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AIBU?

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Original poster

To really miss traditional ghost story movies?

137 replies

Dockerty · 22/10/2025 22:17

Im a fan of horror but to me, the best films don’t rely on OTT monsters, demons, explosions and special effects - they rely on a good story and clever writing.

Why don’t they do proper ghost stories anymore? Horror films these days are shite - the conjuring etc 😴 all the same.

Give me The Sixth Sense or The Others any day.

AIBU to think the horror genre is missing clever writing? No special effects needed if you can actually tell a good spooky story

OP posts:
Devilsmommy · 01/11/2025 14:16

Devilsmommy · 01/11/2025 13:54

The Wailing is a good one, though I think that's on Prime. Death Bell is a good one too. Oh and Mimic is excellent.

Sorry meant to quote you @TeaRoseTallulah

Devilsmommy · 01/11/2025 14:11

TeaRoseTallulah · 01/11/2025 13:44

Can you recommend anything in particular please?

I love The Sixth Sense

Show quote history

Sorry I forgot to put the Netflix ones. My favourite were Revelations and The 8th Night.

Devilsmommy · 01/11/2025 13:54

The Wailing is a good one, though I think that's on Prime. Death Bell is a good one too. Oh and Mimic is excellent.

TeaRoseTallulah · 01/11/2025 13:44

Devilsmommy · 22/10/2025 22:35

Try some of the Korean horror on Netflix. They make some excellent horror without all the in your face gore. Plenty of atmospheric ghost stories

Can you recommend anything in particular please?

I love The Sixth Sense

Davros · 01/11/2025 13:43

I’ve just discovered that Hammer House of Horror is being shown on ITVX. I will give that a go. Alfred Hitchcock presents on SkyArts (?) is worth a look for weird

TooBigForMyBoots · 25/10/2025 22:25

Wigtopia · 22/10/2025 22:31

The innocents is a good old one

Good call. I watched that last night on C4. It was brilliant. I hadn't seen it before.

TheKeeperofBooks · 25/10/2025 22:20

Just watched ghost stories on iplayer. V good!

JenniferBooth · 25/10/2025 19:45

The Legacy. Witchcraft film with Sam Elliot and Katharine Ross.
Does anyone else remember True Horror. The Witches Prison, Was on Channel Four at Halloween seven years ago. About The Cage in St Osyth

JenniferBooth · 25/10/2025 19:34

MeetMyCat · 23/10/2025 12:13

Sorry, I go side-tracked when the earlier poster mentioned Ghost Watch! But I had originally planned to say that Halloween 2 is one of the scariest films I ever saw, as a teenager. No special effects or monsters, just Michael Myers walking around the neighbourhood gradually catching up with his victims, so matter where they tried to hide. The music really added to the suspense.

The scene from this that stuck in my mind is when hes drowning a woman in boiling hot water.

TheKeeperofBooks · 25/10/2025 17:14

CoffeeCantata · 25/10/2025 12:32

CALLING ALL PPS!

Dead of Night is on Film 4 at 4.45 on Halloween (Friday).

It’s old but it’s brilliant!

Ohh thanks!! Never seen this! Love this thread.

CoffeeCantata · 25/10/2025 12:32

Just bumping the thread….

CoffeeCantata · 25/10/2025 12:32

CALLING ALL PPS!

Dead of Night is on Film 4 at 4.45 on Halloween (Friday).

It’s old but it’s brilliant!

CoffeeCantata · 24/10/2025 17:28

BetteDavisChin · 24/10/2025 13:00

I completely agree about the Dead of Night.
The Ventriloquist story is the best and most famous. It frightened the life out of me. I always hated ventriloquist dummies after seeing that.
Also the one where the girl meets the little boy who's crying because his sister was hurting him. Sad and very spooky.

Show quote history

It’s truly terrifying!

Ventriloquist dummies are creepy to start with!

