Hypnogoria

In the final chapter of our investigation into the mysteriously short-lived sci-fi shows that turned up on British TV in the 1970s and 1980s, we finish with one of the most obscure - Beyond Westworld, one of the most derided - Manimal, and the most '80s one of them all - Automan!

In this episode Mr Jim opens up the Patreon vaults to release an investigation into some very sinister folklore from the old North  - the legend of the Redcaps. Whether they are ghosts, goblins or faeries, one thing is for certain - they mean us harm!

In this episode we look at two beloved series that very nearly ended up in the Legion of one season wonders. First we uncover the story of the Wonder Woman TV series starring Lynda Carter, which was actually cancelled but picked up for further seasons by a more far sighted network. And then we attempted untangle the confusing history of the original Battlestar Galactica - was it really a TV series, or several movies, or two TV series?!?  Plus we have a bonus step-side to Buck Rogers in the 25th Century which also nearly ended up cancelled.

In the next episode in our series on sci-fi shows that didn't last a single season, we dredge up the lost history of the Man From Atlantis, and find out exactly where Logan ran off to...

In the next chapter in our series on sci-fi shows that didn't last a single season, we have déjà vu with another show about an invisible man that tanked - the Gemini Man, and take a very short trip with The Fantastic Journey whose characters, and whose ratings too, disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle!

In this episode we discover why a second return to the Planet of Apes, as a cartoon TV series, vanished too quickly, and examine the strange case of The Invisible Man (1975) in which David McCallum wasn't seen in more ways than one!

A new mini series we take a look at a string of sci-fi shows from the 1970s and 1980s that everyone remembers, yet lasted only for one season or less! And we start off our exploration of these one season wonders with the ill-fated Planet of the Apes TV series!  

We take a look at a brand new book from Mike Bracken, the Horror Geek - Sick Flicks Volume I - an essential guide to all the splatter that matters!     

In the second part of our look back at the Piccolo Explorer Book of Mysteries, we discover what this 1980s children's book series had to say about sea mysteries, fabulous beasts, ghosts, and even devils and demons!

In this show we travel back to the 1980s to look at a set of books all on things weird and wonderful - the Piccolo Explorer Book of Mysteries! 

In this show Mr Jim has a look at the new novel of pagan terror from Adam LG Nevill - Monumental! A story of life and death in the wilderness where recreation becomes survival! 

Some one on social media asked "What's the creepiest thing you've experienced that you genuinely cannot explain?" and Mr Jim examines the strange tales and ghostly experiences that followed...

A little chat from the fireside which includes details of forthcoming shows and some much needed good news!

Spring is almost here, but there's still time for one last helping of winter horrors! In this chapter we look at two movies that draw on the legend of the Wendigo - Ravenous (1999) and Wendigo (2001), and look at two different adaptations of the same wintry vampire novel - Let the Right One In (2008) and Let Me In (2010)

In this chapter we take a spoiler-free look at the first season of It: Welcome to Derry, the new television series that is set in 1962, before the events of It Chapter One (2017) and It Chapter Two.

In this little episode Mr Jim explores Nightmare Abbey, an on-going series of books delivering ghostly and macabre short tales, some old but most new, from the brightest and best in the field!

We start the New Year with another round-up of fine frights for winter nights - featuring vampires in the arctic circle, a Universal monster out in the snow, kidnappers getting more than they bargained for in a wintery cabin, and a tense psycho-chiller from the King of horror!

In a special New Year's episode, Mr Jim Moon investigates the legend of a ghost who reported walks on New Year's Day - the Black Lady of Bradley Woods. In this show we trace the history of this Lincolnshire haunting, and discover how the folklore has changed and evolved over the years.  

For our Christmas special this year Mr Jim Moon invites you to take a seat by the fire for a selection of seasonal readings from the festive bookshelf! 

In this surprise bonus episode, we review a chilling tale for dark days and long nights, a novel of season shocks - A Christmas Ghost Story by Kim Newman!

In this surprise bonus podcast, we take a look at the new third edition of  Opening the Box of Delights just published by Herne Books - a new expanded edition of the book by Dr Philip W. Errington all about John Masefield's Christmas classic!

In this podcast we present our annual commentary for the BBC's A Ghost Story for Christmas series, and this year we have reached the last episode of the original run, The Ice House written by John Bowen, which was first shown on Christmas Day night 1978.

In this festive special, we take a look at The Box of Delights - The Roleplaying Game from ACE Gamebooks, by Jonathan Green and Tony Hough. We trace its beginnings back to the gamebook, 'TWAS - The Krampus Night Before Christmas (2019) and the following roleplaying game 'TWAS - The Roleplaying Game Before Christmas before exploring roleplaying in the winter wonderland of John Masefield's Christmas Classic. 

In this little chat from the fireside, Mr Jim gives us a little update on his battle with lung cancer but more importantly reveals what's coming up on all our various shows for the festive season! 

In a last helping of winter horrors before Yuletide, we have a variety of movies featuring snowy werewolves, ancient temples in the ice, encounters with yetis, and killer snowmen!

