British TV has given us countless of ghostly figures running down the grand stairwells of the manors and castles in long dresses and dark hallways. It has also given us some of the most funny parodies on the horror genre as well. This is a compilation of some of the more horroresque British TV-Series.
Dracula (2013)
One of the many adaptations of the Dracula legacy, was a one season series from 2013. With Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors, Vikings), the story starts with the classical premise of when Dracula travels to London, originally for revenge for a centuries old grudge of those who wronged him. However, the plans get complicated and conflicted when he meets the woman that looks like the reincarnation of his dead wife.
Tired of the same old vampire formula? Try find a vampire movie with a twist here:
Five movies about #vampires that made their own twist on the vampire lore and its meaning. This is a list of five vampire movie, telling all very different parts about the human experience and the life and desires we have. #horror #paranormal
This show from 2014 may be a joint production between Britain, USA and Ireland, but it is perhaps the most quintessential British of them all. Everything from the Victorian Gothic, to the stellar cast of brits carrying the show. In this show, the universe is drawn from the old horror stories sold for a penny in the Victorian era, combining them to a intertwining set of stories. In the midst of them is medium Vanessa Ives that battles the supernatural entities in London with the American gunslinger, Ethan Chandler and the scientist Victor Frankenstein. I confused about the different stories used in the Penny Dreadful series, have a look at this:
Read more about the background of the Penny Dreadful series here:
The sort of sequel to “Haunting on Hill House”, is set in England this time. Based on the story, “The Turn of the Screw”, it follows an American nanny trying to escape her past as she is set to care for two orphans living at Bly Manor. Together with the chef, groundskeeper and housekeeper they have to unlock the mysteries of the house, both what happened to the former nanny, the children’s parents as well as an old curse and haunting in the house that won’t let go.
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Requiem
This part psychological horror as well as an supernatural thriller is set in a small Welsh village. A cello star’s mother suddenly takes her own life without a reason in London. Unable to grapple with her death, the daughter digs into her mother’s past and finds a link to a little girl that disappeared in the small village in the 90s. The daughter travels to Wales to find the truth and who she really is. But there is not only a dark past waiting for her there, but dark forces as well.
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Truth Seekers
Comedy Horror geniuses Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul) is back with a new series. It centers around a part-time paranormal investigators with homemade equipment to track down ghosts and the supernatural to share it online to go viral. But the deeper they dig, the closer they get to a huge and apocalyptic conspiracy.
Yes, in these times, zombie movies are all the rage as well as pandemic movies. And they sort of belong together, don’t they? But we also need to laugh, so here are five funny zombie movies, to fill the zombie cravings of the times, but also that can make the trying days a bit more…
This BBC drama is like a marriage like Poldark and Turn of The Screw. Or if Howard’s End and Jane Eyre had a ghostly child. The premise is that of a young couple inherits a farm and wants to start a new life together on the countryside. But the farm they inherited turns out to be of a haunted kind. And their presence in the isolated place they live in triggers paranormal happenings that starts to put a strain on their marriage as well as their minds.
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Apparitions
Martin Shaw (The Chief) leads this drama series as a catholic priest. After an encounter he is drawn into the world of exorcism and a battle between good and evil.
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Being Human
This series originally aired on BBC back in 2008, but still holds up. It follows a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost that tries to live together as flatmates and get along as they keep getting mixed up in supernatural events. It was a hit when it aired until 2013, and even got itself an American remake.
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The Turn of the Screw (2009)
As a fairly faithful adaptation to its source material from Henry James, the mini series follows a naive and sexually repressed young governess played by Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey). She is haunted by the ghosts of previous occupants of a mansion. She keeps battling between what is and isn’t real as the readers of the story has done since its publication.
Read more about the classics of gothic horror here:
From the minds of Charlie Brooker, most known for the hit series “Black Mirror”. Set at the set of a fictional version of Big Brother, there is a zombie outbreak. However, the house-mates keeps being unaware of the happenings of what goes on outside of the Big Brother House until someone comes to warn them. As the house is fan-proof, and therefore zombie-proof, it serves as an excellent hideout to stay in during the zombie apocalypse.
And before you ask – no, I don’t look at Stephen King as a classic. Not yet. What I am talking about are these major players that started it all before they even knew what they were doing. They are not only scary fiction, but an examination of the human darkness before it was OK to talk about it in the open. They are sort of at a junction between classical literature and folklore. They helped to build the bridges of the mythology from our cultures and to the modern horror and scares in daily life. I only wish they could have seen how it impacted the culture, even for those not loving the horror genre. So this a small deep dive into the classics and why they are important.
Disclaimer – Oh look, it’s the affiliate ghost at out side. Yes, these links will take you to the works I’ve written about. If one chooses to purchase anything through these links, we will earn a small commission from it. The opinions are as always, our own. No let’s go!
