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A View From A Hill (short Story)
"A View from a Hill" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James, first published in the ''London Mercury'' in 1925. Plot summary Academic Fanshawe visits his friend, squire Henry Richards, in the English countryside for a summer retreat. On the first evening, they decide to climb a hill with a view of the area. Fanshawe, lacking binoculars, borrows a heavy, old-fashioned pair from Richards, which are stored in a difficult-to-open box. After Fanshawe sustains a minor cut opening it, they set out, with Richards pointing out the local landmark known as "Baxter's Roman villa." He explains that Baxter, an unpopular watchmaker and amateur archaeologist, crafted the binoculars and subsequently uncovered various artifacts later acquired by Richards. At the hill's summit, Richards instructs Fanshawe to observe Fulnaker Abbey through the binoculars. Fanshawe, however, insists the tower he sees is impressive, which Richards disputes, suggesting he's mistakenly viewing Oldbourne Church. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Warning To The Curious
"A Warning to the Curious" is a ghost story by English writer M. R. James, first published in '' The London Mercury'' in August 1925 and collected in James' book '' A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories'' that same year. The tale tells the story of Paxton, an antiquarian and archaeologist who holidays in "Seaburgh" (a disguised version of Aldeburgh, Suffolk) and inadvertently stumbles across one of the three lost crowns of East Anglia, which legendarily protect the country from invasion. Upon digging up the crown, Paxton is stalked by its supernatural guardian. Written a few years after the end of the First World War, "A Warning to the Curious" ranks as one of M. R. James's bleakest stories. Synopsis The story is written in M. R. James's typical style, and uses a multi-layered narrative device to tell the tale. Time is taken to describe a pleasant traditional Victorian holiday resort, Seaburgh. The narrator states that he collects stories about the area as a result ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Folk Horror
Folk horror is a subgenre of horror film and horror fiction that uses elements of folklore to invoke fear and foreboding. Typical elements include a rural setting, isolation, and themes of superstition, folk religion, paganism, Human sacrifice, sacrifice and the dark aspects of nature. Although related to supernatural horror film, folk horror usually focuses on the beliefs and actions of people rather than the supernatural, and often deals with naïve outsiders coming up against these. The British films ''Witchfinder General (film), Witchfinder General'' (1968), ''Blood on Satan's Claw'' (1971) and ''The Wicker Man'' (1973) are pioneers of the genre, while ''The Witch (2015 film), The Witch'' (2015) and ''Midsommar'' (2019) sparked renewed interest in folk horror. Southeast Asian cinema also commonly features folk horror. Etymology The earliest known use of the term, though describing an artefact rather than a genre, was in John Fowles' 1966 novel The Magus (novel), The Magus, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Burke (British Actor)
David Burke (born 25 May 1934) is an English actor, known for playing Dr. John Watson in the initial series of Granada Television's 1980s '' The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'', which starred Jeremy Brett in the title role. He also starred as Joseph Stalin in the last two episodes of ''Reilly, Ace of Spies''. Early life Burke was born on 25 May 1934 in Liverpool, England, and trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Career In the theatre, Burke originated the part of Niels Bohr in Michael Frayn's ''Copenhagen''. Burke played Dr. Watson in '' The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' for the initial series and then left the programme after receiving an invitation to join the Royal Shakespeare Company along with his wife, Anna. They both considered the joint work to be the best idea for their young son, Tom, who was around 3 years old at the time. He was thought by many to portray Dr. Watson with an excellent style. He was replaced by Edward Hardwicke, whom he had recommended as h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pip Torrens
Philip D'Oyly TorrensThe Cambridge University List of Members up to 31 July 1998, University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1998, p. 793 (born 2 June 1960) is an English actor. Torrens portrayed courtier Tommy Lascelles in the Netflix drama ''The Crown'', aristocrat Lord Massen in the HBO series '' The Nevers'', Herr Klaus Starr in ''Preacher'', and held leading roles in '' Poldark'' and ''Versailles''. His film appearances include '' The Danish Girl'', '' The Iron Lady'', '' War Horse'' and '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens''. He has played The Curator in Supermassive Games' '' Dark Pictures Anthology'' series of horror video games since 2019, appearing in four entries to date. Early life and education Son of the Rev. Robert Harrington Torrens, MA, and descendant of the lawyer and colonial official Henry Whitelock Torrens,The Cambridge University List of Members up to 31 July 1998, University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1998, p. 793 Torrens was born i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Letheren
Mark Vincent Letheren (born 6 February 1971) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as journalist Simon Kitson in ITV's drama ''The Bill'', as Ben Harding in the BBC One drama ''Casualty'' and for his recurring role as DS Kevin Geoffries in '' Wire in the Blood''. Early life and education Letheren was born in Chelmsford, Essex. He attended Ardingly College and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Career Film His large-screen debut was in the historical drama '' Restoration'', with Robert Downey Jr. in 1995. Television He has appeared in many television dramas, including '' Wire in the Blood'', ''The Bill'', ''Silent Witness'', ''Casualty'', ''Holby City'', '' Waking The Dead'', '' Heartbeat'' and ''A Touch of Frost''. Stage He has also performed on stage many times throughout his career. He played Jamie in the world premiere of Jonathan Harvey's '' Beautiful Thing'', starred in Mark Healey's adaptation of John Fowles' ''The Collector'', and toured the US ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Ghost Story For Christmas
