To see Count Magnus

For today's countdown to Halloween's post, I am going to dwell into a horror story classic by M.R. James. You know how much I love M.R. James and I cannot have my spooky season without at least some of his ghost stories, either by rereading them or by watching some of his many adaptations. One of my favourite of his is Count Magnus, a ghost (or maybe a vampire) story set in Sweden and which is perfect for the weeks leading to Halloween. I plugged it back in 2015. Recently, I found on BBC iplayer an adaptation of the short story done in 2022 for Christmas. I don't know why I skipped my attention then, but in any case, I find James' stories more suitable for Halloween. So I watched it. And I must say I quite enjoyed it. I was worried as it was adapted by Mark Gatiss, who made a massacre and a joke of Dracula. He obviously has more respect for James than Stoker. Okay, so the story was flawed and Gatiss made a few questionable creative decisions, but overall pretty faithful and it had a few genuinely scary moments. If you wish to read the original, you can find it online here. Fair warning: it is a scary read.