We continue our selections of fine frights for winter nights, rounding up more interesting winter horror movies! This time we have films featuring assorted trolls, isolated artic bases, Scandinavian slashers, and a visit to the Overlook Hotel

For November we begin a new mini series, looking at horror movie suitable for winter viewing! In this first episode we have some classic wintry terrors from the 1950s, the 1970s and the 1980s, discover how zombies fare in the snow, look an early movie from Osgood Perkins, and defrost an obscure 1980s monster movie!

In this chapter we discover what was happening in the mid 1990s on Halloween night, and look at the only big scream outing for Caspar the Friendly Ghost, low budget horror Jack-O, the return of Angela in Night of the Demons 3, and even a movie based on the Monster Mash! 

In this show we look at the final book of the Scarred For Life series - Volume Three is a massive 740 page tour through the dark side of 1980s pop culture. It covers comics, movies, books, videos, and games, plus features a stealthy book-within-a-book on nuclear anxiety and cold war terrors!

In this little show, we review a little microbudget horror from 2012 - Leaving DC. This creepy found footage movie is the video diary of a man who has left the big city to live in a lovely house in the country... But there's something in the woods round his new home... 

We conclude our deep dive into the layers of history and folklore in the Robert Eggers version of Nosferatu, discovering the secrets of Count Orlok and the various pacts and deals that bind the characters together. 

In this chapter we uncover how historical accounts of vampires and ancient folklore gave us a reimagined and reanimated Orlok in the new Nosferatu (2024).

The Nightmares of Nosferatu returns to examine the new Robert Eggers incarnation. In this chapter we chart the development of the movie and the long road it took to the screen, and the magic that went into its making!

A little update on my on-going battles with lung cancer, but this time I have some good news to share! 

In a surprise new chapter, we take a look at a new addition to the Black Lagoon extended family tree - the 2024 movie Monster Island AKA Orang Ikan, a tale of men versus aquatic humanoid monsters set in World War II!

A little chat from the fireside in which Mr Jim updates you all on his battle with the dreaded cancer! Spoilers - it's going well ;) 

In the final part of our history of the Great Ice Lolly Wars, we look at the 1980s, with icy snack tie-ins to the likes of Star Trek The Motion Picture, Superman The Movie, and of course the original Star Wars trilogy, but also discover how yogurts turned into monsters! 

Continuing our history of assorted geeky, freaky, and galactic ice lollies of the 1970s, we discover sci-fi ties-ins to the likes of Space 1999 and the Bionic lolly plus famous monsters Dracula, King Kong and the Daleks getting their own frozen snacks!

For our summer special season this year, we take at look back at the days with ice lollies and frozen snacks went all freaky, geeky, and intergalactic! In this first chapter we discover how ice lollies could get you into Moon Fleet, fighting Daleks with Doctor Who, encountering Red Devils and Jelly Terrors, plus adventuring with a host of Gerry Anderson characters! 

In this show we look at the final Poe adaptation done by Roger Corman, The Tomb of Ligeia, starring Vincent Prince and Elizabeth Shepherd and scripted by Robert Towne who would go on to pen classics such as Chinatown!

In the UK at this time of the year the woodlands are awash with a carpet of bluebells. However as beloved as these wild flowers are, they have a lot of folklore surrounding them, and links to faeries, the dead, witches and the Devil himself! 

I have some serious news and it ain't great... 

This week, the great children's author Aidan Chambers sadly passed away. And this show we take a fond look back on the ghostly books he penned and the various anthologies of spooky stories he edited.

Did you know Oliver Stone had made a horror film? No? Did you know he'd made TWO horror movies before he directed Salvador (1986)? Well, step this way and discover his first two movies - Seizure (1974) starring Jonathan Frid, Hervé Villechaize and Martine Beswick, and The Hand (1981) starring Sir Michael Caine! 

In this chapter we examine the movie often hailed as the greatest Roger Corman ever made - Masque of the Red Death (1964) - starring Vincent Price, Hazel Court, and Jane Asher, plus cinematography from future legendary director Nicolas Roeg.

In this chapter we learn how Roger Corman made the very first movie adaptation of a HP Lovecraft story - The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, starring Vincent Price and Lon Chaney Jnr. - but when it hit cinemas, it had become Edgar Allen Poe's The Haunted Palace! (And yes, they even spelled Poe's middle name wrong!)

In this chapter we have the next two Poe movies from Roger Corman, which each took a different direction. Tales of Terror (1962) was an anthology film featuring three different Poe stories, plus guest stars Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone. While The Raven (1963) was a comedy horror tale of feuding sorcerers which saw Vincent Price plotting magical skulduggery with Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and a young Jack Nicholson!

We take a look at the little known other remake of Nosferatu that surfaced last year, directed by David Lee Fisher and starring Doug Jones as Graf Orlock!

We take a look at the latest incarnation of Universal werewolvery in Wolf Man (2025) written and directed by Leigh Whannell!   Previous chapters in this series can be found here - The Wolf at the Door: a Werewolf History 

The second part of my tribute to the late great David Lynch, in which we uncover Lynchian theories on life, art, film making and the importance of fishing...