At Christmas time there's plenty of reasons to be afraid. Here we look at the traditions of telling ghost stories this time of year.  

A History of Horror Podcast

The art of the British ghost story

Introducing the latest podcast from Christopher Brown. All about horror, cinema and storytelling.

Introducing a new podcast from Christopher Brown – The Last Horror Podcast

What next for horror and cinema in general? The last episode tries to see what the future is.

The future and the end

Films are more freely available than they ever have been. Horror films can stream on Youtube and Netflix but people are still heading towards the cinema

Digital growth, VOD and the return to cinema

Nigeria and South Africa dominate a brief discussion on film from this part of the world

African nasties and a different underground

A brief look at films from Egypt, Turkey and a Tobe Hooper film from the UAE

Egypt, Turkey, UAE

After the twin tower attacks horror changed. The birth of torture porn and the return to retro shocks. America realised that the reason the killer might be the house was that they might not just like them.

9/11, a foreign threat and present day US mainstream

In the 1990s what was, in Japan, a return to retro-styles of horror felt fresh for Western audiences. Vicious violence and sex fell away to be replaced by scary ghosts coming to get you

Japanese influences

From serial killers, to a new breed of slasher movie and to seeing dead people. The USA 90s horror landscape had plenty going for it.  

90s postmodernism, serial killers and the brief rebirth of the slasher

A trip to China shows the split between Hong Kong and the mainland, India is a Bollywood treat and Pakistan only had their first gore film in 2007

China, India, Pakistan

A real mixed bag of crazy, wild and weird films. All with only one thing in common

Ozploitation

VHS brought democracy and freedom for film. It brought a new asthetic to horror too. Along with a flood of new nostalgia and, of course, the video nasties.

VHS Boom, nasties and the slow growth of the underground

We head to Spain. See Jess Franco, spot some werewolves and get attacked by some Blind Dead. Greece briefly figures too.

Spanish werewolves and other Mediterranean frights

Down in Mexico there is some great horror and across that entire part of the world is a quiet horror boom

Mexican horror and South America

Taking a look at a very particular element of exploitation culture has changed how we see low budget horror. Christopher makes a case that the concept of Grindhouse has altered our view of 70s cinema.

Grindhouses

Examining horror cinema around the globe through the years