Mastodawn

January 2026 Media Round-Up

Here’s my January round up of all the media I’ve read/watched/listened to this month! I’m going to try and keep this to the highlights, but I usually DNF things I’m not enjoying and they don’t get counted. Positivity only in this space! …Although the content itself may be not so positive.

As a bonus, I’m going to let you know my favourite song of the month too. I’ve just switched from Spotify to Qobuz, a music streaming service based in France, as Qobuz pays artists more per track while still costing the same, and also has a much better sound quality. Most of my playlist content has transferred over fine, but the one artist I was devastated is not fully on there yet is Felix Hagan.

There is one song of his on there currently though: Happy Songs (2025), from the brand new album of the same name which smashed its goal on Kickstarter. I’m really hopeful that the whole album will drop on Qobuz as well.

Happy Songs by Felix Hagan is definitely my favourite song from the start of the month. LISTEN ON QOBUZ

As I go on my Qobuz journey, I’ll be looking for new music to replace the tracks I loved to listen to on Spotify but that aren’t on Qobuz yet, and finding (I hope) new obsessions. I’ll be adding this into my media round-up just for fun!

On to the main event: books, shows, and films. This month I’m experimenting with highlighting my favourites, and listing everything else. I was off sick this month, so there’s a lot of them.

Books, Audiobooks, Story Podcasts

These are the highlights of what I’ve read/listened to this month. I’ve been really spoiled for ARCs! That’s one really lovely bonus of offering the author spotlights – the small presses that get in touch with me for their authors sometimes offer a reader copy for me to frame the interview questions around.

(I never ask for this and I do not expect it, and frankly, I couldn’t ever read one per author! But for the small presses, I know they’re going to be in genres I already like and would want to read, so I often accept these if offered.)

Best Friends Bury Bodies by C.M. Rosens.

You know what, I’m counting this. I read this cover-to-cover for the revisions and edits, and it’s a 78K novel, so this is on my round-up.

When their search for a missing music star leads to murder, how far will his old friends go?

Midsomer Murders meets The Forty Year Kiss. A contemporary mystery with middle-aged polyamorous bisexual second chance romance.

Sarah believes she’s happy with her life despite never really dealing with her partner’s sudden death six years ago; her job is fine, her friends are supportive, her girlfriend Sammie is amazing. But when her estranged soulmate, Bas, reaches out after a 12 year absence, Sarah’s carefully cultivated rut is thrown into chaos.

Her best friends are all for tracking down the prodigal member of their close-knit group, who drifted away from them when he got famous, spiralled into addiction, then disappeared. But finding a long-lost 1990s rock star is the least of their worries, when it catapaults them into the middle of a murder investigation in the sleepy Surrey village where he’s been recovering.

With skeletons falling out of every closet, and lives upended everywhere they turn, what will they do when another body shows up, and both Sarah and Bas are implicated?

I got an ARC of Dianna Gunn‘s Gothic Fantasy novel, Woman of Sorrow and Blood. This is a sensuous, bisexual, sapphic vampire tale, set in richly built world of pleasure, pain, and power. I really enjoyed it, and read it fairly quickly; poor Alma is not very quick on the uptake, bless her, but there’s a decent climax and I was very satisfied with the ending. This one squeaked in right at the end of the month; I just finished it in time for this post! Read my full review.

When 18-year-old Alma is invited to live with Nightfather and pursue the Pleasures of Power, she’s determined to win his affection and ultimate gift: eternal life.

Yet life in the House of Night is not what she expected. Nightfather spends all of his time alone with Nightmother, leaving his second wife to rule with an iron fist. The servants brought from Alma’s home are hollowed out versions of their former selves. Others—including Alma’s own mentor—have disappeared entirely.

Alma buries her suspicions and throws herself into attending to the Daughter of Night, an extraordinary woman who requires special care.

When Nightfather calls upon Alma at last, she begins to see that his eternity is not a reward but a trap—and that it is not him, but the woman he calls his daughter, that her heart longs for. But tragedy lurks in every corner, and sometimes the only escape is death.

Once Upon A Song by Nadine Bells – an ARC Read from Quill & Crow Publishing. I got into this book a lot more from the midpoint, and as it took off into the resolution and climax, I really enjoyed it. This Snow Queen retelling was fairly well done, although there were elements I personally didn’t vibe with. If you’re looking for a quick, lightweight and entertaining Gothic read, this is one to look out for and pre-order from your local store or library. Read my full review.

Welcome to the Hôtel de Neige. Let yourself be swept away by its grandeur and glamor, but beware…the cold may swallow you whole.