Let’s get the more obvious out of the picture first. But let me ask you; have you ever heard about Dracula? Do you know a lot about the work? But have you actually read it? Surprisingly many haven’t even if they have an extensive knowledge of the tale. That is how important Dracula has been for later literature and movies. And even, I would say, fashion, culture, language, and interest in the country of Romania. But all good, it is all good, we thank our Lord, Dracula for it. Although it wasn’t really the first modern vampire tale, not even the one that got the vampire genre popular, it was however the one that iconified it for future generation.
The importance of the Other – vampires are often depicted as foreigners, they are of a different race. Stoker himself was writing stuff about the invasion and threat to the British Empire. On a small funny not, he was Irish himself, as Sheridan LaFenu that wrote Carmilla. Was this perhaps something about not feeling as the rest, perhaps they themselves were feeling like an outsider? Surely we can see this is a thing that are still relevant, still as delicate and must sometimes be treated through these codes, the codes of vampires, and vampires as our self. We are them, they are us.
Stoker spent seven years researching European folklore and drew from this when he wrote. It was not an instant bestseller and has meant more to the modern reader than those of Victorian times. Something that is very evident our culture.
Richard Matheson gave us a continuation of vampires as dangerous and the reason why mankind falls
Ann Rice with her books gave the vampires a heart that are very in now. And every time we think the vampire genre is played out, it continues to reinvent itself (read Let the Right one in)
Even what we consider the most silly spins on the vampire tropes (read Twilight), we can sense the important of it when looking at it as a metaphore for teenage angst for their own sexual drives and desires they feel will consume them.
Preface
Dracula comprises journal entries, letters, and telegrams written by the main characters. It begins with Jonathan Harker, a young English lawyer, as he travels to Transylvania. Harker plans to meet with Count Dracula, a client of his firm, in order to finalize a property transaction. When he arrives in Transylvania, the locals react with terror after he discloses his destination: Castle Dracula. Though this unsettles him slightly, he continues onward. The ominous howling of wolves rings through the air as he arrives at the castle.
Where to find it
Books
Luckily, this classic has been in circulation since it came out (me thinks) and it is translated into so many languages, formats and the likes. It is really to pick and choose what you like best. So for this, I have looked at the two things that decides what to go for. Price and cover.
If you care for the cheaper option, go for the Wordsworth Classic. Don’t worry. If you don’t collect the Wordsworth ones, Collins Classics also have one pretty cheap.
If you are more of a collector you got to get to Barnes and Nobles Collectible Classics, Omnibus Edition. Its leather bound cover is just everyone’s dream for a grand library, filled with thick books that you just want to put on display. It also have a couple of other stories, including The Jewel of Seven Stars and The Lair of the White Worm. In also includes a dozen of Stoker’s short tales of the macabre, including “Dracula’s Guest,” a sidebar to his famous novel.
There are a lot of Dracula audio books to listen to, and I mean, a lot. First, start off with two things, do you want to hear the full version or the short one. Because the long one is long, but then again, in an abridged version you will miss out on some details.
For the full version, I recommend the version were Alan Cumming is one of the narrators of several (there are a lot of character so be warned).
The abridged version is a bit altered, a bit cut, but I think overall they managed to keep it in the same feeling. Also, bonus point, In the abridged version, Tom Hiddelston is on of the narrators.
Sort of like Dracula, this has spun its own franchise it has no control over and a people knows a lot about it without ever having read a page of it. At least they think they know the story. I don’t know at how many accounts I’ve corrected when they call the monster for Frankenstein. Yes, I know, I’m that person, and I regret having open my mouth every time, but alas, it has become a reflex – sorry in advance.
What is it about monsters? What made a 19 year old girl write something so profoundly harrowing and deep beyond her years? We love reading about the underdog, but the underdog in fiction we always need to see evolve as a hero and come out on top. This is the way, but not the horror way. This is the only genre that can deal with the failing monster that tries to come out as a hero, but will ever remain as the villain. It is deeply uncomfortable reading the same tales if the monsters, vampires and ghosts were actual living human beings, the stories wouldn’t work because that meant we have to acknowledge something about ourselves, not everyone comes out as the hero, not all underdogs will win. The only way we accept this in horror is that is a thinly veil between us and them that makes us able to leave the moral high ground and preconceived notions at the door.
The Modern Version
Frankenstein is like made for modern area. Every bit of human enhancement, every bit of artificial intelligence, everything that makes us question what is a human, and who has the right to live and in that, what does that entail. That is a pretty powerful question I personally only think will take Frankenstein with its creature on a long journey.
Preface
Frankenstein is written in the form of a frame story that starts with Captain Robert Walton writing letters to his sister. It takes place at an unspecified time in the 18th century, as the letters’ dates are given as “17—”. In the story following the letters by Walton, the readers find that Victor Frankenstein creates a monster that brings tragedy to his life.
