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Ghost stories on TV

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    Ghost stories on TV

    Over Christmas I managed to miss the BBC's adaptation of M.R. James' 'Whistle and I'll Come to You' (and I missed it on iPlayer too!). However, it looked damn good and got me thinking about how I'd love to see a whole series of (hour-or-so-long) adaptations of classic ghost and 'uncanny' stories featuring eminent actors of today. (I'm talking about adaptations of such people as Poe, Sheridan Le Fanu, Henry James, H.P. Lovecraft, Walter De La Mare, Edith Wharton, et al.)

    The thread about 'Tales of the Unexpected' ( a slightly different kettle of fish) reminded me of how good some of the casts were for those shows, so I'd like to think that such a project would also attract some good actors.

    However, has such a thing already been done somewhere and, if so, is it available online?

    #2
    Ghost stories on TV

    When I was little the Beeb turned some of Poe's stories into radio plays. Don't know if they've ever been televised. Lots of them were made into Roger Corman movies, of course.

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      #3
      Ghost stories on TV

      I'd seen Whistle And I'll Come To You, and I can recommend it for an agreeably gloomy tone, a splendid John Hurt performance and a few subtle (and not-so-subtle) scares, but what lets it down - for me, at least - is the somewhat forced and shouty climax which slightly spoils the slow-burn creepiness of what went before. But worth your time, nontheless.

      It doesn't, though, beat the original 60's black-and-white version with Michael Hordern, which capitalised on suggestion and mood and kept its own creepiness elegantly quiet, even genteel. It felt a little more genuine in atmosphere.

      But if you can get to see both sometime, and compare, then you'll be rewarded.

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        #4
        Ghost stories on TV

        By the way - kind of in answer to GY's Corman mention, I just think that many such short-ish stories - ghost and otherwise - tend to feel too stretched when drawn our into a feature film length presentation. Similarly, half an hour is too short. This is why the hour-long format appealed to me. Just in explanation, like.

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          #5
          Ghost stories on TV

          I agree, which is why I like the portmanteau way some horror/ghost stories are presented on film and telly (and there should be more of them). They're much better when done like a short-story collection - more to enjoy and savour.

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            #6
            Ghost stories on TV

            Clive, the BBC used to do a lot of adaptions of MR James and Fanu back in the 60's and 70's and they re-released them all a few years back, around the same time they re-released 'The Stone Tape', Nigel Kneale's brilliant Christmas ghost story. They're all out of stock now and going for silly bloody money second hand on amazon.

            The desolate, cold version of 'A Warning to The Curious' is my favourite. Lots of amazing, bleak shots of the empty Norfolk coast, silent desperation, brilliantly spooky happenings in empty guest houses, a really frightening central premise, top period feel and Grouty from Porridge in a sympathetic role. What more could you want?

            Another great, grim half hour is the adaption of Charles Dickens 'The Signalman' with Denholm Elliot.

            Haven't seen Hordern in 'Whistle' though, come to think of it.

            I love this kind of stuff though.

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              #7
              Ghost stories on TV

              Look what I found!

              "It is the work of a man who wrote ghost stories..."

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                #8
                Ghost stories on TV

                And also this.

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                  #9
                  Ghost stories on TV

                  I read a good blog post (including 'then and now' shots) about those locations, Matt. That stretch of coast is still a tremendously weird in lots of places.

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                    #10
                    Ghost stories on TV

                    The Signalman was repeated Christmas (2009). Watched it at my dad's house and it had some properly scary moments.

                    I'm addicted to The Man In Black and Fear On Four radio plays that Radio 7 puts on every week, both the 1990s and more recent shows. Some of them are fairly so-so, but some are cracking; Stephen Gallagher's The Horn is a superb tale of three men trapped in a roadside hut in a snowstorm, being stalked by a vengeful ghost.

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                      #11
                      Ghost stories on TV

                      That website is boss, Leo.

                      Going to places where MR James short stories are set sounds like a top idea.

                      I'd love to know if Count Magnus was based on a real person.

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