Part 8 Souvenirs The past is dangerously addictive. Nostalgia, especially second-hand nostalgia such as mine, often threatens to become an endless placebo in place of living. How alluring the past seems when we convince ourselves of having experienced it for a brief moment through culture and art. The ghost story writer M.R. James lived with this addiction to the past more than most. James famously … Continue reading Presence, or Polaroid Ghosts (Part 9)
This presentation was originally given at the Folk Horror Revival day at The British Museum (16/02/2016). My thanks to the fellow admins of the Folk Horror Revival, especially Jim Peters and Andy Paciorek. There’s an overt connection between analogue technology and the narratives surrounding paranormal activity in British horror, especially when made during the 1970s. No doubt there are connections between the interest in such … Continue reading The Ghost In The Grain: Analogue Hauntings of the 1970s
This review contains minor spoilers. The final instalment of the BBC Ghost Stories sees a return to form from the haphazard final days of the original 1970s specials. Though, as previously discussed in the review of Volume 1’s 2012 adaptation of Whistle And I’ll Come To You, recent attempts to carry on the tradition is automatically up against a monumental past whose shadow is hard … Continue reading BBC Ghost Stories – Volume 5 (A View From A Hill, Number 13) BFI.
Celluloid Wicker Man 