When lonely waitress Ana lands a job as a singer at the prestigious Hôtel de Neige, she believes it to be the beginning of her fairytale. Yet she soon finds that in those eerie halls, the line between Cinderella story and Gothic nightmare blurs. Sinister dreams cause her to sleepwalk, a ballerina makes ominous threats, and a phantom in white haunts the hotel—and Ana.

As Ana discovers that the hotel’s last singer lost his life under mysterious circumstances, she needs to decide if happily-ever-after is worth it. She knows she cannot trust her secretive colleagues or the charming but elusive hotel manager, Dimitri. All Ana ever wanted was to belong, but at the Hôtel de Neige, that may mean never leaving again…

The Dreaming of Man by Nikoline Kaiser. I got a copy from Neon Hemlock Press.

I love “Innsmouth” stories, and this is one of the better ones for sure. It has a trans man protagonist and plays with Shakespeare as well.

“An eerie, anxious read, crawling with tentacles of loss, regret, and uncanny coincidence. Nikoline Kaiser’s voice recalls the timbre of a rotting, bygone place and time while remaining fresh and crisp. A true joy for lovers of the weird!” —A.Z. Louise, author of Off-Time Jive

After receiving a letter telling him terrible news, Doctor Lawrence Cooper visits the small harbor-town Osmund in search of answers. Though something is clearly wrong there, Lawrence keeps finding reasons to stay: the sake of a young girl he meets, and to get to the bottom of his one-time lover’s suspicious death.

And the longer he stays, the more Lawrence is drawn into Osmund’s peculiar mysteries.

Cover Illustration by JJ Epping.

Death Valley Blooms by S.M. Mack is an interesting novella out with Neon Hemlock Press, a queer ecohorror about the inevitability of the landscape and the desert claiming its dues. It’s a tragic meditation on bodily autonomy and the survival of a landscape that uses humanity to thrive, but will outlast them.

“Death Valley Blooms is a breathtaking, atmospheric novella that explores hard-hitting topics such as gendered inheritance, mourning, and sacrifice with an impressively light touch. S.M. Mack’s writing is full of humor and sobriety, which held my attention from start to finish. If you enjoy stories that bridge meditative, slice-of-life scenes with fast-paced action, this book will not disappoint.” — Liza Wemakor, author of Loving Safoa

Every decade or so, vast quantities and varieties of wildflowers bloom all at once in Death Valley. But unbeknownst to the wider world, these super blooms are powered by a woman’s life. Mar Ramse lost her mother to Death Valley as a teenager and would give anything to break her family’s curse, but now the desert whispers its call to her. However, she still has a single ace up her sleeve: neither she nor her brother will ever have children. Is it enough for the desert to release its grip on her family?

Cover illustration by Rose Meyer. Cover design by dave ring.

Some classics in here, and new content by narrator Ian Gordon. This is a compilation of a number of stories, and Vol 1 is available on YouTube.

I have not finished this one yet.

The HorrorBabble podcast is one I’m listening to a lot, just to get a short story fix as that’s all I can really concentrate on currently. I don’t enjoy every classic story they read out, but I really like the range of tales I’m listening to and the classic authors I’m able to access via their podcast. I usually listen before bed for an hour or two, or while I’m doing housework or something.

Click for the list of HorrorBabble episodes I’ve listened to: short stories by classic horror and weird fiction authors, with their runtime (min:sec). I have highlighted my favourites.

“Two Black Bottles” by H.P. Lovecraft & Wilfrid Branch Talman (29:51)

“The Dance of Death” by Algernon Blackwood (25:04)

“The House of Cards: A Thomas Chadwick Story” by Malcolm Ferguson (33:42)

“The Red Room” by H.G. Wells (26:06)

“The Spectre Priestess of Wrightstone” by Herman F. Wright (13:26)

“A Ghost/The Tale of a Haunted Chateau” by Guy de Maupassant (16:47)

“Mr. Hyde-and-Seek: A Thomas Chadwick Story” by Malcolm Ferguson (24:14)

“Stranger at Dusk” by Malcolm Murchie (42:16)

“The Mandrakes” by Clark Ashton Smith (17:13)

“The Lurking Fear” by H.P. Lovecraft (54:44)

“The Gateway of the Monster: A Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder Story” by William Hope Hodgson (51:20)

“The Horror from the Mound” by Robert E. Howard (45:19)

“The Thing from the Barrens” by Jim Kjelgaard (37:00)

“Chickamauga” by Ambrose Bierce (17:31)

“The Crawling Chaos” by H.P. Lovecraft (20:09)

“Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad”, by M.R. James (45:57) – listened to x2 because it’s so funny.

