Misplaced Pages

Russell Lee
A masked actor representing Russell Lee at a book signing.
Pen name	Russell Lee
Period	1989–present
Genre	Horror, Drama, Comedy, Non-Fiction
Subject	Writing books
Notable works	True Singapore Ghost Stories
Signature
Website
flameoftheforest.com

Russell Lee is the pseudonym of the Singaporean authors of True Singapore Ghost Stories, a well-known book series of ghost stories in Singapore, Malaysia, other parts of Asia ever since the release of Book 1 in 1989.

The brand had a lasting impact on Singapore publishing. Their first release was the first of many that were published for the mass market. True Singapore Ghost Stories surpassed 30,000 copies in three months.

Despite publicly claiming to be a real person, Russell Lee never provided any photograph of himself nor revealed anything about his personal life. At book signing events for True Singapore Ghost Stories, a person claiming to be Russell Lee would always show up, wearing a mask and clothes that cover every inch of his body. Due to the improbability of not having any leaked details about his identity for decades, the universal consensus is that Russell Lee is a pseudonym, and an actor was hired to put on a mask and make public appearances for marketing purposes.

True Singapore Ghost Stories

As of 2023, 28 books in the True Singapore Ghost Stories series have been released. With over 1.5 million copies sold worldwide.

In 2014, True Singapore Ghost Stories 25th Year Special Edition was released, where it looked back at the first 25 years of the series.

Book 27, the latest in the series, was released in 2023. The authors expressed their hope to reach Book 50.

The book series has also been made into a 13-part TV series.

Works

See also

• True Singapore Ghost Stories book series
• James Lee, fellow writer under Angsana Books

References

1. Ho, Olivia (2021). "Unsung S'pore icons: Home-grown horror tales spook a new generation". The Straits Times. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
2. "Flame Of The Forest - About Us". www.flameoftheforest.com. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
3. ^ "What Ever Happened to Russell Lee, the Mysterious Author of 'True Singapore Ghost Stories'?". www.vice.com. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
4. "True S'pore Ghost Stories sold at S$9.90 per book for past 33 years". The News Singapore. 2022-07-01. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
5. "Inspiring chills at Halloween Horror Nights". The New Paper.
6. "Fear factor". The Straits Times.

External links

• True Singapore Ghost Stories on the Flame Of The Forest website

• 20th-century Singaporean writers
• 21st-century pseudonymous writers