Split Picks: 'Whistle And I'll Come To You' Vs. 'The Treasure of Abbot Thomas'

Split Picks finds the holiday spirit with a look at two episodes from the BBC's A Ghost Story For Christmas tradition. No one would actually take something from a grave with an ominous warning written on it and then proceed to put said item in their mouth, right? Split Picks is back to give a definitive answer: no. But as author M.R. James and the BBC would have you believe, there is at least one person who would risk it all in the name of disbelieving superstition. Though ghosts and Christmas time may conjure images of A Christmas Carol, in the 1960s and 1970s, the BBC aired a yearly ghost story, often adapted from James stories at the holidays. With Bennett Glace and special guest, director of Mickey Dogface, Zach Fleming, they discuss the classic A Ghost Story For Christmas entires Whistle And I'll Come To You (1968) and The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974). In Whistle, a growling professor on holiday finds some souvenirs come with risks. It also proves that horror is sometimes at its most effective when at its simplest and most elemental. In Abbot Thomas, a clergyman and his student seek the hidden treasure from an alchemist who left behind clues about his alleged fortune. Once discovered, the clergyman meets the goopiest entity in the BBC ghost canon. Are the M.R. James original stories superior to their adaptations? Did the series reboot in the 2010s live up to the originals? Will Bennett's streak of saying "Lynchian" in every episode finally come to an end?