Supernatural Tales

Well, the verdict is in. I liked it. Some people didn't like it. But there it is, a ghost story for Christmas, helmed as per by Mark Gatiss, the Beeb's go-to guy for genre stuff with a touch of class. The I-hate-everything-Gatiss-does brigade has been out in force, denouncing his latest effort. But that's silly and futile, not least because if the internet had been around in the 70s Lawrence Gordon Clark would've got the same treatment.  Indeed, when I compare 'The Mezzotint' adaptation with some of the classic Ghost Stories for Christmas of the Clark era, I see some similarities. I rewatched 'The Treasure of Abbot Thomas' last night and was struck by how much extra material writer John Bowman had added. What's more, the ending - quite definitely not found in the original story - was somewhat similar to Gatiss' take on 'The Mezzotint'. Then there's the implicit sexual involvement of the squire and the witch in 'The Ash Tree'....

The penultimate story in Terror Tales of the Scottish Lowlands is set in the countryside north of |Glasgow. A man with a special talent goes to meet the local laird, who is having some supernatural problems. It turns out that the main character has a special power - he can not only see ghosts but assists them in 'moving on'. This talent is nicely handled by way of flashbacks, before the nitty-gritty issue of the haunting is tackled.  I like a story that could go in a number of ways and still surprises you. This one (no spoilers) does not follow the conventional route of ghost seer or exorcist, but there is a definite sense of closure. The only other living character, Lumley, is a well-drawn example of an all-too-familiar British type, one of whom is currently ensconced in Downing Street. This is a solid horror tale, modern but with a definite tinge of Gothic.

 h/t Steve Duffy and hard luck Lancashire...

If you're looking for a different kind of ghost story over the Christmas season, you might try Typewriter, which I enjoyed a lot. Set in the Indian state of Goa, it has a lot of familiar ingredients. It's a five-parter that packs a lot into its regular-length TV episodes. Here are some pesky kids, complete with a dog, forming a ghost hunting club. Here is a young family moving into an old house where, it turns out, the wife's grandparents lived - and died in unusual circumstances. Sinister characters, one of them distinctly murderous, are watching the house and awaiting the Blood Moon. 

It's a mini-anthology, and it's on your interwebs!  Four spooky readings - four, count them! - by myself, Helen Grant, Lynda E. Rucker, and Sean Hogan. If you read Supernatural Tales, Helen and Lynda need no introduction. If you've seen the film The Devil's Business (which I reviewed here ) you will be delighted to see its writer/director Sean here too.  Enjoy!

Scrooge on a loop!  This is nice. You can drop in on 'A Christmas Carol' at any time and listen to the familiar tale while enjoying a real fire on your videotronic screen. This is a good, old-school reading, with clear diction for us old folk. As often happens with familiar stories, listening to it read properly has brought home to me just how good it is.  That Dickens bloke knew a thing or two.