The Ghost Story Book Club

In our 2025 Christmas Special - join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guest, Mike Muncer in this episode (recorded live on Zoom on 9 December 2025) as we discuss two classic BBC Ghost Story for Christmas films, 'Stigma' (1974) and 'Number 13' (2006) Mike Muncer is the host and creator of The Evolution of Horror, a weekly podcast in which he explores the history of the horror genre by delving into particular sub-genres across several weeks. Each episode Mike is joined by a different guest: a critic, filmmaker or expert, to discuss a particular film in depth, to look at its place within a sub-genre and its impact and legacy on cinema history. Follow Mike on Bluesky here. Buy copies of Mike's game, Final Cut, here. Join my Ghost Story Writing Course in January 2026. Find out more here. SUPPORT ME ON PATREON www.patreon.com/adamzrobinson Join us on Facebook: facebook.com/groups/theghoststorybookclub/ Follow me on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ghoststorybookclub.bsky.social

In Series 5, Episode 10 join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guest, Jenn Ashworth, as we discuss 'The Breakthrough' by Daphne Du Maurier. Jenn Ashworth was born in Preston and studied at Cambridge and Manchester. Her novels include Ghosted: A Love Story, A Kind of Intimacy, The Friday Gospels and Fell. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2018. In 2019 she published Notes Made While Falling, a memoir told in a series of essays. Her book - The Parallel Path - is out now. She is a Professor of Writing at Lancaster University Visit Jenn's website here. MY LIVE SHOWS: Come and see me on tour with A Christmas Carol... dates, venues and tickets here. SOCIAL MEDIA: Join us on Bluesky @ghoststorybookclub Join our Facebook Group facebook.com/groups/theghoststorybookclub/ Support us on Patreon

In Series 5, Episode 9 join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guest, Dr Emily Vincent, as we discuss 'Playing with Fire' by Arthur Conan Doyle. Dr Emily Vincent is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in English Literature at the University of Birmingham. As part of the Media and Epidemics project, Emily is co-writing a book on imaginative representations of influenza in nineteenth- and twentieth-century British periodicals and fiction. Emily holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of Birmingham. Her first monograph (forthcoming with Cambridge University Press) explores how women navigate maternal grief in fin-de-siècle ghost stories by examining loss, spiritualism, and maternity. In 2024, Emily compiled and edited Summoned to the Séance: Spirit Tales from Beyond the Veil, a collection of spiritualism-inspired ghost stories for British Library Publishing as part of their 'Tales of the Weird' series. You can find Emily on Bluesky @dremilyvincent@bsky.social. THE GHOST STORY BOOK CLUB: LIVE-STREAMED CHRISTMAS SPECIAL Tuesday 9 Dec, 7pm Book here: http://gsbcxmas2025.eventbrite.com/ Join me for this Christmas Special of The Ghost Story Book Club, live-streamed on Zoom. My guest will be Mike Muncer (The Evolution of Horror) and we'll be discussing the classic BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas films Stigma (1977) and the M.R. James adaptation, Number 13 (2006). We'll also be asking for your comments and questions live during the episode! Buying a ticket for this special live-streamed event is a fantastic way to support The Ghost Story Book Club podcast. Date: Tues 9 Dec 2025 Time: 7.00pm UK (for a prompt 7.15pm start - you may not be admitted if you arrive after 7.15pm)

In this BONUS episode, I'm inviting you to join us for the live-streamed Christmas Special of The Ghost Story Book Club on Tuesday 9 December. Book your place here: http://gsbcxmas2025.eventbrite.com/ My guest will be Mike Muncer (The Evolution of Horror) and we'll be discussing the classic BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas films Stigma (1977) and the M.R. James adaptation, Number 13 (2006). We'll also be asking for your comments and questions live during the episode! Buying a ticket for this special live-streamed event is a fantastic way to support The Ghost Story Book Club podcast. Gather round the fire, crack open the mince pies, the mulled wine and/or the eggnog and let's dive into it! TICKETS: http://gsbcxmas2025.eventbrite.com/ Date: Tues 9 Dec 2025 Time: 7.00pm UK (for a prompt 7.15pm start - you may not be admitted if you arrive after 7.15pm) Tickets are pay what you decide, with a suggested priced of £8 See you there!