“A Suspicious Gift” by Algernon Blackwood (26:38)

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (38:28)

“Catnip” by Robert Bloch (27:06)

“To Build a Fire” by Jack London (38:32)

“The Hound” by H.P. Lovecraft (21:55)

“An Unnatural Feud” by Norman Douglas (35:20)

“Caterpillars” by E.F. Benson (19:23)

“The Shining Pyramid” by Arthur Machen (52:30)

TV Shows & Mini Series

I’ve highlighted the shows I’ve really enjoyed this month, and listed the other shows I watched below the highlights. The highlighted ones are my favourite watches. Expand the details of my other watches below these, so you can see the other shows & random Marple/Poirot episodes I watched.

Started the month catching up on Fallout (2024-), created by Geneva Robertson-Dworet
and Graham Wagner, which I loved.

Absolutely amazing. One of my oldest friends has been a massive fan of the games for years, and when we were housemates he had a display cabinet of the figures in our living room – those were my introduction to the games and the world! I’m not fully caught up yet.

In a future, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles brought about by nuclear decimation, citizens must live in underground bunkers to protect themselves from radiation, mutants and bandits.

Year of the Rabbit (2019) an 8-part mini-series directed by Ben Taylor and written by Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley that got cancelled over funding issues. It is a rewatch and a comfort watch, as it makes me laugh out loud every episode.

Mabel (Susan Wokoma) demanding to be made a policewoman/Lady Fuzz: “When you adopted me you said you wanted the best for me!!”

Chief Inspector (Alun Armstrong): “I was mostly thinking about hats!”

Detective Inspector Rabbit, a dedicated, tough, thick, and oft-inebriated Victorian copper, sleuths his way across London with his two young partners: a doofy rookie and a brilliant Black policewoman no one ever believes.

Haunted Hotel (2025-) is a rewatch, another comfort show! I hope there’ll be another season soon. Just a really fun cartoon, with lots of family scares.

A single mom with two kids operates a haunted hotel, aided by her late brother’s ghost who believes they can have ingenious ideas despite his ethereal state.

West Country Tales (1982-1983). I loved the 9 available episodes I saw on YouTube, I think these are the only ones left out of the 14 that were aired.

This post, Remembering West Country Tales, has a full episode breakdown, including the missing episodes, courtesy of Steve Calvert.

I’ve listed the 9 episodes below, with each title linked to the YouTube video! Click to expand.

The Poacher – I liked how slow this was, just like you were listening to an older man in the pub tell you a story from his younger days. It did keep me interested all the way to the end, and I really liked the idea of meeting Pan/the Devil in the woods.

The Breakdown – I switched my brain off for this one and didn’t try to guess where it was going, but just sort of let it carry me onwards. The twist is an obvious one, and it’s based on a fairly common/well-known urban legend (or rural legend?) but it’s one I liked. Not scary at all, just good company and a bit unsettling.

White Bird of Laughter Tor – this is a sad one, based on another fairly well-told folktale (I think, or ballad – but anyway I’ve heard a few variants of this one before) of a poor girl and her ill-fated romance. You have the sense of sad dread as you know where it’s going.

The Visitor – not a pleasant one, concerning two women and their competition for the life and love of a little toddler. A mother’s fear of usurpation, but also of the dangers posed by the people closest to you, regarding your child.

The Beast – I watched this one first, and really enjoyed it. It was a great episode. It’s much more folk horror in essence, and has the elements of the Beast of Bodmin Moor about it, much more of a Creature Feature than the others.

Miss Constantine – my personal favourite. This starts off with a dreamy vibe, where you meet an old lady who seems to be confused, perhaps has Alzheimers or dementia, and believes that she is being harrassed by ‘the young people from the Social’, who have moved into her home and refuse to leave. There is, of course, nobody there; at least, nobody the local vicar can see… or is there?

With Love, Belinda – a very sad one about the loss of a child, and its impact on the parents and surviving sister, Belinda. The ghostly return of the little boy heralds a series of strange happenings and a change in Belinda’s behaviour, causing the mother especially great distress. The ending, however, is not tragic, and rather sweet.

To Wit To Woo – a medieval tale of an unloved wife, who is tricked by a witch into various methods of making her husband love her. This one was sad and also funny, but I just felt really sorry for the poor woman.

Ring a Ring a Rosy – a feral autistic-coded girl who likes to kill things occasionally, out of curiosity, gets herself a boyfriend, and her mother starts worrying about the lad’s safety after they appear to have an argument and he disappears. But is she worried about the right thing? I didn’t know how to feel about this one, but it’s another sad one.

Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials (2026), created/written for the screen by Chris Chibnall and directed by Chris Sweeney, is a 3-part drama that just got released on UK Netflix, and I really loved it. In fact, it’s given me some thoughts about parent/child dynamics I’d like to write, or at least think about. It’s very silly fun, which I’m fully on board with.

In 1925, a country house party prank turns deadly. Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent investigates the chilling murder plot. Lady Caterham and Superintendent Battle assist in solving the country house mystery that changes Bundle’s life.

Miss Scarlet and The Duke (2020-) created by Rachael New, is a fun Victorian-era detective show I like to both rewatch and catch up on. I really love the period lady detective genre, like Miss Fisher, and Miss Scarlet has a few seasons under its belt to go through. S06 came out in December; I’ve watched up to S05.

When Eliza Scarlet’s father dies, he leaves her penniless, but she resolves to continue his detective agency. To operate in a male-dominated world, though, she needs a partner – step forward a detective known as the Duke.

Other Episodes & Mini-Series watched (click the + sign to expand)

These aren’t all in the order I watched them; I’ve grouped the Marple and Poirot episodes together, bookending the list. It’s all a bit random but it made some weird sense to me when I was typing this up.

Miss Marple: The Body in the Library (1984) dir. Silvio Narizzano, screenplay by T.R. Bowen. I do love the old Miss Marple series with Joan Hickson, and this is one I’ve seen so many times. This was originally a 3-part mini-series, but it’s available now in one single feature. It’s not my favourite book either, but it’s one I’ve re-read a lot.

Agatha Christie’s Marple: The Body in the Library (2004) dir. Andy Wilson, dramatised by Kevin Elyot. They very bravely* changed the ending of this one, and departed from the original reveal to bring it up-to-date, but this just succeeds in falling into the ‘evil lesbians’ trope, preying on younger girls. Still, sapphics on screen in 2004… I don’t enjoy the Bantrys’ dynamics as much in this one, either. We can still be feminists looking for women to be their own people, and love our husbands very much. Overall, I think I prefer T.R. Bowen’s adaptation.

*I am British, this is not a compliment

Miss Marple: The Moving Finger (1985) dir. Roy Boulting, dramatised by Julia Jones. I do enjoy this one because of the romantic subplots and who gets with whom. These definitely make me want to read Christie’s romance novels, published under her pen name Mary Westmacott. This was a 2-parter, which is now available as a single feature.

Miss Marple: A Murder is Announced (1985) dir. David Giles, dramatised by Alan Plater. I prefer the way the book character Mitzi is treated in this dramatisation, name changed here to Hannah which makes her not only Eastern European but Jewish-coded, although she is not explicitly Jewish in the text or in the episode. Even so, there’s a lot of anti-Eastern European prejudice in evidence. It’s a good adaptation though, and has one of my favourite lesbian-coded couples as ‘companions’. Also, so many autistic-coded women in this one. A village full of them.

Miss Marple: Pocket full of Rye (1985) dir. Guy Slater, dramatised by T.R. Bowen. The nursery rhyme one! Originally a 2-parter, and then shown as a single feature-length episode. It has one of my favourite character actors, Selina Cadell, as Mary Dove. Sadly, this one is really forgettable, except for the nursery rhyme killings.

Miss Marple: Nemesis (1987) dir. David Tucker, dramatised by T.R. Bowen. This is a good story, and one I haven’t seen a lot. I really enjoyed it, and it has a good few twists and turns. I love the three sisters, the random bus tour of historic homes and gardens, the locations used, and also Miss Marple having a nap on a bench. She’s elderly, let her sleep in a garden and stop bothering her with ice cream cornets.

Mrs Amworth (1975) dir. Alvin Rakoff. Based on the E.F. Benson short story, adapted by Hugh Whitemore. A good ’70s short, 29mins runtime. I really enjoyed this one! I do like the gnat plague heralding the vampire, which is a bit different to the usual vampire fare. I’m not sure what this was part of, I think it was part of a series or anthology originally, but it’s on YouTube as a standalone, courtesy of What the Folk‘s channel.

The Lost Will of Dr Rant (1951) dir. Laurence Schwab Jr., based on M.R. James’s story, The Tractate Middoth, and dramatised by Doris Halman. 30mins runtime. This is a US production, and possibly the first time that an M.R. James story was adapted for the screen! It was for the “Lights Out” series, and it’s pretty good. I really liked it, and it still stands up against the 2013 Mark Gatiss adaptation.