Where to find it
Books
If you are looking for a cheap paperback, they got it all over. Collins, Penguin, everyone. I personally collect the Collins ones because I like the size of them. Choose your favorite. If you look for a paperback, but want a more exiting cover, Barnes and Nobles got you covered with their slick Flexibound Collection. Check them out!
If however, you are after a hardcover to look nice in your bookshelve, there are also a bunch of them. I personally like the one from Penguin Classic Hardcover Collection. If you are starting to collect minimalism hardcover books, this is the series you want. Look how cute and creepy it is!
My personal favorite it the edition narrated by Derek Jacobi. Just listen to the sample of the audio and you will see exactly what I mean.
The abridged version is also pretty cool. The director and star of the movie Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Kenneth Branagh is the one doing the narration, and knows the story in and out, and it shows, or hears… whatever. That guy must really like Frankenstein.
What happens when complex human beings have to hide their true selves, their other side so to speak, the one not necessarily fun one to bring to dinner parties. This is what Robert Louis Stevenson explored when he wrote the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or at least, that is what we were faced with when reading it.
The Modern Version
All psychological an character driven piece of fiction has certain elements to what makes a whole human, and how does it look if it’s split and let loose. What happens to a person too constrained, what happens to a person too careless.
Perhaps the on the nose and direct character from modern fiction must be the character of Hulk, constantly battling the darker side of himself, in a perhaps self inflicted happening because of his quest of perfection.
Preface
Gabriel John Utterson and his cousin Richard Enfield reach the door of a large house on their weekly walk. Enfield tells Utterson that months ago he saw a sinister-looking man named Edward Hyde trample a young girl after accidentally bumping into her. Enfield forced Hyde to pay £100 to avoid a scandal. Hyde brought them to this door and provided a cheque signed by a reputable gentleman (later revealed to be Doctor Henry Jekyll, a friend and client of Utterson). Utterson is disturbed because Jekyll recently changed his will to make Hyde the sole beneficiary. Utterson fears that Hyde is blackmailing Jekyll. When Utterson tries to discuss Hyde with Jekyll, Jekyll tells Utterson he can be rid of Hyde when he wants and for Utterson to drop the matter. And then the investigation starts.
Where to find it
Book
This is a pretty slim book, and easy to carry around. Me personally like when the classics use old photographs, even if it isn’t hundred percent accurate. Therefore I like this Penguin Classic paperback more than the others. It also includes some bonus stories like: The other stories in this volume also testify to Stevenson’s inventiveness within the Gothic tradition: ‘Olalla’, a tale of vampirism and tainted family blood, and ‘The Body Snatcher’, a gruesome fictionalisation of the exploits of the notorious Burke and Hare.
For the hardcover, I came upon this one right here. Have you ever seen something so beautiful! This edition only have like 100 copies, is cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is my librarian wet dream.
The novella is not so long that it needs it’s own abridged version. This one her is narrated by Martin Jarvis. He started out in a career in film and television, but I think he has become particularly noted for his voice acting for radio and audio books. Or perhaps I listen too much, either way:
The story is a masterpiece for those interested in the unreliable narrator. Or is she? I- I don’t really know, but i gets me guessing. What do we know, and what is made up in our minds. How long can we only rely on our own mind when other tell us we’re crazy. It is a question about who we can trust and how far we can go for a job. Jesus, the life of a governess was a tough one.
It is also something about the children. They are cute, innocent and one wants to look after them. But still. There is something there… an eeriness that doesn’t go away. We can’t trust them, and at times, those kids scare us profoundly.
The Modern Version
In the century following its publication, The Turn of the Screw became a cornerstone text of academics who subscribed to New Criticism. The novella has had differing interpretations, often mutually exclusive. Many critics have tried to determine the exact nature of the evil hinted at by the story. However, others have argued that the brilliance of the novella results from its ability to create an intimate sense of confusion and suspense within the reader.
No a days it lives on in the little details. The creepy children, the big house in the dark. Television embraced it for instance with shows like Dark Shadows, the second season of Haunting of Hill House and a constant source for BBC dramas. Keep them coming.
Preface
On Christmas Eve, an unnamed narrator, along with some other unnamed characters, listens to Douglas, a friend, read a manuscript written by a former governess whom Douglas claims to have known and who is now dead. The manuscript tells the story of how the young governess is hired by a man who has become responsible for his young nephew and niece after the deaths of their parents. He lives mainly in London but also has a country house, Bly. He is uninterested in raising the children and she takes on the job. And creepiness ensues.
Where to find it
Book
So, one of the lesser known collection of classics are from Arcturus Publishing. Of some of the more gothic and horror genre classics, they have these cool graphic covers that i enjoy. Other titles they do are from Edgar Allan Poe, Lovefract, The Yellow Wallpaper and many others.