In Series 5, Episode 8 join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guest, Leon Craig, as we discuss 'A Wicked Voice' by Vernon Lee. Leon Craig is the author of gothic short story collection Parallel Hells and queer haunted house novel The Decadence (both Sceptre UK). Her work has been published in Hazlitt, the London Magazine, the TLS and elsewhere. Leon is from London but now lives in Berlin. Leon's debut novel The Decadence is out now. Leon's website: https://www.leoncraigwriter.com/ Leon's story in The Hazlitt - 'A Rage to Live' Leon's inclusion in: A Personal Anthology MY LIVE SHOWS: Come and see me on tour with A Christmas Carol... dates, venues and tickets here. SOCIAL MEDIA: Join us on Bluesky @ghoststorybookclub Join our Facebook Group facebook.com/groups/theghoststorybookclub/ Support us on Patreon

In Series 5, Episode 7 join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guest, Brontë Schiltz, as we discuss 'A Wicked Voice' by Vernon Lee. Brontë Schiltz is a writer, journalist and PhD candidate researching the Televisual Gothic at Manchester Metropolitan University's Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies. Her creative work has been published in Hungry Ghost Magazine, Olney Magazine and Lotus-Eater Magazine, as well as Comma Press collections The Book of Manchester (2024) and The Monster, Capital (2025). Her debut collection is forthcoming. She is the members coordinator of the International Gothic Association and the principal editor of Hive Journal Brontë's website Brontë's instagram SUPPORT THE DEADVAULT KICKSTARTER STRETCH GOALS HERE. MY LIVE SHOWS: Come and see me on tour with A Christmas Carol... dates, venues and tickets here. SOCIAL MEDIA: Join us on Bluesky @ghoststorybookclub Join our Facebook Group facebook.com/groups/theghoststorybookclub/ Support us on Patreon

In Series 5, Episode 6 join me, Adam Z. Robinson, for a LIVE episode of the podcast, recorded at The Dukes, Lancaster, on Tuesday 28 October 2025, as part of their 'Spooked' festival. I was joined on stage, after a screening of Night of the Demon (1957), by writer and academic researcher Brontë Schiltz and academic, writer and poet Professor Catherine Spooner for a discussion about the film and M.R. James's enduring appeal. Also in this episode, you'll hear the DEADVAULT trailer! Please consider supporting us in our fundraiser here. SUPPORT THE DEADVAULT KICKSTARTER HERE. MY LIVE SHOWS: Come and see me on tour with Darkness & Light and A Christmas Carol... dates, venues and tickets here. SOCIAL MEDIA: Join us on Bluesky @ghoststorybookclub Join our Facebook Group facebook.com/groups/theghoststorybookclub/ Support us on Patreon

In Series 5, Episode 5 join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guest, Adam Farrer as we discuss 'In the Tube' by E.F. Benson. Adam Farrer is a writer, lecturer, mentor and editor based in Manchester, UK. His debut essay collection, Cold Fish Soup (Saraband, 2022), won the NorthBound Book Award and the follow-up, Broken Biscuits and Other Male Failures, was published in the UK by HarperNorth in February 2025 and was published in the US on November 4th 2025 Listen to Adam Farrer's ghost story 'The Only' here Adam Farrer's website: **CONTENT WARNING: As mentioned in the episode, as part of our discussion, Adam and I have a frank conversation about suicide, both in terms of the story and in real life experiences.** SUPPORT THE DEADVAULT KICKSTARTER HERE. MY LIVE SHOWS: Come and see me on tour with Darkness & Light and A Christmas Carol... dates, venues and tickets here. SOCIAL MEDIA: Join us on Bluesky @ghoststorybookclub Join our Facebook Group facebook.com/groups/theghoststorybookclub/ Support us on Patreon

