Ghostwatch: Behind the Curtains

Greetings, Ghostwatchers! On Wednesday 24th August, in the heart of bustling, tram-linked city of Edinburgh, Scotland, Filmhouse (home of the city's International Film Festival), hosted the world premiere of Red Dwarf XI , set to air on Dave beginning, 22nd September. And guess who flew up to Auld Reekie to check out the proceedings. No clues, just have a guess. Moderated by SFX Editor, Richard Edwards, the event notably featured an appearance from our very own Hallowe'en Witchboard enthusiast, Craig Charles.

Image courtesy of Lionsgate Ironically, this all seems slightly unreal. There had been some rustling in the leaves for a while surrounding upcoming Horror flick, The Woods , but earlier today, news finally broke that the upcoming film, set for release this September, is in fact a long-awaited sequel to Indie classic, The Blair Witch Project ! Made on a shoestring in 1997, the original film was later released in 1999 to enormous worldwide commercial success, and a positive critical response. The first industrial metal-fueled sequel, Book of Shadows shortly followed in 2000, and is often regarded as, well, not quite up to the lofty standards of its predecessor. Personally, I must admit to having slightly more time for its central, mass-hysteria-centric conceit than some, which feels more grounded and intriguing a concept on repeat viewings. Give it another go if you can, especially if watched alongside its short film accompaniments, Shadow of the Blair Witch and The Burkittsvil...

Relatively few examples of contemporary media have best withstood the test of time more so than the Video Home System, better known as good old VHS cassette tapes. Tactile, reliable, and still in use today, they no doubt remain an integral part of many Ghostwatchers' early lives. Largely phased out to make way for LaserDiscs, DVDs and other higher-def formats, Ghostwatch nevertheless holds the distinct honour of being one of the BFI's final video releases, released back in 2002.

This might not come as much of a surprise, but for my taste, documentaries arguably represent the purest form of film. Drama, almost by default, strives to meet that same baseline level of realism, which I suppose is where my appreciation of faux docos, or Cinéma vérité stems. Like so many others, I count more than a few examples of (f)actual docs as being among my personal favourites. But in my experience, there always seems to be one that, for whatever reason, stands out, personally.

Greetings, Ghostwatchers! Just a quick heads-up that if you happen to be in the vicinity of Newcastle Castle Keep's Great Hall on Friday 17th June, at around 7pm, you might like to check out a very special screening of Ken Russell's Gothic , presented by Novocastria Macabre , in association with Screen Demons Horror Film Festival - and set to feature a must-see Q&A with screenwriter and Ghostwatch creator, Stephen Volk , and David Pirie , author of A Heritage Of Horror .

Greetings, Ghostwatchers! Following on from our recent piece on Samhain Magazine , we were lucky enough to speak to its creator, John Gullidge on how the publication came to be, his thoughts on our favourite Hallowe'en Hoax, and what he's up to now...

Despite a suitably enigmatic aura, the shadowy spectre of Samhain Magazine still looms heavy in the scope of deep, Ghostwatchian research. Now sadly out of print, the monthly publication (described as Britain's Longest Running Horror Film Magazine) once covered many a genre gamut – from TV to Film, Horror to Fantasy, and beyond.