sense that this book is famous mostly because a film version came out in 1941 or thereabouts, starring Betty Grable and Victor Mature. And Laird Cregar plays the warped, obsessive cop who relentlessly pursues the protagonist to pin a murder on him. (If you aren't familiar with Cregar, he's an actor definitely worth looking into. He only acted in a few films and died young, but all his films are interesting and he cuts a unique and compelling presence.)
This book is, on a shallow level, a murder mystery. Yet it's so much more than that. It's heavy on romance, and by today's standards heavy on sexism (but hey, it was 1941 when the book came out and people had different ideas and standards than they do today). It's also a portrait of Hollywood in the 1950's. In particular, it depicts the life of a screenwriter. And that's something Fisher was quite familiar with. I read somewhere that he wrote at least 40 successful movie scripts.
Above all, this is a suspense novel. The murder of a lovely woman is pinned on an innocent man by a weirdly obsessive cop. The book is narrated by the innocent man, who was madly in love with the woman, so we tend to be confident of his innocence.
So it's a sort of cat and mouse chase. Pretty suspenseful, with a great Southern California atmosphere. While on the lam, our fugitive protagonist is attempting to solve the crime so he can identify the true killer and clear his own name.
In the introduction to the Centipede Press edition of this book, Keith Alan Deutsch (a Black Mask/hard-boiled fiction authority) explains that Fisher was part of a "second wave" of Black Mask writers who moved away from the original hard-boiled style of Hammet and Chandler, and into a style that featured suspense and extreme emotions.
Cornell Woolrich (best known today for the story that was filmed by Hitchcock as "Rear Window") was another exponent of the new Black Mask style. According to Deutsch, Woolrich and Fisher were friends. Fisher used Woolrich as a model for the weirdly obsessive cop in I Wake Up Screaming. And he didn't cover it up much, because he called the cop "Ed Cornell."
I can't help but wonder what Woolrich thought about that. Fisher's depiction of Ed Cornell is highly unflattering.
Another interesting thing I learned from the Deutsch intro is that Fisher revised this novel to move the action into the 1950's instead of the 1940's. Apparently, the original edition of the book cannot be purchased for less than several thousand dollars today.
If anyone is aware of a scan of that version, I'd love to see it!
This book is, on a shallow level, a murder mystery. Yet it's so much more than that. It's heavy on romance, and by today's standards heavy on sexism (but hey, it was 1941 when the book came out and people had different ideas and standards than they do today). It's also a portrait of Hollywood in the 1950's. In particular, it depicts the life of a screenwriter. And that's something Fisher was quite familiar with. I read somewhere that he wrote at least 40 successful movie scripts.
Above all, this is a suspense novel. The murder of a lovely woman is pinned on an innocent man by a weirdly obsessive cop. The book is narrated by the innocent man, who was madly in love with the woman, so we tend to be confident of his innocence.
So it's a sort of cat and mouse chase. Pretty suspenseful, with a great Southern California atmosphere. While on the lam, our fugitive protagonist is attempting to solve the crime so he can identify the true killer and clear his own name.
In the introduction to the Centipede Press edition of this book, Keith Alan Deutsch (a Black Mask/hard-boiled fiction authority) explains that Fisher was part of a "second wave" of Black Mask writers who moved away from the original hard-boiled style of Hammet and Chandler, and into a style that featured suspense and extreme emotions.
Cornell Woolrich (best known today for the story that was filmed by Hitchcock as "Rear Window") was another exponent of the new Black Mask style. According to Deutsch, Woolrich and Fisher were friends. Fisher used Woolrich as a model for the weirdly obsessive cop in I Wake Up Screaming. And he didn't cover it up much, because he called the cop "Ed Cornell."
I can't help but wonder what Woolrich thought about that. Fisher's depiction of Ed Cornell is highly unflattering.
Another interesting thing I learned from the Deutsch intro is that Fisher revised this novel to move the action into the 1950's instead of the 1940's. Apparently, the original edition of the book cannot be purchased for less than several thousand dollars today.
If anyone is aware of a scan of that version, I'd love to see it!
March 11, 2025
A hard-hitting, fast-paced noir pulp from a master storyteller. Pure pulp, driven by relentless pacing that keeps the reader hooked. The crime plot is solid, but it’s the rapid-fire prose that really makes this book stand out. A great read for anyone who enjoys sharp, no-nonsense crime fiction.
