Ghost Movies: Famous Supernatural Films

by Peter Haining (Editor), James Herbert

Collected here are short stories and self-contained episodes from works which inspired movies including "The Old Dark House", "The Ghost Goes West", "Ghost Story" and "Beetlejuice", featuring the following authors:

Haunted - James Herbert
The Old Dark House - J.B. Priestley
The Ghost Goes West - Eric Keown
Topper - Thorne Smith
The Uninvited - Dorothy Macardle
Dead Of Night - Gerald Kersh
Night Of The Demon - M.R. James
The Haunting - Shirley Jackson
The Stone Tape - Nigel Kneale
Asylum - Robert Bloch
Don't Look Now - Daphne du Maurier
Halloween - John Carpenter
Beetlejuice - Michael McDowell

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction

264 pages, Library Binding

First published November 1, 1995

About the author

Peter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.

Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.

In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).

He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.

Reviews

[Sarah Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found Ghost Movies while shelving. The stories and introductions are interesting.

[Jameson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of more interesting for the short introductions to each story that chronologically recap the state of horror films, but the best stories here can be found elsewhere. I was really looking forward to John Carpenter’s story “Harlequin” and while it is worth reading for its curiosity factor, it’s not much of anything. I liked Shirley Jackson’s story “The Bus” (felt very Flannery O’Connor) best after “Don’t Look Now.” The Herbert, Priestley, and Kneale ones were pretty decent, too.

So, “Harlequin.” You can definitely see hints of Halloween there. Which is interesting. I was surprised to find so little discussion about it online. If I remember correctly it’s about a man who goes to the beach and reveals he’s actually a Lovecraftian fish person wearing human skin like the warwolves from Excalibur, is stalked by a clown, and discovers underneath his fishy exterior is actually a clown. Errrrrrr. All right-y, then! It’s not even a story per se. More like a sketch.

[Geert Daelemans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not really what it promises

The problem with creating a horror anthology is finding a common denominator for the stories collected. Just ghost stories was clearly a theme too broad for editor Peter Haining, so he narrowed it down to ghost stories that were made into film. At least that is what he claims in his introduction. But you get seriously disappointed when it becomes clear that it collects stories by authors who have written stories that were made at one point into a celluloid version. A neat marketing trick? Sadly enough, the average story included is not that remarkable. Only a few exceptions like Casting the Runes by M.R. James and Lucy Comes To Stay by Robert Bloch.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Betty really was crying now; it seemed even sillier than usual, seeing there was so much water about."

"She began calling to him, telling him where she was, begging him to come and find her. But all that came back were echoes, strange echoes like so much mockery"

"Debating ... whether the Pluggs would be free before the gangsters recovered, he faded imperceptibly and left them to it."

"That was one of the most serious sodas in my life"

"Although clearly intended to inspire audiences in wartime Britain to self sacrifice and the preservation of human values"

"Sir, I shall never travel with your company my again. Your ticket salesmen are ugly"

"Miss Harper was frightened at the faint smell of the couplings and a remote echo"

"The bedroom was familiar, but with it the little festive atmosphere of strangeness, of excitement, that only a holiday bedroom brings. This is ours for the moment, but no more"

"I'm ravenous. I'm also gay. I want to get rather sloshed."

[Belinda Dempsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun

[Maddie Dantier · Rating 2 out of 5]

it sort of says it in the preface but none of the stories are in any way similar to their famous movie title counterparts…bit disappointing tbh