Cinema of Stuff Presents….More Old British TV Spookiness!

 Been having a hell of a day travelling back to my flat….got soaked with rain, sprayed with horrible dung-filled water by a passing lorry, got some food when I got to Edinburgh that was supposed to be hot but wasn’t and then had to find another bus-stop to get home from because the main road was shut due to water-pipe issues AND then change buses halfway through the journey back for some unknown reason! All while still soggy and cold….

Anyway, I should have just enough time to post a few old spooky TV shows I’ve found on Twitter over the last week or so….they all come from a bit before I started to watch some of this type of stuff when it actually aired (when I was about 5 in 1982..😅) so when I watched them last week, that was the first time I had seen them too! But they seem to be exactly the kind of freaky nonsense I remember from growing up in the late 70s/early 80s so, here we go…

First up is an episode from a series by Nigel Kneale…writer of the ‘Quatermass’ series, ‘The Stone Tape’ and later Halloween III, although he had his name removed from that after the producer demanded more violence and gore! This episode of ‘Beasts’ (1976) is called ‘The Dummy’ and is about a creature-suit wearing actor, who isn’t having a great time and lets things get to him a bit more than is probably healthy….

Blimey! Good job it’s not Halloween yet…the day I’ve been having, wearing a costume apparently might be dangerous! Let’s move swiftly on to a slightly creepier tale, but one which will come with a warning that the ending is a bit of a let down, in that disappointing, ‘just ends with no answer’ kinda way…if that doesn’t bother you too much, it’s still worth a watch for the creepy feel, and it is directed fairly well! It’s from a series called ‘Leap in the Dark’ and is about a journalist/paranormal investigator who goes to hear about a variety of ghosts haunting a home, but becomes strangely drawn to the absent daughter of the household… ‘Come and Find Me’ is from 1980..

See what I mean about the ending? What was that all about!?

Anyway, time for one last video, and this is a classic! It’s an adaptation of M.R. James’ 1895 short story ‘Lost Hearts’ and this one I have seen before, but it’s been years since I did! And I haven’t watched it again yet either, so I’m going to watch it along with you! All I remember is that the ending is properly scary and involves the ghoulish children you see at the top of this post….*shivers*….nightmare fuel! M.R. James stories were often adapted by the BBC and shown as part of their yearly ‘Ghost Story for Christmas’ series, that has continued on and off right up until current times, and I’m pretty sure I’ve posted a couple on the blog before…

I hope you enjoy these terrifying tales! I’ll probably post some more before the month is out! If you’re not spooked enough yet though, be sure to check out what everyone else is doing over at the Countdown hub by clicking the badge below!