Christmas Special 2024: with Mike Muncer - 'Stigma' (1974) and 'Number 13' (2006)
The Ghost Story Book Club
In our 2025 Christmas Special - join me, , and my guest, in this episode (recorded live on Zoom on 9 December 2025) as we discuss two classic BBC Ghost Story for Christmas films, 'Stigma' (1974) and 'Number 13' (2006) Mike Muncer is the host and creator of , a weekly podcast in which he explores the history of the horror genre by delving into particular sub-genres across several weeks. Each episode Mike is joined by a different guest: a critic, filmmaker or expert, to discuss a particular film in depth, to look at its place within a sub-genre and its impact...
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'The Breakthrough' by Daphne Du Maurier with Jenn Ashworth
The Ghost Story Book Club
In Series 5, Episode 10 join me, , and my guest, Jenn Ashworth, as we discuss 'The Breakthrough' by Daphne Du Maurier. Jenn Ashworth was born in Preston and studied at Cambridge and Manchester. Her novels include Ghosted: A Love Story, A Kind of Intimacy, The Friday Gospels and Fell. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2018. In 2019 she published Notes Made While Falling, a memoir told in a series of essays. Her book - The Parallel Path - is out now. She is a Professor of Writing at Lancaster University Visit Jenn's website . MY LIVE SHOWS: Come and...
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'Playing with Fire' by Arthur Conan Doyle with Dr. Emily Vincent.
The Ghost Story Book Club
In Series 5, Episode 9 join me, , and my guest, Dr Emily Vincent, as we discuss 'Playing with Fire' by Arthur Conan Doyle. Dr Emily Vincent is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in English Literature at the University of Birmingham. As part of the Media and Epidemics project, Emily is co-writing a book on imaginative representations of influenza in nineteenth- and twentieth-century British periodicals and fiction. Emily holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of Birmingham. Her first monograph (forthcoming with Cambridge University Press) explores how women...
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JOIN US for the live-streamed Christmas Special!
The Ghost Story Book Club
In this BONUS episode, I'm inviting you to join us for the live-streamed Christmas Special of The Ghost Story Book Club on Tuesday 9 December. Book your place here: My guest will be Mike Muncer (The Evolution of Horror) and we'll be discussing the classic BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas films Stigma (1977) and the M.R. James adaptation, Number 13 (2006). We'll also be asking for your comments and questions live during the episode! Buying a ticket for this special live-streamed event is a fantastic way to support The Ghost Story Book Club podcast....
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'The Mezzotint' by M.R. James with Leon Craig
The Ghost Story Book Club
In Series 5, Episode 8 join me, , and my guest, , as we discuss 'A Wicked Voice' by Vernon Lee. Leon Craig is the author of gothic short story collection Parallel Hells and queer haunted house novel The Decadence (both Sceptre UK). Her work has been published in Hazlitt, the London Magazine, the TLS and elsewhere. Leon is from London but now lives in Berlin. Leon's debut novel The Decadence is out now. Leon's website: Leon's story in The Hazlitt - Leon's inclusion in: A MY LIVE SHOWS: Come and...
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'A Wicked Voice' by Vernon Lee with Brontë Schiltz
The Ghost Story Book Club
In Series 5, Episode 7 join me, , and my guest, Brontë Schiltz, as we discuss 'A Wicked Voice' by Vernon Lee. Brontë Schiltz is a writer, journalist and PhD candidate researching the Televisual Gothic at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies. Her creative work has been published in Hungry Ghost Magazine, Olney Magazine and Lotus-Eater Magazine, as well as Comma Press collections The Book of Manchester (2024) and The Monster, Capital (2025). Her debut collection is forthcoming. She is the members coordinator of the International Gothic...
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LIVE EPISODE: Night of the Demon and M.R. James with Brontë Schiltz
The Ghost Story Book Club
In Series 5, Episode 6 join me, , for a LIVE episode of the podcast, recorded at The Dukes, Lancaster, on Tuesday 28 October 2025, as part of their 'Spooked' festival. I was joined on stage, after a screening of Night of the Demon (1957), by writer and academic researcher Brontë Schiltz and academic, writer and poet Professor Catherine Spooner for a discussion about the film and M.R. James's enduring appeal. Also in this episode, you'll hear the DEADVAULT trailer! Please consider supporting us in our fundraiser . SUPPORT...
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'In the Tube' by E.F. Benson with Adam Farrer
The Ghost Story Book Club
In Series 5, Episode 5 join me, , and my guest, Adam Farrer as we discuss 'In the Tube' by E.F. Benson. Adam Farrer is a writer, lecturer, mentor and editor based in Manchester, UK. His debut essay collection, Cold Fish Soup (Saraband, 2022), won the NorthBound Book Award and the follow-up, Broken Biscuits and Other Male Failures, was published in the UK by HarperNorth in February 2025 and was published in the US on November 4th 2025 Listen to Adam Farrer's ghost story 'The Only' Adam Farrer's : **CONTENT WARNING: As mentioned in the episode, as part of our...
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'A View from a Hill' by M.R. James with Andrew Michael Hurley
The Ghost Story Book Club
In Series 5, Episode 4 join me, , and my guest, Andrew Michael Hurley, as we discuss 'A View from a Hill' by M.R. James. Andrew Michael Hurley's first novel, The Loney, was originally published by Tartarus Press as a 300-copy limited-edition, before being republished by John Murray. It went on to sell in twenty languages, win the Costa Best First Novel Award and Book of the Year at the British Book Industry Awards. Devil's Day, his second novel, was picked as a Book of the Year in five newspapers and won the Encore Award. Starve Acre was published by John Murray in...
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'The Haunting of Hill House' by Shirley Jackson: with Evelyn Hollow
The Ghost Story Book Club
In Series 5, Episode 3 join me, , and my guest, as we discuss 'The Haunting of Hill House' by Shirley Jackson. Evelyn Hollow is a Scottish writer and paranormal psychologist. She was a resident author at for several years, was the recipient of the 2015 Lonely Planet Travel Writing Scholarship, the occult columnist for Corvid Culture, has written numerous articles for Haunted magazine, and has taught writing classes at everywhere from universities to arts festivals. She has also been featured in exhibitions at ESAF and is the creator...
info_outlineIn Series 4, Episode 8 join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guest, Naomi Ryan as we discuss 'Martin's Close' by M.R. James
Naomi Ryan is a barrister. After completing the BCL at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, she taught criminal law to undergraduates at St Hilda’s College Oxford and University College London before embarking on her career as a criminal barrister. She both prosecuted and defended before moving to work for as a civil service. She has worked for an array of prestigious departments, including the Attorney General’s Office, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Court of Appeal, and she continues to work as an advisory barrister on criminal matters. When she isn’t advising on criminal matters, she delivers talks on the more macabre side of legal history. She is a regular feature at London’s Month of the Dead festival, and can often be found addressing museums and other legal and supernatural organisations on the topic of ghost law. She plans to finish her book on the subject next year.
Find Naomi on Instagram @spooky_barrister
The Ghost Story Book Club: Christmas Special Live-Stream
Book now, here: Tickets
Date: Thursday 7 December, 7pm (UK time)
Guest: Mike Muncer (from The Evolution of Horror)
Texts: BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas, The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974) and The Ash Tree (1975)
TICKETS:https://gsbcxmas.eventbrite.com