The Incredible Dr Baldick: Never Come Night (1972) dir. Cyril Coke. Another one courtesy of the What the Folk YouTube channel, this was the pilot of a series that never got aired/made, and is now a standalone feature. It seems that Terry Nation, its creator, wanted to replace Dr Who‘s Doctor with a folk horror version who went around the country in his steam train The Tzar, a mobile home and laboratory, solving paranormal mysteries. It stars Robert Hardy in the titular role, and I’m really sad this was never a series as planned. The pilot is really worth a watch.

Stones (1976) dir. Graham Evans. An episode of The Mind Beyond (BBC2 Playhouse), focused on the weird properties and then-shadowy history of Stonehenge. Available on YouTube via What the Folk‘s channel. This one is a full hour. Lots of stuff around ancient languages and the connection between written langauge and druidic power. It’s a bit dry for me, centering on a Tory minister’s scheme to move Stonehenge to London’s Hyde Park, and the subsequent discovery of an ancient language hidden on the spines of a 3-volume 17thC set of books about the stone circle. It has some positive Welsh rep in it, which is a nice change, and picks up towards the end with the involvement of the children.

A Place to Die (1973) dir. Peter Jefferies. This is a Thriller episode, Season 1 Episode 7, available on YouTube via What the Folk‘s channel. Creepy rural English village alert! This is a pre-Wicker Man folk horror, in which the lovely doctor’s wife, Tessa Nelson (Alexandra Hay), becomes the focus of the villagers’ obsession, and uncovers a sinister cult at work.

Poirot: The Adventure of the Clapham Cook (1989) dir. Edward Bennett, adapted by Clive Exton. I had no idea these were 1980s, I had them in my head as all being 2000s! But no – this is one of the much earlier episodes, and Suchet ran as Poirot for a hugely long time, 1989-2013. I enjoy the early series, for sure. I liked Exton’s original ghost story for Ghost Stories for Christmas, Stigma (1977), and this adaptation manages to be domestic and fun, and held our attention. This was a birthday watch since we were too ill to go and celebrate as planned. We stayed in and watched Seven Dials on Netflix, and then some Poirot. NOTE: Some very dated casual racism (towards Chinese immigrants).

Poirot: Triangle At Rhodes (1989) dir. Renny Rye, adapted by Stephen Wakelam. This plot reminds me of Evil Under the Sun, and I get it confused with that one all the time. That’s because, I guess, Evil Under the Sun is the full-length version, while this is a short story. There are the star-crossed couples and the domestic drama between husbands and wives in each, and so they are fairly easy to confuse!

Poirot: Problem at Sea (1989) dir. Renny Rye, adapted by Clive Exton. Some thoroughly unpleasant people having a terrible time on a cruise, with Hastings and Poirot along for the ride. This is another of the short stories adapted for the first season, which has that glossy bigger budget feel. I did really enjoy the two girls, they were fun.

Poirot: The Cornish Mystery (1990) dir. Edward Bennett, adapted by Clive Exton. I liked this one, it’s another short story adaptation, and it works well as a feature. Again, I really enjoy Exton’s scripts and the dynamics he writes, and how Christie’s characters come alive on screen. Poor Mrs Pengelley.

Films

My films of January 2026: the highlighted ones with posters are all my top rated watches. I’ve watched a total of 40 films this month, from 1933-2025, and a range of short films and feature-length ones. Letterboxd has counted the 5 Miss Marples I logged as films, but I’ve counted those in my TV show watches, so they don’t appear here.

Expand the details below this highlighted list to see the full list of films I’ve seen this month! I’ve enjoyed all of them in some way. They aren’t in any particular order.

Foxes (2011) dir. Lorcan Finnegan. 17mins runtime.

I loved this little short, on YouTube via the Screen Ireland channel. It’s really atmospheric and unsettling, and I did like the ending. Also: some cracking fox shots, and lovely, eerie shots of the housing estate and its uniformity.

A young couple trapped in a remote estate of empty houses and shrieking foxes are beckoned from their isolation into a twilight world – a world of the paranormal or perhaps insanity.

The Sacrifice Game (2023) dir. Jenn Wexler.

This is one of my favourite Christmas movies, which I didn’t actually watch over Christmas this year (boo to me), but was the first film I watched in 2026. I really love how it ends. If you want to know what I’m like as a person, this film contains most elements I enjoy to watch. Draw your own conclusions.

This Christmas, raise a little hell.

Christmas break, 1971. Samantha and Clara, two students who are staying behind for the holidays at their boarding school, must survive the night after the arrival of uninvited visitors.

Strange Harvest (2024) dir. Stuart Ortiz.

Mockumentary with interviews and found footage that I really enjoyed. Cosmic horror that is actually well done. New to me.

He isn’t hiding, he’s waiting.