In Series 5, Episode 4 join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guest, Andrew Michael Hurley, as we discuss 'A View from a Hill' by M.R. James. Andrew Michael Hurley's first novel, The Loney, was originally published by Tartarus Press as a 300-copy limited-edition, before being republished by John Murray. It went on to sell in twenty languages, win the Costa Best First Novel Award and Book of the Year at the British Book Industry Awards. Devil's Day, his second novel, was picked as a Book of the Year in five newspapers and won the Encore Award. Starve Acre was published by John Murray in 2019, with a film adaptation starring Morfydd Clark and Matt Smith in production. Andrew's novel Barrowbeck was released in 2024. His latest novel, Saltwash, is out now in all good book shops. Andrew's story 'The Rising of the Sun' on BBC Sounds is here. SUPPORT THE DEADVAULT KICKSTARTER HERE. MY LIVE SHOWS: Come and see me on tour with Darkness & Light and A Christmas Carol... dates, venues and tickets here. SOCIAL MEDIA: Join us on Bluesky @ghoststorybookclub Join our Facebook Group facebook.com/groups/theghoststorybookclub/ Support us on Patreon

In Series 5, Episode 3 join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guest, Evelyn Hollow as we discuss 'The Haunting of Hill House' by Shirley Jackson. Evelyn Hollow is a Scottish writer and paranormal psychologist. She was a resident author at Esoterica Zine for several years, was the recipient of the 2015 Lonely Planet Travel Writing Scholarship, the occult columnist for Corvid Culture, has written numerous articles for Haunted magazine, and has taught writing classes at everywhere from universities to arts festivals. She has also been featured in exhibitions at ESAF and is the creator of The Baer Archive. Her first book, ATLAS OF PARANORMAL PLACES, was published worldwide on Ivy Press (Quarto Publishing Group) in September 2024. She is a former psychology lecturer and holds a Master of Research degree in Paranormal Psychology. She now consults as a paranormal psychologist and expert for various TV shows and podcasts — most recently the smash-hit BBC shows The Battersea Poltergeist , The Witch Farm, and Uncanny. She is also from the Warner Bros. TV shows Spooked Scotland and Spooked Ireland, which stream on Discovery Channel+. Evelyn gives guest talks on paranormal history, folklore, and the quantum physics of anomalous phenomena. ORDER ‘ATLAS OF PARANORMAL PLACES’ HERE MY LIVE SHOWS: Come and see me on tour with Darkness & Light and A Christmas Carol... dates, venues and tickets here. SOCIAL MEDIA: Join us on Bluesky @ghoststorybookclub Join our Facebook Group facebook.com/groups/theghoststorybookclub/ Support us on Patreon

In Series 5, Episode 2 join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guest, Colin Walsh as we discuss 'Don't Look Now' by Daphne Du Maurier. Colin Walsh's short stories have won several awards including the RTE Francis MacManus Short Story Prize and the Hennessy Literary Award. In 2019 he was named Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year. His writing has been published in the Stinging Fly, the Irish Times and broadcast on RTE Radio 1 and BBC Radio 4. KALA is his first novel. He is from Galway and lives in Belgium. MY LIVE SHOWS: Come and see me on tour with Darkness & Light and A Christmas Carol... dates, venues and tickets here. SOCIAL MEDIA: Join us on Bluesky @ghoststorybookclub Join our Facebook Group facebook.com/groups/theghoststorybookclub/ Support us on Patreon