But the beauty of hardcover is back at it again. I mean, the color, the font, the cover and the idea of a limited edition is just the thing I wish dearly for in my heart. And you know it’s legit when the publisher calls themselves Royal Classics
I Personally like this performance with Emma Thomson and Richard Armitage in the introduction. Emma Thomson is such a well read in British literature and it really shows in her work that deals with the written word of a time long forgotten.
I brought this on the list here, because I know of several becoming aware of the concept of The King in Yellow through True Detective’s first season, and I just saw it. So many years behind, but in my defense, I thought is was just a boring cop-show. But then everyone was like: what the fuck is the King in Yellow? And why is so many talking about it?
The King in Yellow is a book of short stories by the American writer Robert W. Chambers, first published by F. Tennyson Neely in 1895. It contains several weird stories easily categorized as supernatural
This is sort of an elusive one, that many doesn’t take the reference to. It is reference by many authors in books, movies, tv-series, but it is never really explained were it is from. Stephen King used it in Thinner, Edgar Allan Poe referenced it in The Masque of the Red Death and Lovecraft referenced it so much it became a part of the Cthulhu mythos and people often mistake Lovecraft as the sole creator.
List of Stories
The stories in the book are:
“The Repairer of Reputations” – A weird story of egotism and paranoia which carries the imagery of the book’s title.
“The Mask” – A dream story of art, love, and uncanny science.
“In the Court of the Dragon” – A man is pursued by a sinister church organist who is after his soul.
“The Yellow Sign” – An artist is troubled by a sinister churchyard watchman who resembles a coffin worm.
“The Demoiselle d’Ys” – A ghost story
“The Prophets’ Paradise” – A sequence of eerie prose poems that develop the style and theme of a quote from the fictional play The King in Yellow which introduces “The Mask”.
“The Street of the Four Winds” – An atmospheric tale of an artist in Paris who is drawn to a neighbor’s room by a cat; the story ends with a macabre touch.
“The Street of the First Shell” – A war story set in the Paris Siege of 1870.
“The Street of Our Lady of the Fields” – Romantic American bohemians in Paris.
“Rue Barrée” – Romantic American bohemians in Paris, with a discordant ending that playfully reflects some of the tone of the first story.
Where to find it
Book
There are many to choose from. For the paperback, Wordsworth Classics have one that is cheap, yellow and totally adequate. But my personal favorite is the graphic novel adaption, with really cool illustration by I. N. J. Culbard it really brings new life into the old story.
For the Hardcover you also must chose between some cool content or a cool cover. For the best cover I think the edition from The Pushkin Press have a nice cover on it. Contains: ‘The Repairer of Reputations’, ‘The Mask’, ‘In the Court of the Dragon’, ‘The Yellow Sign’
Horrorbabble have this great thing were they narrate lesser known horror stories. It is not often a thing that is prioritized so that little fact makes me happy. This is only one of the stories they have at audible, they have a bunch, check them out!
Any of this seem interesting for you? How about getting into the listening train of audio books. Now, get 50% off for the next 3 months. I’ve checked and I am now firmly sure these are the one that can offer most horror titles of the audio book platforms.
When you need something short and sweet. This is one of our favorite short stories of horror and suspense.
The Landlady Roald Dahl
Nothing sent as much of a shiver as a child than reading Roald Dahls “The witches”. In “The Landlady”, we meet 17 year old Billy. He travels alone from London to Bath and stops at a small bed and breakfast. The hostess is a kind, older woman that gives him te and small talk. Little by little one can sense that the fact no one else is around, might have a more sinister explanation than at first thought.
The Lottery Shirley Jackson
This is one of the short stories one doesn’t get the horror until we are at the end of the road. A small town have their annual lotteries and discussed among them who should start. But what is the lottery about?
The Grownup Gillian Flynn
The writer behind “Gone Girl” and “Sharp Objects” published a short storiy that follows the same pattern were we simply cannot trust the narrator. Put it together with a haunted house, a demon child and a classical family drama, and we got ourselves a horror story.
The Turn of the Screw Henry James
The story set in the gothic landscape on the country side in England. The story is told by a young guvernass that is employed to take care of the young niece and nephew to the absent master of the house. But their behaviour starts to spook her. Are they just pranksters or is there something more sinister that haunts them?
Children of the Corn Stephen King
The king of horror of course has a couple of short stories that fill fill the horror appetite. And this is one of the more iconic ones. A couple is driving through some fields in Nebraska. The tension is built up the pricking in the neck will never tempt you on a road trip through deserted fields for a long time.
An online magazine about the paranormal, haunted and macabre. We collect the ghost stories from all around the world as well as review horror and gothic media.
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