Detectives are thrust into a chilling hunt for “Mr. Shiny”—a sadistic serial killer from the past whose return marks the beginning of a new wave of grotesque, otherworldly crimes tied to a dark cosmic force.

Bring Her Back (2025) dirs. Michael Philippou, Danny Philippou

I really liked Talk To Me by the same directors, and this one was a real mind fuck as well. Deeply upsetting in places. I had to fast forward scenes, literally can’t watch some of that. Next level diabolical. New to me.

Family requires sacrifices.

Following the death of their father, a brother and sister are sent to live with a foster mother, only to learn that she is hiding a terrifying secret.

Clown in a Cornfield (2025) dir. Eli Craig.

Based on the Adam Cesare novel. US-set Hot Fuzz with clowns and teen protagonists. Gay rep (yay). Only Black teen in the friend group is the first one to die (boo). Modern teens dying because they don’t know how to use a rotary phone or drive a manual (“stick”) vehicle is so funny to me. Teach your kids these basic life skills.

Are you a friend of Frendo?

Quinn and her father have just moved to the quiet town of Kettle Springs hoping for a fresh start. Instead, she discovers a fractured community that has fallen on hard times after the treasured Baypen Corn Syrup Factory burned down. As the locals bicker amongst themselves and tensions boil over, a sinister, grinning figure emerges from the cornfields to cleanse the town of its burdens, one bloody victim at a time.

Morgiana (1972) dir. Juraj Herz.

A rewatch for me – Morgiana is the name of the cat, whose fate is a major plot point. I really enjoy this one. We get a lot of cat-eye-view shots as well, moving around the house and seeing things from the cat’s POV.

Jealous of her vapidly “good” sister’s popularity, poisonous Viktoria doses pretty Klara’s tea with a slow-acting fatal substance. As the latter grows hysterically weak, the former finds success increasingly compromised by guilt, blackmail, and the pesky need to kill others lest she be exposed.

Dark Waters (1993) dir. Mariano Baino.

If you enjoyed Soavi’s The Church (1989), this is definitely one for the watchlist. It goes harder in a few places. One of the most disturbing family reunions I’ve seen. New to me, but I’ve rewatched it 3x this month, once with the director’s commentary.

A New Wave of Horror

After the death of her father, a young woman travels to a remote convent on an island in the Black Sea to find out why her father funded it for years.

O’r Ddaear Hen/From the Old Earth (1981) dir. Wil Aaron.

LEAVE THINGS ALONE school of horror, which deserves its place here for its place in Welsh cinema history, as much as for its addition to the 1980s weird films, like the Tales of the West Country series. New to me.

As William Jones digs in the garden of his council house he finds a strange looking stone head. During the night his wife has horrible dreams, forcing William to move the head out of the house. In turn, he takes the head to an archaeologist at Bangor University who is an expert on Celtic artefacts and trying to dig up the remains of the Celts elsewhere. In order to try and understand the head, he goes home with her but things start to go wrong at night there as well, bringing the horrors of a half-human half-animal creature to the housewives. One by one the archaeologist’s family is horrified leading to death and another sacrifice to the ancient gods of the Celts.

The Endless (2017) dirs. Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson.

I like this duo – I enjoyed Spring (2014), and I think this film is even better. It might be one of my favourite timey-wimey cosmic horror Sci-Fi films now. New to me.

Time is a prison.

Two brothers return to the cult they fled from years ago to discover that the group’s beliefs may be more sane than they once thought.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) dir. Guy Ritchie.

This is a comfort rewatch of my favourite Arthurian film. It has everything I enjoy about Ritchie films, plus it’s an action-fantasy. Arthur’s basically a gangster, which is all kings really are. This is actually my (almost) perfect fantasy film. Himself reckons Guy Ritchie should do a version of Preiddeu Annwn/The Spoils of Annwn, which is literally a heist story. That would be amazing.

From nothing comes a King

When the child Arthur’s father is murdered, Vortigern, Arthur’s uncle, seizes the crown. Robbed of his birthright and with no idea who he truly is, Arthur comes up the hard way in the back alleys of the city. But once he pulls the sword Excalibur from the stone, his life is turned upside down and he is forced to acknowledge his true legacy… whether he likes it or not.

Underwater (2020) dir. William Eubank.

Another comfort rewatch, which I really enjoy. This one did the deep sea walk across the seabed being attacked by monsters before Meg 2. This is a Cthulhu/Deep Ones mythos film, one of THE best entries into that subgenre made so far.

7 miles below the ocean surface something has awakened

After an earthquake destroys their underwater station, six researchers must navigate two miles along the dangerous, unknown depths of the ocean floor to make it to safety in a race against time.