''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' is a Anthology series, strand of annual British short television films originally broadcast on BBC One between 1971 and 1978, and revived sporadically by the BBC since 2005. With one exception, the original instalments were directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark and the films were all shot on 16 mm film, 16 mm colour film. The remit behind the series was to provide a television adaptation of a classic ghost story, in line with the oral tradition of telling supernatural tales at Christmas. Each instalment is a separate adaptation of a short story, ranges between 30 and 50 minutes in duration, and features well-known British actors such as Clive Swift, Robert Hardy, Peter Vaughan, Edward Petherbridge and Denholm Elliott. The first five are adaptations of ghost stories by M. R. James, the sixth is based on a short story by Charles Dickens, and the last two instalments from the 1970s are original screenplays by Clive Exton and John Griffith Bowen, John ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Dickson Carr
John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn. He lived in England for a number of years, and is often grouped among "British-style" mystery writers. Most (though not all) of his novels had English settings, especially country villages and estates, and English characters. His two best-known fictional detectives ( Dr. Gideon Fell and Sir Henry Merrivale) were both English. Carr is generally regarded as one of the greatest writers of so-called "Golden Age" mysteries; complex, plot-driven stories in which the puzzle is paramount. He was influenced in this regard by the works of Gaston Leroux and by the Father Brown stories of G. K. Chesterton. He was a master of the so-called locked room mystery, in which a detective solves apparently impossible crimes. The Dr. Fell mystery '' The Hollow Man'' (1935), usually considered Carr's ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Skeleton In The Clock
''The Skeleton in the Clock'' is a 1948 mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr, who published it under the name of Carter Dickson. It is a whodunnit and features the series detective Sir Henry Merrivale Sir Henry Merrivale is a fictional amateur detective created by "Carter Dickson", a pen name of John Dickson Carr (1906–1977). Also known as "the Old Man," by his initials "H. M." (a pun on "His Majesty"), or "the Maestro", Merrivale appears in ... and his long-time associate, Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Humphrey Masters. Plot summary Martin Drake meets Jennifer West in an auction house. Three years ago, he had fallen in love with her during a brief but intense encounter on a railway platform—after which she vanished. Now it seems she is engaged to Richard Fleet, whom she has known since they were children together. And when they were children, Richard's father Sir George died when he fell off the roof of their home, Fleet House. It was generally ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reza Negarestani
Reza Negarestani (born 1977) is an Iranian philosopher and writer, known for "pioneering the genre of 'theory-fiction' with his book" ''Cyclonopedia'' which was published in 2008. It was listed in Artforum as one of the best books of 2009. Negarestani has studied Mathematics at Shiraz University and has been a lecturer in the same university before immigrating to the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 .... Currently, he directs the critical philosophy programme at The New Centre for Research & Practice. Philosophical work Negarestani has been a regular contributor to '' Collapse'', as well as other print and web publications such as '' CTheory''. On March 11, 2011, faculty from Brooklyn College and The New School organized a symposium to discuss Cyclon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mezzotint
"The Mezzotint" is a ghost story by English writer M. R. James, included in his 1904 collection ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary''. Plot summary Mr. Williams, the curator of a university art museum (implied to be Oxford), receives a mezzotint from an art dealer. The very disturbing engraving changes each time Mr. Williams and the colleagues he enlists look at it. In the end, it is suggested that the nighttime engraving depicts a vengeful poacher named Gawdy, returning from the grave to kidnap and murder the infant heir of a Mr. Arthur Francis. Gawdy had been hanged for shooting a gamekeeper while poaching on Francis' land. Publication "The Mezzotint" was first published in ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' in 1904, and again in '' The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James'' in 1931. It has been included in many anthologies. Adaptations On 21 May 1947, a radio play adaptation of "The Mezzotint" by Ashley Sampson starring Martin Lewis as Dennistoun aired on the BBC Home Serv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canon Alberic's Scrapbook
Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book is a horror story by British writer M. R. James, written in 1892 or 1893 and first published in 1895 in the ''National Review''.Jones, Darryl (2011). "Explanatory Notes". ''Collected Ghost Stories'' by M. R. James. Oxford: Oxford University Press. P. 421. It is his earliest known horror story and the first (along with "Lost Hearts") to be read aloud to the "Chitchat Society" at Cambridge, where many of his stories made their public debut. It was subsequently included in his first short story collection, ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' (1904), though the malevolent entity is a demon rather than a ghost. Some have considered James' later story "An Episode of Cathedral History" (first published in ''The Cambridge Review'' in 1914 and later included in the 1919 collection ''A Thin Ghost and Others'') to be a sequel or companion piece, as it features a similar creature, obliquely suggested to be the mate of the one encountered in "Canon Alberic's Scrap-Boo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Old Straight Track
''The Old Straight Track: Its Mounds, Beacons, Moats, Sites and Mark Stones'' is a book by Alfred Watkins, first published in 1925, describing the existence of alleged ley lines in Great Britain. Presentation Watkins presents a methodical and thorough exposition of his theories of ley lines, following an earlier much shorter publication, "Early British Trackways" (1922). The book has a preface, thirty chapters, four appendices and an index. There are many figures, and photographs taken by the author. The book is considered the first book written about leys, and the first book to document and map alleged ley lines in Britain, primarily southern England. According to a review in ''The Geographical Journal'' of the Royal Geographical Society, Watkins sought to prove that "mounds, moats, beacons and markstones fall into strait tracks, i.e. sighted lines, throughout Britain, with fragmentary evidence of trackways on the alignments." The book was disregarded by archaeologists but sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