——
Un roman noir percutant et mené à un rythme effréné par un maître du genre. Un pur pulp, sans fioritures, où l’intrigue criminelle est solide mais où c’est surtout la prose incisive qui fait toute la différence. Une lecture incontournable pour ceux qui apprécient les polars nerveux et sans détour.
——
Un roman noir percutant et mené à un rythme effréné par un maître du genre. Un pur pulp, sans fioritures, où l’intrigue criminelle est solide mais où c’est surtout la prose incisive qui fait toute la différence. Une lecture incontournable pour ceux qui apprécient les polars nerveux et sans détour.
March 29, 2020
This is the epitome of California Noir. Hollywood. A beautiful woman murdered mysteriously. A crazed, obsessed detective. A fugitive on the run. Steve Fisher really wrote an example of noir perfection for this novella.
I could feel the California sun on my face, see the palm trees and smell the starlets perfume through the words on the page. Beautifully written.
4/5 highly recommended
I could feel the California sun on my face, see the palm trees and smell the starlets perfume through the words on the page. Beautifully written.
4/5 highly recommended
January 28, 2026
I’d love to find a copy of Steve Fisher’s original 1941 novel I Wake Up Screaming, the basis for the 1941 film of the same name. This edition from Black Lizard is the 1960 revised version that sometimes feels set in the ‘50s, mentioning actors such as Marlon Brando and Audrey Hepburn, neither of whom were recognizable in 1941. The juxtaposition of elements from 1941 and the later period creates a somewhat frustrating reading experience, but it’s not a deal-breaker. A young screenwriter named Peg (short for Pegasus) discovers a knockout named Vicky Lynn whom he helps groom into a movie star, yet other people with more prestige and power also become interested. When Vicky is found dead in her apartment, all signs point to Peg, and homicide detective Ed Cornell will go to any lengths to bring him in.
January 14, 2015
This is a pretty good little noir. Maybe 3 1/2 stars. Here's a curious thing though. On the cover of this Vintage edition it says "The classic novel....[takes place] amid the star-making machinery of Hollywood in the 1950s." And in the rear it says, "A movie version appeared in 1941." Near as I can figure it Fisher re-wrote the novel that was originally published in 1941 sometime later. Hence there is an uneasy balance to the incidentals in the plot and it's hard to get a fix on in which time period the story is taking place. There's mention of Bing Crosby early on and Brando's mumbly acting style later. Nevertheless the story crackles along nicely and the twist was hard to guess.
February 21, 2009
Pretty entertaining noir about a Hollywood talent agent unjustly accused of killing his biggest starlet. If you're a sucker for 1940's Hollywood sleaze then this is right up your alley. The movie starring Victor Mature's pretty funny, too.
March 9, 2024
"How do you say the end? What are the words you use? For there is no end, really. There are simply episodes, and all of the episodes put together make one lifetime. It’s rather wonderful! The earth is sweet and green after the rain, and that is the way with laughter after tears. I remember I could not end the first play I wrote because I felt the drama was but a particle of the lives of the people in it, and they should go on. I cannot end this."
Hollywood, 1940s: pulp extraordinaire Steve Fisher goes west to make some quick cash writing some of what happen to be my favourite film noir screenplays of all time: City That Never Sleeps, I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes, Dead Reckoning... hell, I even think his adaptation of Chandler's Lady in the Lake has its own merits; if not solely for the absolute masterstroke of setting it at Christmastime.
Anyway, just imagine him sitting in a Barton Fink-esque hotel, churning out pages for the cheapest of B-thrillers, and thinking all the while of the perfect backdrop that it'd all make for his own little tawdry murder tale. I Wake Up Screaming is the result: a ferocious little piece of hardboiled melodrama that seems to draw on every bit of Fisher's experience in plotting, writing, and executing all of what classic noir storytelling has to offer.
It's not as ambitiously surrealistic as one of the nightmarish parables of Nathaneal West or Horace McCoy, but it's nearly as good as a vintage Cornell Woolrich: a murder mystery, a wrong-man chase thriller, and a macabre evocation of the paranoid backdrop of the City of Angels and Demons. Not a all-out masterpiece of crime fiction, but it's definitely some sort of classic — a true, well-cut piece of noir it gives you nothing but bang for your buck, and then even a little more that you don't expect.