Gatekeeper · 24/10/2025 15:09

ACatAsleepInYourHat · 24/10/2025 13:22

Speaking on the BBC Christmas ghost stories, does anyone remember Lost Hearts? It was another M R James story, and absolutely terrified me when I saw it as a teenager. “Oh Whistle” seems to get all the plaudits, but Lost Hearts is every bit as atmospheric and scarier still.

I agree...the scene where the young boy is idly coming down the stairs strumming the guitar with his long talony fingers...arghhhh

oppweghysl · 24/10/2025 14:38

Paranormal activity in the cinema 20ish years ago was brilliant, the audience clapped at the end of the showing I went to! Watched it recently again with my son and he enjoyed it, enjoyed the first few of the series actually but they tail off as they tend to!

UnctuousUnicorns · 24/10/2025 14:30

efeslight · 23/10/2025 07:01

I also like a good ghost story, Paranormal Activity really frightened me

I watched that a few months ago to finally see what all the fuss was about. Afterwards I texted my 25 year old DC2.
Me: "I've just watched"Paranormal Activity. It's shit, isn't it?"
DC2: "Yeah."

Sums it up. 😅

I loved "Ghost Stories " and "The Canal". Also "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark", "Shepherd", "It Follows" etc. I love scary films but don't like too much gore. Most films I watch tend to be rated 15, rarely 18. The're no less frightening, just less blood and guts.

Davros · 24/10/2025 14:06

One of my favourite films is Night of the Demon (sometimes Curse if USA version). There’s always Tales of the Unexpected on TalkingPicsTV, well worth a look

saltandvinegarchipsticks · 24/10/2025 13:54

The baby monitor episode of Afterlife has stayed with me for years. Terrifying.

A movie I enjoyed even though it got some poor reviews was Gothika.

Londongent · 24/10/2025 13:26

Stir of Echoes - good ghost story but a little bit of violence

The Awakening - nice period ghost story, not very scary at all but the setting was good

38thparallel · 24/10/2025 13:25

CuddlesKovinsky · Yesterday 09:23
Whistle and I'll Come to You.
😱

The story terrified me but I’ve only seen one tv adaptation and that was with John Hurt.
It changed a bit from the story for example the hotel being empty, and I enjoyed it but it wasn’t as terrifying as the book version

ACatAsleepInYourHat · 24/10/2025 13:22

Speaking on the BBC Christmas ghost stories, does anyone remember Lost Hearts? It was another M R James story, and absolutely terrified me when I saw it as a teenager. “Oh Whistle” seems to get all the plaudits, but Lost Hearts is every bit as atmospheric and scarier still.

PrawnPringles · 24/10/2025 13:11

We loved the Christmas Ghost stories on BBC (maybe called “a ghost story for Christmas”?)

we said they same in that the felt more like a traditional ghost story

ConnieHeart · 24/10/2025 13:09

amilliondreamsofsleep · 23/10/2025 03:14

Don’t think I can watch ghost stories any more, having children seemed to have altered my emotional state so I just can’t take them now, but coming here to celebrate the 15 years or so of my life when The Others was my favourite film. Even the memory of jumping watching the trailer in the cinema makes me smile.

I got DS13 to watch the Sixth Sense recently (part of my “90s education” for him ;)) and he got the twist really early.

I've watched Sixth Sense & The Others with dd1 & she guessed the twists right away. And the same twist in Last Christmas (though not a horror). I'd been to see Sixth Sense at the cinema when it first came out & loved the twist, didn't see it coming. You think I'd have guessed the twist in The Others a few years later, but no! The Others is one of my all time favourite films

PixieandMe · 24/10/2025 13:08

I agree. I still think that Poltergeist is one of the best ghost films ever!

AuntieGrizelda · 24/10/2025 13:05

The original of The Haunting (1963) terrified me when I saw it as a teenager. It was repeated on (I think) BBC 2 or 4 last night.

Also, The Lost Hearts, which was one of the BBC Christmas Ghost Stories.

I saw these in the 1970's before all the gore fest films came out.

It's good that Mark Gatiss is reviving the Christmas Ghost Story but I do agree that they need to be a bit longer to ramp up the suspense.

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