Ghost Story for Christmas

[neveragain]

That was one of their best, Reece and Steve howling with rage at the utter fucking horror of everything that's wrong with the little englander mindset (and sniping 'Guardian readers' - Reece's character - who do nothing to actually challenge the status quo).

It's the only political episode of Inside No. 9, and it's like something Peter Richardson and the Comic Strip team would've come up with in a similar state of despair. A weird, angry, funny and utterly unhinged cascade of Fuck You vomit.

I'm a bit late but want to give a rhumba up for this*. It's one of my favourite episodes (and I also thought of Dennis Potter as another poster mentioned.) Think we all realise No. 9, in terms of atmosphere and crafting actual scares, is miles ahead of Gatiss' Ghost Stories.

The mummy one bored me catatonic - the Tales from the Darkside film did a much better version of that story, and that had Steve Buscemi!

*Meant to say "thumbs up" but will leave it as that, since it's nice and festive.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Ta, neveragain. And yes, they're absolutely channelling Dennis Potter in that episode. Rhumbas up all round.

I agree that Gatiss' most recent ghost story was his dullest by far, I barely made it to the end - and it was only thirty minutes long.

The other night I watched The Signalman again, and my God that's an incredible piece of television. It's genuinely creepy and claustrophobic, it oozes with a sense of queasy foreboding, that disturbing dreamlike quality of things not being quite right.

Gatiss is a very nice man who's done some good stuff, but surely he must realise that his ghost story adaptations never come close to capturing any of that?

[neveragain]

Gatiss is a very nice man who's done some good stuff, but surely he must realise that his ghost story adaptations never come close to capturing any of that?

I hope so. He's got a lot to offer and it would be nice to see him doing other things.

Great description of The Signalman. Lovely spooky piece of work.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I'd love to read a book by Gatiss on the history of horror fiction. Why hasn't he done that? He should do that.

[BlodwynPig]

I'd love to read a book by Gatiss on the history of horror fiction. Why hasn't he done that? He should do that.

what if its not very good either?

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

what if its not very good either?

Well, I won't enjoy it in that entirely hypothetical case.

What a daft thing to say.

[jamiefairlie]

I'd love to read a book by Gatiss on the history of horror fiction. Why hasn't he done that? He should do that.

Didn't he do a documentary on the subject?

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Yes, hence my suggestion.

[BlodwynPig]

Well, I won't enjoy it in that entirely hypothetical case.

What a daft thing to say.

I have written a book of daft things to say. Someone said I should write a book.

[iamcoop]

Said this many times on here but I sold Gatiss a coat when I used to work in Selfridges years back, when I eventually did the "I'm a huge fan" thing his face initially dropped (I'm assuming he thought I was going to go on about LoG) but then I mentioned how much I loved his horror series and he seemed genuinely thrilled and we had a lovely chat for ten minutes about the genre.

In keeping with some of the comments on here I asked him if he was planning on doing a series focussing on horror from other parts of the world other than the west and he said he would love to and asked the BBC to fund it and they wouldn't.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

In keeping with some of the comments on here I asked him if he was planning on doing a series focussing on horror from other parts of the world other than the west and he said he would love to and asked the BBC to fund it and they wouldn't.

BBC Four is fucked, alas, and I doubt that BBC Two would fund a series of that nature. He can barely find funding for his well-intentioned yet disappointing Christmas ghost stories.

[jamiefairlie]

I have written a book of daft things to say. Someone said I should write a book.

Every day I write the book, so said Elvis Costello. Not sure if that helps any, I expect he was taking about a different book .

[BlodwynPig]

Every day I write the book, so said Elvis Costello. Not sure if that helps any, I expect he was taking about a different book .

I think Ballad could write a great book on the bbc and happy to write a curmudgeonly forward ;)