Russell Lee (writer)

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Russell Lee is the author of True Singapore Ghost Stories, a series of books that have been among the most popular sources of ghost stories in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Hoing Kong ever since Book 1 was released in 1989. Each book is a compilation of spooky tales relating to the supernatural, all of which were either collected by Russell Lee and his team or sent to them by readers. Most of the stories occur in Asia. In addition, Lee also includes articles about the paranormal, featuring detailed investigations into the occult, witchcraft, vampires and other similar topics. Lee stresses the articles are for reading pleasure, not for research.

Russell Lee himself is an enigma. Shortly after the immense success of his first book, readers began to wonder at his identity. Lee has never included any photograph of himself or revealed anything about his personal life. Whenever he appears in public, he wears a mask and clothes that cover every inch of his body. This is mainly because Russell Lee is said to be caucasian, hiding himself as a local Singaporean. Some say he is actually Jim Aitchison (aka James Lee), but this has never been substantiated.

As of December 2006, the True Singapore Ghost Stories series (15 volumes as of January 2007) has sold over 800,000 copies, making Russell Lee Asia's top writer of ghost stories.

Note: There is a Russell Lee who is a photographer but he's obscure compared to the masked author.