Crow Hollow (1952) dir. Michael McCarthy.

A new-to-me British Gothic thriller, with a blushing bride (she’s known him a week), and three batty old aunts to contend with. My favourite genre of British Gothic is three old women up to no good. Available on YouTube.

A new bride tries to survive multiple attempts on her life in a dark mansion, while her husband refuses to believe that she in danger.

Panna a Netvor/Beauty and the Beast (1978) dir. Juraj Herz.

A favourite comfort watch, and one I finally own on disc. I love it so much.

I have so much to say about this, but I won’t do that here, I’ll save that for a full post or something.

Julie, the youngest daughter of a bankrupt merchant, sacrifices her life in order to save her father. She goes to an enchanted castle in the woods and meets Netvor, a bird-like monster. As Netvor begins to fall in love with Julie, he must suppress his beastly urge to kill her.

The Bench (2024) dir. Sean Wilkie.

This is an indie Scottish film that took 17 years to make, and finally got snapped up by Amazon. I have to say, I really enjoyed it. It’s a good old-fashioned slasher, made by people who clearly like slashers, and there are lots of nice moments and meta nods in it.

The twist is fairly predictable, but I don’t need it to be clever, I just want a fun 75mins of people having relationship drama then running around and screaming. Both our killer (Gareth Hunter) and my hero Tommy (Chris Somerville) were very Ricky-coded to me. Any film where I say “That’s my son!” twice gets an extra star.

Over 300,000 people go missing in the UK every year. Most are never found.

A breakdown. A kind invitation. A cabin with a bloody past. Alex and her newfound friends face a nightmarish reality as they are picked off one by one, drawn to the sinister bench below. Inspired by low-budget horror films of the 1970s.

An Cailleach Bhéarra (2007) dir. Naomi Wilson. 8mins runtime. Available on YouTube via Screen Ireland’s channel.

A lovely 8min folklore short, with a large scale puppet and some great animation.

“The Cailleach was dependent on this one thing… every hundred years she must get back to the water and immerse herself so that she might become young again.”

This film is an interpretation of fragments of the ancient myth of the “cailleach”, old hag, otherworld female, mother earth, sovereignty queen, or witch. Told using a large scale puppet and actors moving through real landscape.

Other Films Watched

Films and standalone shorts watched in January (click to expand)

Until Dawn (2025) dir. David F. Sandberg. It’s based on a video game I haven’t played but can see the appeal of. I really liked the aesthetics of the house, the monster design, and the concept. I also enjoyed the dynamics between the characters, but I lost interest in the middle.

It Feeds (2025) dir. Chad Archibald. This is like a darker, feature-length film version of the US show, Medium. It has a very strong mother/daughter relationship and a good ending, fine for an afternoon viewing, but I don’t think I’d watch this again.

The Wyrm of Bwlch Pen Barras (2023) dir. Craig Williams. 17min runtime, a really good short film. We don’t see the wyrm herself, but hopefully we all know what a wyrm/really big fucking snake-dragon looks like. I would watch this short film again.

The Innsmouth School for Girls (2023) dir. Joshua Kennedy. This is a rewatch, not a favourite or anything, but sometimes I get an urge to watch it again. It’s one of the better Deep Ones/Innsmouth entries, and I think it’s definitely worth a look.

Dark Light (2019) dir. Padraig Reynolds. This is a rewatch – again, not a highlighted favourite, but one I occasionally feel in the mood for. It’s a pretty competent Sci-Fi-Horror, with monstrous humanoids rather than aliens, and I do enjoy the central mother-daughter drama.

東海道お化け道中 / Yokai Monsters: Along With Ghosts (1969) dirs. Kimiyoshi Yasuda, Yoshiyuki Kuroda. New to me, a good background one. Atmospheric, and with really fun 1960s effects! I think I’d rewatch this, I liked the little girl and the plot was entertaining enough. Available on YouTube.

The Barbarians (1987) dir. Ruggero Deodato. A rewatch – accidental, I was doing stuff with the TV on in the background, this came on, and I didn’t turn it off and ended up watching the whole thing. As entertaining as the last time, not one I would ever dedicate my concentration to, but it’s ’80s Sword and Sorcery for comforting background company on a rainy day.

The Spiritualist/The Amazing Mr. X (1948) dir. Bernard Vorhaus. I liked this one; I watched it for Turhan Bey and Lynn Bari. It’s a good psychological, Supernatural Explained noir, although for goodness sake her husband has only been dead for two years and everyone is pressuring her to move on and remarry, leave her alone. Westerners not knowing how to process grief is not a 21stC phenomenon. Available on YouTube.