It's just a shame Fisher never followed it up a few decades later after taking up as a TV writer in the 70s — he wasn't as inspired to plumb the dark, violent depths of writing for Fantasy Island? I don't believe it.
May 20, 2017
If you love hardboiled crime fiction from the forties and fifties like I do, you will absolutely feast on this Steve Fisher novel. It was originally published in 1941 and immediately made into a hit movie starring Betty Grable and Victor Mature. Later, Fisher updated the novel in 1961, perhaps to appeal to contemporary (at that time) readers. Black Lizard, one of the great modern crime fiction publishing houses, republished it in 1991. No matter which edition you pick up, it is a dark, hardboiled platter of goodness that I really enjoyed. At 157 pages, it is typical of crime novels of the forties and fifties in length.
The basic story is about about a screenwriter (Peg), who falls head over heels for a stunning secretary in the studio where he works. He then conspires with a few other producers and agents to turn the incredible Vicki Lynn into the next star even though that meant she would be escorted around Hollywood by a male star since Peg as a writer wasn't going to dazzle the public. It tops off with a Hollywood murder and a cynical police detective who is going to find a way to make Peg pay for what he did ( if he did it). But, to be honest, it wasn't the plot that fascinated me about this book, although when you get to the part about the girl who was white as marble, with hair splayed out in fine strands of gold, her lips bright red, and the green eyeshadow on her eyelids, you know it's coming when the narrator tells you she was lying still and not breathing, but it is still shocking nonetheless. (all of this is on the back cover of the book in my hand).
It was the pulpy writing that I really enjoyed and there were sentences and paragraphs that were so juicy that I had to go back and read them more than once to properly savor them. Fisher simply uses his words to capture the mood of the times and it works like a gem. You can feel Peg's obsession with Vicki Lynn and his passionate affair with her and his determination to give her the gift of stardom.
The basic story is about about a screenwriter (Peg), who falls head over heels for a stunning secretary in the studio where he works. He then conspires with a few other producers and agents to turn the incredible Vicki Lynn into the next star even though that meant she would be escorted around Hollywood by a male star since Peg as a writer wasn't going to dazzle the public. It tops off with a Hollywood murder and a cynical police detective who is going to find a way to make Peg pay for what he did ( if he did it). But, to be honest, it wasn't the plot that fascinated me about this book, although when you get to the part about the girl who was white as marble, with hair splayed out in fine strands of gold, her lips bright red, and the green eyeshadow on her eyelids, you know it's coming when the narrator tells you she was lying still and not breathing, but it is still shocking nonetheless. (all of this is on the back cover of the book in my hand).
It was the pulpy writing that I really enjoyed and there were sentences and paragraphs that were so juicy that I had to go back and read them more than once to properly savor them. Fisher simply uses his words to capture the mood of the times and it works like a gem. You can feel Peg's obsession with Vicki Lynn and his passionate affair with her and his determination to give her the gift of stardom.
August 2, 2024
It can't possibly live up to its title—what could—but I wake Up Screaming stands as a sleek little 150-page crime story that explores the dark side of Hollywood. Its authenticity comes from the fact that author Steve Fisher had a few decades of experience in showbiz before writing this novel. So it's full of period-appropriate details about film production, which is nice if you're an old movie weirdo as well as an old book weirdo. (The two overlap more than you'd think.)
Worth noting is the fact that many sources say this book is from 1941, but it appears to be a 1960 novelization of the 1941 film of the same name also written by Fisher. It wasn't a notable enough movie to merit a book version nearly 20 years later, but maybe Fisher just liked the idea—or maybe he just needed the money.
Worth noting is the fact that many sources say this book is from 1941, but it appears to be a 1960 novelization of the 1941 film of the same name also written by Fisher. It wasn't a notable enough movie to merit a book version nearly 20 years later, but maybe Fisher just liked the idea—or maybe he just needed the money.
March 22, 2025
To be honest this is my first ever noir genre I've read, and I was invested. The hardboiled writing, morally ambigous characters, fast pacing and shifting of suspicion among the characters making it a genuine whodunit. It is a thrilling read, offering a glimpse into the dark side of Hollywood using mystery as its core. That being said, the book adhere to pulp fiction convention like the overly stylized dialogue and characters that, while compelling, lack deep psychological complexity. While I sometimes enjoy a quick read, the fast paced plot may potentially sacrificed some character's development.