In Series 5, Episode 1 join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guest, Julia Armfield as we discuss 'Honeysuckle Cottage' by P.G. Wodehouse. Julia Armfield is a fiction writer, living in London. In 2019, she was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year award. She was longlisted for the Deborah Rogers Award 2018, and won the White Review Short Story Prize 2018 and a Pushcart Prize in 2020. She is the author of salt slow, a collection of short stories, which was longlisted for the Polari Prize 2020 and the Edge Hill Prize 2020. Her debut novel, Our Wives Under The Sea, was shortlisted for the Foyles Fiction Book of the Year Award 2022 and won the Polari Prize 2023. Her second novel, Private Rites, was longlisted for the inaugural Climate Fiction Prize in 2024. Private Rites is out now in paperback, available from all good bookshops. Julia's Substack is here. LIVE SHOWS: Come and see me on tour with Darkness & Light and A Christmas Carol... dates, venues and tickets here. SOCIAL MEDIA: Join us on Bluesky @ghoststorybookclub Join our Facebook Group facebook.com/groups/theghoststorybookclub/ Support us on Patreon

The Ghost Story Book Club rises from the dead! Series 5 begins Wednesday 8 October. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Come and see me on tour... dates, venues and tickets here. Join us on Bluesky @ghoststorybookclub Join our Facebook Group facebook.com/groups/theghoststorybookclub/ Support us on Patreon

In the second of our 2024 Christmas Specials - join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guests Jenn Ashworth (author of Ghosted, A Kind of Intimacy and Fell) and Andrew Michael Hurley (author of The Loney, Starve Acre and Barrowbeck). We discussed three ghost stories for Christmas: Christmas Eve on a Haunted Hulk by Frank Cowper The Glamour of the Snow by Algernon Blackwood Don't Tell Cissy by Celia Fremlin Jenn Ashworth is novelist and Professor of Writing at Lancaster University. Her novels include A Kind of Intimacy, The Friday Gospels and Fell. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2018. In 2019 she published Notes Made While Falling, a memoir told in a series of essays. Her latest novel is Ghosted: A Love Story. Jenn has written a brand new introduction for a new edition of A Helping Hand by Celia Dale. Follow Jenn on Instagram here. Andrew Michael Hurley's first novel, The Loney won the Costa Best First Novel Award and Book of the Year at the British Book Industry Awards. Devil's Day, his second novel, was picked as a Book of the Year in five newspapers and won the Encore Award. Starve Acre was published by John Murray in 2019 and has recently been adapted into a film starring Morfydd Clark and Matt Smith. His most recent novel, Barrowbeck, is out now. SUPPORT ME ON PATREON www.patreon.com/adamzrobinson Join us on Facebook: facebook.com/groups/theghoststorybookclub/ Follow me on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ghoststorybookclub.bsky.social

In the first of our 2024 Christmas Specials - join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guest, Mike Muncer in this episode (recorded live on Zoom on 11 December 2024) as we discuss two classic BBC Ghost Story for Christmas films, 'The Signalman' (1976) and 'A View From a Hill' (2005). Mike Muncer is the host and creator of The Evolution of Horror, a weekly podcast in which he explores the history of the horror genre by delving into particular sub-genres across several weeks. Each episode Mike is joined by a different guest: a critic, filmmaker or expert, to discuss a particular film in depth, to look at its place within a sub-genre and its impact and legacy on cinema history. Subscribe to The Evolution of Horror - and Mike's Twin Peaks podcast, The Detective and the Log Lady - wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Mike on Bluesky here. Buy copies of Mike's game, Final Cut, here. SUPPORT ME ON PATREON www.patreon.com/adamzrobinson Join us on Facebook: facebook.com/groups/theghoststorybookclub/ Follow me on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ghoststorybookclub.bsky.social

