The FrightFest guides have now become an eagerly-awaited annual event, much like the film festival that bears the same name. This spectral entry boasts a high profile author in Axelle Carolyn, who as well as being a respected horror film journalist is an actor and made her directorial debut with the impressive (and controversial due to the BBFC’s censoring of the opening suicide, detailed in the film’s entry in this very book) Soulmate in 2013.
Andy Nyman, whose hit stage show Ghost Stories was successfully given the cinematic treatment this year opens proceedings with an introduction in which he briefly mentions his favourite spooky movies and what moved him and co-writer Jeremy Dyson to write the play that would propel the actor/writer/director (who actually appeared in the superior TV version of The Woman in Black) to fame. This is followed by a brief but informative history of ghost films, explaining along the way the criteria for some movies’ inclusions and why some didn’t make the grade. We can’t argue with the choices; A Nightmare on Elm Street is more a dream-based serial killer than a spectre, and the various incarnations of The Cat and the Canary do play on the tropes of the format even though there are no actual apparitions.
The meat of the piece is 200 brief reviews of the most important ghost movies ever made. From the silent era right up to the present (The Spierig Brothers’ Winchester), it’s an exhaustive and compelling read. Although not overly detailed, Axelle Carolyn expresses enough opinion and information on the entries to make it an engaging page turner. Foreign language and obscure titles are not overlooked as the plethora of Eastern spirit films are including, as are a healthy dose of Bollywood releases. It’s not all horror, either, as humorous classics such as Topper (1937), Blithe Spirit (1945) and arguably the most famous ghost story of all time, A Christmas Carol, sit proudly alongside genuinely terrifying fare like The Innocents (1961) and The Haunting (1963). Anomalies such as Clint Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter (1973) may stand out at first glance, but delve deeper into the interpretation and you’ll be satisfied. One surprising omission, then, is the many adaptations of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, which despite being mentioned in one of the entries should certainly come under the remit.
The FrightFest Guide to Ghost Movies is a light enough read that one would have no problem devouring the contents in no time but there’s enough information and fantastic imagery to ensure you’ll keep dipping back in for some time to come.
THE FRIGHTFEST GUIDE TO GHOST MOVIES / AUTHOR: AXELLE CAROLYN / PUBLISHER: FAB PRESS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