August 7, 2025
I needed something light to read while canoe-tripping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. This is light in number of pages and, BONUS, it's by Steve Fisher. I knew this book had some history as a cult following when I bought it on a lark to have on my shelves. It's quite the read. Totally Hollywood film noir from the late 40s. At times I could see aspects of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and other, more literate writers, but this is certainly a product of the pulp fiction era. It moves fast-- full of grand Hollywood dreams, corruption, romance, green-eyed jealousy, new hopes, meager love, tragic loss, an evil copper, and much more. Everything I expected from a "dime" novel.
April 17, 2020
Sexual obsession and murder in Hollywood in the '40's/'50's....doesn't get any better than that for a crime/noir plot. Steve Fisher wrote some well known screenplays back in this era. Book comes out in '41, the now classic movie came out in '41...hmmm
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033740/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033740/
December 22, 2021
I just knew I had the killer figured out…ah, no I didn’t.
January 15, 2022
Very enjoyable read.
March 24, 2023
Found this one randomly at a bookshop and thought from the cover and the publisher it had to be good…and it was
i-get-the-picture
October 11, 2025The usual…
April 25, 2016
This book is less-than-fine. It's a taut 157pgs but it still felt repetitive. The narrative doesn't propel forward, but rather hover circularly around 3 things you learn at page 40. Overall, you don't need to read this unless your favorite flavor of crime is 1940s Hollywood noir.
Pros-
1. Parts about Hollywood and how scary, cut-throat and phony everyone is felt derived from genuine experience are borderline-satirical (though , "Hollywood sure is bad" isn't an object of satire)
2. The antagonist, obsessed cop, Ed Cornell was interesting until the stupid ending.
3. Funny references to Golden Age Hollywood stars of the past. You need an Animaniacs-esque reverence of old Hollywood to get them, however.
4. The title is the best part of the book, but it is very good and noiry, simple yet dense.
Cons-
1. Protagonist was nameless and flavorless. A run-of-the mill studio screenwriter--did not care if he lived, would have preferred he die screaming (as somewhat promised with the great title!) Why doesn't the character have a name besides the pet name his dead-girlfriend's-sister gave him (Mr. Pegasus). I suspect because the writer didn't actually know who this man is.
2. The whole femme-fatale-has-a-sister troupe was employed pointlessly. Stupid and, I bet even in 1941, trite.
3. The characters did not act like humans, rather character archetypes. Sometimes they made choices that were too smart, usually the protagonist was way too dumb. The cop that stalks our "hero" for most of the book threatens him and practically confesses to framing him, but Mr. Pegasus literally DRIVES HIM TO THE BUS STOP. In the last 4 pages, protagonist gets smarter than anyone else in the whole book only to bring the novel to a sputtering conclusion.
4. The ending sucks. Totally exactly what the book says it will be a third of the way through. It wraps up perfectly and the antagonist literally surrenders even though he was the only character through the entire novel with actual motivation. Everyone else just selfishly focuses on their Hollywood career. Also the main character makes this dumb proclamation about how stories never really end, but this novel totally ended without any unanswered questions in every way a bad ending. Dumb.
The prose is competent; nothing spectacular.
You don't need to waste 4 hours on this book, but if you do a mediocre Hollywood noir awaits.
Pros-
1. Parts about Hollywood and how scary, cut-throat and phony everyone is felt derived from genuine experience are borderline-satirical (though , "Hollywood sure is bad" isn't an object of satire)
2. The antagonist, obsessed cop, Ed Cornell was interesting until the stupid ending.
3. Funny references to Golden Age Hollywood stars of the past. You need an Animaniacs-esque reverence of old Hollywood to get them, however.
4. The title is the best part of the book, but it is very good and noiry, simple yet dense.
Cons-
1. Protagonist was nameless and flavorless. A run-of-the mill studio screenwriter--did not care if he lived, would have preferred he die screaming (as somewhat promised with the great title!) Why doesn't the character have a name besides the pet name his dead-girlfriend's-sister gave him (Mr. Pegasus). I suspect because the writer didn't actually know who this man is.
2. The whole femme-fatale-has-a-sister troupe was employed pointlessly. Stupid and, I bet even in 1941, trite.
3. The characters did not act like humans, rather character archetypes. Sometimes they made choices that were too smart, usually the protagonist was way too dumb. The cop that stalks our "hero" for most of the book threatens him and practically confesses to framing him, but Mr. Pegasus literally DRIVES HIM TO THE BUS STOP. In the last 4 pages, protagonist gets smarter than anyone else in the whole book only to bring the novel to a sputtering conclusion.
