Took a break from reading horror to dip my toes into watching it. I am very bad at watching horror. I generally dislike gore and screaming people (though Abigail was a delight), so horror movies are generally a miss.
That said, I found that Britbox has a series of stories turned into mini-horror movies, one of which was MR James’ “The Mezzotint” which was always a fun read. I’m not sure when it was made (some time ago, I assume, but the story and setting make it vaguely timeless) but they did a really excellent job with it. Kept all the story and added a reason why this story mattered to the protagonist.
James’ scary stories are great, but they almost always seem to happen at a remove: some uncanny happening was told to a friend who then passed on the strange story to the narrator.
I enjoyed A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Mezzotint very much but I am not sure James would have approved of the blatant ending, when the horror came home for the narrator. I’m also sure he would have disapproved of so many women in the story. But the show gave me pleasant chills before a late bedtime.
I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.
lane robins 