THE SIGNALMAN / WHISTLE AND I'LL COME TO YOU

+ A Ghost Story Reading by Adam Z. Robinson from The Book of Darkness & Light and The Ghost Story Book Club podcast

An evening of chilling ghost stories for the true horror connoisseur! What a treat we have in store, with a live ghost story reading by theatre creator Adam Z. Robinson before we start our amazing double bill from the vaults of the BBC's ‘A Ghost Story For Christmas’ series. The evening's setting will be the haunted Grade 2 listed building of the Port Mahon! A stiff double of the good stuff is a must to survive the terrors that await you!

The Signalman - Lawrence Gorden Clark 1976

A traveler sees a railway signalman stationed between two steep sided hills close to the entrance to a tunnel. The traveler waves to the signalman and cries out "Hallo, Below There". The puzzled railway worker not only does not reply but actually seems to be afraid of him. When the traveler reassures him that there is nothing to fear, the signalman welcomes the stranger into his signal box and begins to tell him a remarkable story.

“For this the sixth of the BBC's ’A Ghost Story for Christmas‘ series we are presented with an adaptation of Charles Dickens‘ chilling ghost story. A short but wonderful horror film featuring minimalist but excellent cinematography, a great mise-en-scene, and excellent performances. Director Lawrence Gordon Clark gets the most from this short narrative, bringing every moment of suspense and terror to life on film. Andrew Davies' script is very expository, yet the dialogue and everything else doesn't feel like an exposition, but rather has the feeling of storytelling as if you're listening to a scary story around a campfire.”

Whistle And I’ll Come To You - Jonathan Miller 1968

A university professor, confident that everything which occurs in life has a rational explanation, finds his beliefs severely challenged when, during a vacation to a remote coastal village in Norfolk, he blows through an ancient whistle discovered on a beach, awakening horrors beyond human understanding.

“This adaptation of M.R.James's classic Whistle and I’ll Come To You is one of the finest achievements of British television and one of the best ghost stories ever filmed. It’s unsettling atmosphere and refusal to be too explicit in what it is showing or suggesting set the tone for the BBC’s subsequent A Ghost Story for Christmas (1971-1975) and it remains a textbook example of how to terrify an audience through what it doesn’t show rather than through what it does.”

This screening was one of the reasons SHOX was created and it’s finally here!