BBC Ghost Stories For Christmas - An Introduction

Watching nine ghost stories that'll shiver your spine and chill your blood.

December is finally here, and for the Substack horror community it’s shaping up to be exquisitely spooky. The Scarestack Society (check out Kyle (Horrorble Writer)’s page for further details) is loose from its cage again, ready to stalk, talk, and maybe even rip apart a whole host of Christmas movies!

But, I hear you ask, what is my festive project for this month?

While I am participating in the above, and am beyond thrilled to do so, those of you with a keen eye will remember I leaked this month’s idea in mid October.

During this dark and cold period, I will be following the Victorian tradition and covering some of the BBC’s Ghost Stories For Christmas.

What better thing is there to do on Winter nights than cosy up and watch a man get his jaw hacked off by a ghost? To drift through eerily still landscapes and deathly silent churches?

Feeling festive yet? I know I am.

The films I will be covering are as follows:

1. Whistle and I’ll Come To You (1968) - technically not a GSFC, but likely the inspiration for the series.

2. The Stalls of Barchester (1971).

3. A Warning to the Curious (1972).

4. Lost Hearts (1973).

5. The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974).

6. The Ash Tree (1975).

7. The Signalman (1976).

8. Stigma (1977).

9. The Ice House (1978).

   

As a bonus, I will also briefly go over The Mezzotint (2021) and Lot. No 249 (2023) in my series wrap-up article. I have reservations about this year’s The Room in The Tower, because I absolutely love the eponymous short story it’s based on, but I may release a late post about it too. We shall see.

To close this post off, I just want to say I’m beyond excited to be sharing my thoughts with you about these films, and hopefully I’ll hear a good deal of yours, too. I truly do love this series, even if some are better than others, and I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do - especially if you’re a newcomer to it.

Anyway, as ever, thanks for reading,

Until next time,

H.E.

---