In Series 4, Episode 11 - our Christmas Special - join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guest, Mike Muncer in this episode (recorded live on Zoom on 7 December 2023) as we discuss two class Ghost Story for Christmas films, 'The Treasure of Abbot Thomas' (1974) and 'The Ash Tree' (1975) Mike Muncer is the host and creator of The Evolution of Horror, a weekly podcast in which he explores the history of the horror genre by delving into particular sub-genres across several weeks. Each episode Mike is joined by a different guest: a critic, filmmaker or expert, to discuss a particular film in depth, to look at its place within a sub-genre and its impact and legacy on cinema history. Subscribe to The Evolution of Horror wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Mike on Twitter here. UNHOMELY: BOOK YOUR TICKETS HERE Leeds Playhouse, 21 - 23 March The Dukes, Lancaster, 26 - 30 March Harrogate Theatre, 10 - 13 April The Drama Studio (EnableUs), 19-20 April Book now: https://linktr.ee/tbodal SUPPORT ME ON PATREON www.patreon.com/adamzrobinson Join us on Facebook: facebook.com/groups/theghoststorybookclub/ Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/GhostClubPod

In Series 4, Episode 10 join me, Adam Z. Robinson, as I count down ten of my favourite Ghost Stories for Christmas! What are your favourites? Tell me on Twitter and Facebook.

In Series 4, Episode 9 join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guest, Nathan Ballingrud as we discuss 'The Upper Berth' by F. Marion Crawford Nathan Ballingrud is the author of The Strange, Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell, and North American Lake Monsters, which won the Shirley Jackson Award. A novella, Crypt of the Moon Spider, will appear in 2024. He has been shortlisted for the World Fantasy, British Fantasy, and Bram Stoker Awards. His stories have been adapted into the Hulu series Monsterland. He lives in Asheville, NC. Find Nathan on Twitter here. On Instagram here The Ghost Story Book Club: Christmas Special Live-Stream Book now, here: Tickets Date: Thursday 7 December, 7pm (UK time) Guest: Mike Muncer (from The Evolution of Horror) Texts: BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas, The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974) and The Ash Tree (1975) TICKETS:https://gsbcxmas.eventbrite.com

In Series 4, Episode 8 join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guest, Naomi Ryan as we discuss 'Martin's Close' by M.R. James Naomi Ryan is a barrister. After completing the BCL at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, she taught criminal law to undergraduates at St Hilda’s College Oxford and University College London before embarking on her career as a criminal barrister. She both prosecuted and defended before moving to work for as a civil service. She has worked for an array of prestigious departments, including the Attorney General’s Office, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Court of Appeal, and she continues to work as an advisory barrister on criminal matters. When she isn’t advising on criminal matters, she delivers talks on the more macabre side of legal history. She is a regular feature at London’s Month of the Dead festival, and can often be found addressing museums and other legal and supernatural organisations on the topic of ghost law. She plans to finish her book on the subject next year. Find Naomi on Instagram @spooky_barrister The Ghost Story Book Club: Christmas Special Live-Stream Book now, here: Tickets Date: Thursday 7 December, 7pm (UK time) Guest: Mike Muncer (from The Evolution of Horror) Texts: BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas, The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974) and The Ash Tree (1975) TICKETS:https://gsbcxmas.eventbrite.com

In Series 4, Episode 7 join me, Adam Z. Robinson, and my guest, Leon Craig as we discuss 'Berenice' by Edgar Allan Poe Leon Craig is a writer and editor from London, now based in Berlin. Her gothic short story collection Parallel Hells was published by Sceptre Books and she is currently working on her first novel. Leon’s fiction has also appeared in the White Review, the London Magazine, the Best British Short Stories 2022 anthology and the Queer Life, Queer Love anthology. Her criticism has been published by the TLS, the Literary Review and Another Gaze among others. Find Leon on Twitter @Leon_c_c The Ghost Story Book Club: Christmas Special Live-Stream Book now, here: Tickets Date: Thursday 7 December, 7pm (UK time) Guest: Mike Muncer (from The Evolution of Horror) Texts: BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas, The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974) and The Ash Tree (1975) TICKETS:https://gsbcxmas.eventbrite.com