About

 "Welcome to my house.  I'm delighted you could come.  I am certain you will find your stay here quite illuminating...Think of me as your unseen host and believe that, during your stay here, I shall be with you in spirit.  All your needs have been provided for.  Nothing has been overlooked.  Go where you will, and do what you will--these are the cardinal precepts of my home.  Feel free to function as you choose.  There are no responsibilities, no rules.  'Each to his own device' shall be the only standard here.  May you find the answer that you seek.  It is here.  I promise you."

The above words uttered by Emeric Belasco, the supremely jaded and evil "Roaring Giant," in Richard Matheson's classic 1971 horror novel, Hell House, are the perfect invitation to explore this site.  Prepare to immerse yourself in chilly psychic waters.  I'll be your guide.  My bona fides?  A misspent youth -- after all, there was really never any hope for me after unearthing a dog-eared paperback copy of Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon as an impressionable teen.  I was hooked from the very first tale of Hollywood sexcess, murder, suicide, and failed dreams.  I've known Kenneth Anger for over 30 years and he contributed the preface to my book, Suicide in the Entertainment Industry.  A companion volume published in 2011, Show Business Homicides, completed my canon of show biz-related mayhem and partially fulfilled my intellectual and emotional debt to Dr. Anger.  At roughly the same time, I discovered Russ Meyer, "King Leer," at a local drive-in and was simultaneously gut-punched by the women, the films' overwrought emotions, and technical virtuosity in the twin bill of Good Morning...and Goodbye! (1967) and Common-Law Cabin (1967).  I did a reference book on Russ and spent the next 10-15 years hanging out with the Master at his homes in the Hollywood Hills and Palm Desert while proofing and editing his 3-volume autobiography, A Clean Breast (2000).  I finished it for RM after he was incapacitated by illness.

Like Emeric Belasco (read Hell House NOW), the posts in this blog represent my all-consuming interest in people at their "Extremes and Limits."  There are no happy endings here (with the exception of the occasional reminiscence about Russ Meyer), but rather tales of lonely, frightened, hopeless, and angry people up against IT.  Someone is always going to die...no one gets out alive or unscathed.  Enjoy my house.  Turn the lights off when you leave.

David K. Frasier
October 1, 2013



To contact:

henrytheflit [at] gmail.com