The Return (1973) dir. Sture Rydman. 30mins runtime, a made-for-TV British short; this is a pretty good Gothic ghost story, very atmospheric and melodramatic. It is based on stories by A.M. Burrage and Ambrose Bierce. A 2-person cast, which really works for the atmosphere and sense of claustrophobia in the house setting. Available on YouTube.

Il mulino delle donne di pietra/Mill of the Stone Women (1960) dir. Giorgio Ferroni. Not as fun as I hoped, but pretty good. A bit of Mad Science and Italian Gothic. Available on YouTube. I actually think this might be a rewatch but it didn’t leave much of an impression on me the first time.

The Ghoul (1933) dir. T. Hayes Hunter. This one made me laugh, I did enjoy it for 80mins of excitable young people shouting at each other. Is it culturally sensitive to anyone? No, not in the least. I really liked the enemies-to-partnership thing the cousins had going on, though; Betty was great. This is what 1930s feminism looked like.

Moss Rose (1947) dir. Gregory Ratoff. An absolutely wild melodrama murder mystery/thriller, with Vincent Price as a policeman, and the worst faux-Cockney accents I have ever heard. Some fascinating class discussion though.

Darklands (1996) dir. Julian Richards. I watched this again for a review I’m writing for Divination Hollow, and to see how the Director’s Cut (6min shorter) fares against the original version I watched in 2023, the year the Cut was released. This is… something. I have a whole post on it already, where I missed the antisemitism of the Lilith imagery of a character called Rebecca, on top of everything else it’s doing. Anyway, the new essay on this will be potentially cross-posted, but Divination Hollow will get it first.

Deváté srdce/The Ninth Heart (1979) dir. Juraj Herz. The third Herz film I’ve seen this month, this is one I also own on disc (thanks to the Severin Films Folk Horror Compendium). I didn’t like this as much as Panna a Netvor, but the hair was amazing. I don’t think it was a highlighted watch for me, but I do think I’ll be watching it again, and maybe this will grow on me.

The Fall of the House of Usher (1960) dir. Roger Corman. I’m not a massive Poe fan but I do like his work, and I do like a few of the adaptations of it. This is much more of a comfort rewatch for me just because of Vincent Price. I know there are loads of versions of it and I haven’t seen them all, but this is not a bad film. It was written by Richard Matheson, and I tend to enjoy his scripts.

A Child’s Voice (1978) dir. Kieran Hickey. An Irish made-for-TV short, 29mins runtime. Very much in the vein of Ghost Stories for Christmas, and strongly reminiscent of Mark Gatiss’s original story, The Dead Room (2018) which has a very similar premise and main character. It was a one-off, not part of a series or anthology, and only shown on UK TV once in the 1980s.

The Circle (2017) dir. Peter Callow. I’ve seen this one before and I vaguely remembered it was low budget and not awful, and I fancied the folk horror feels. It’s a Scottish set one, and I want to watch more Scottish horror where possible, like The Isle, Get Duked!, Dog Soldiers, Outcast, and Little Bone Lodge. The Irish horror scene is really flourishing, but Wales and Scotland are behind. A lot of that is budget and investment, so I’m on the lookout for more films by Scottish filmmakers. I don’t know if Callow is Scottish, but it does make some good use of the landscape and isolation of the islands!

Tattiebogle (2017) dir. Douglas Kyle. Made for £101.99, this was the start of a rabbithole I fell into while looking for more Scottish Horror. Douglas Kyle seems to have a production company, ChaosBox Productions, which has a YouTube Channel. He has a 62-episode no-budget Sci-Fi series, The Pandora Men, and several features and shorts. This is one of the features, made over 8 days in the cast & crew’s spare time. I really appreciate no-budget / microbudget films made by people having a lot of fun, and this is absolutely that. It’s an ecohorror/folk horror slasher, made in Aberdeenshire.

The Ghillie Dhu (2024) dir. Douglas Kyle. His latest short feature, roughly 37mins runtime. This attempts to be about anxiety disorder and, I guess, the horror of being consumed by your traumas and disorders, married with the Scottish folktale of the Ghillie Dhu.

The Yird Swine (2020) dir. Douglas Kyle. This isn’t on Letterboxd yet, I need to add it. The link is to IMDB instead. This has the same core cast, with another cast member from The Pandora Men series, Myla Corvidae (he/they), originally from Cardiff! This was a fun one too. The pacing wasn’t as good as Tattiebogle, but I really liked it. Everyone was obviously really enjoying themselves making it. I think if you’re into this side of amateur indie filmmaking, you should check out these films.

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