Ghost Stories
The long, winter evenings have been here for a while, but as its winter solstice and we’re edging closer to Christmas, we thought it a good time to discuss the ghost story and its enduring appeal. Do we like to be scared? Are Irish and British writers particularly adept at the form? We talk spooky narratives with John Boyne, author of This House is Haunted and Kate Mosse, founder of the Orange Prize for Fiction and author of a new short story collection The Mistletoe Bride and Other Haunting Tales.
If you’d like to visit the crypt of St Michan’s mentioned in the MR James story Lost Hearts – details are available here (they certainly are unsettling and intriguing in equal measure):
www.stmichans.com/index.php/the-crypts/about
Daphne du Maurier
Daphne Du Maurier’s novels and short stories were consistently adapted for film and gave us some classic cinematic experiences. This year sees the anniversaries of three of her most famous works: gothic romance Rebecca (75), Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now (40) and Hitchcock’s The Birds (50). But what is it about du Maurier’s writing that translates so well to the big screen?
Liam Geraghty talks to writer Anna Carey (www.obrien.ie/anna-carey) and filmmaker and lecturer Steven Benedict (www.stevenbenedict.ie/) about Du Maurier’s work.