4. The ending sucks. Totally exactly what the book says it will be a third of the way through. It wraps up perfectly and the antagonist literally surrenders even though he was the only character through the entire novel with actual motivation. Everyone else just selfishly focuses on their Hollywood career. Also the main character makes this dumb proclamation about how stories never really end, but this novel totally ended without any unanswered questions in every way a bad ending. Dumb.
The prose is competent; nothing spectacular.
You don't need to waste 4 hours on this book, but if you do a mediocre Hollywood noir awaits.
January 27, 2008
not sure this stands up there with the all-time great hard boiled crime novels and it doesn't dig all to deep into the dread of the main character, but certainly was enjoyable and the film industry setting was a nice twist on all the other LA-based novels of similar ilk.
side note: it appears to me that there were two different versions of the book from some comments i have seen on the net. the back of my book states that the main character is a sports promoter, but in the book he is a hollywood screen writer. i think that the original is this version and then after the movie (haven't seen) it was re-written with the sports angle (couldnt have the movie show the dark side of hollywood?). i'm glad my version was the original as i have heard that the later version has some anachronisms as it was only partially re-written several years later.
side note: it appears to me that there were two different versions of the book from some comments i have seen on the net. the back of my book states that the main character is a sports promoter, but in the book he is a hollywood screen writer. i think that the original is this version and then after the movie (haven't seen) it was re-written with the sports angle (couldnt have the movie show the dark side of hollywood?). i'm glad my version was the original as i have heard that the later version has some anachronisms as it was only partially re-written several years later.
June 30, 2010
A Hollywod screenwriter becomes involved with a woman working the switchboard at the studio and with some others takes some steps to make her a star. He becomes involved with her (and her sister) as does one of his partners. When she is murdered, a cop makes it his life's work to prove that our man did it. The book seemed a bit strange to me in the pacing, and in some of the motivations -- the sister seems to get over the murder quickly.
I haven't seen the Victor Mature/Betty Grable movie. But it's interesting that the movie was made in 1941, and the book carries a 1960 copyright. There are many references in the book to things that are out of time for 1941, such as the movie Exodus, but at the same time the plot and milieu are very 1941. The author must have passed the book through the typewriter, or adapted it from the screenplay in 1960.
I haven't seen the Victor Mature/Betty Grable movie. But it's interesting that the movie was made in 1941, and the book carries a 1960 copyright. There are many references in the book to things that are out of time for 1941, such as the movie Exodus, but at the same time the plot and milieu are very 1941. The author must have passed the book through the typewriter, or adapted it from the screenplay in 1960.
June 1, 2014
This is an excellent crime thriller set in Hollywood that was the source for a 1941 film. Oddly, the Black Lizard edition I read seems to be a version updated by the author himself in 1960 and contains references to Marlon Brando, Audrey Hepburn, etc. Fisher was a successful Hollywood screenwriter and the book is especially strong as an acerbic portrait of tinseltown during this period.
June 11, 2017
Great book, very noirish. Another one read after watching (long ago) the outstanding film -noir (1941), starring Victor Mature, Betty Grable and Laird Cregar. Insane plot, like most books of this genre, but the characters are believable. No spoilers, but pay attention to the assigned pol. detective.
January 25, 2013
Steve Fisher wastes a truly memorable character, noir cop Ed Cornell, in this name-dropping Hollywood whodunit, which is amateurishly plotted and overrun with italics and exclamation points. When the excitement builds, you will know it for sure!
July 13, 2014
Steve Fisher is one of the unjustly forgotten noir writers who knew Hollywood and studied its seamy, grimy side to good effect. It's fast-paced with well-sketched characters and a good plot whose violence revolves around sex, ambition and jaded dreams.
Want to read
March 6, 2014I Wake Up Screaming (1941) http://youtu.be/XIzE_cqdywQ
Want to read
December 23, 2018Synopsis: a classic novel of sexual obsession and murder in Hollywood in the 1940s.
September 21, 2025
DNF. I couldn't get past the "inside Hollywood" descriptions to get to anything hard-boiled or noirish. I thought I would like the novel since I did enjoy both movies.
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