#mr james christmas

[marypickfords]

The Stalls of Barchester (Lawrence Gordon Clark, 1971) A Warning to the Curious (Lawrence Gordon Clark, 1972) Lost Hearts (Lawrence Gordon Clark, 1973) The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (Lawrence Gordon Clark, 1974) The Ash Tree (Lawrence Gordon Clark, 1975)

“For all five of these adaptations, Gordon Clark worked with cinematographer John McGlashan and sound recordist Dick Manton, who he credits with establishing the gloomy look that would be the hallmark of the series (as well as editor Roger Waugh who edited all the original series’ James adaptations save 1973’s ‘Lost Hearts’). Central to that aesthetic were the authentic East Anglian locations that have been the inspiration for many a terror tale, even aside from those of M.R. James.

‘James lived in East Anglia—the region that encompasses Norfolk and Suffolk—for most of his life,’ explains Helen Wheatley, citing this as one reason James set many of his stories there. ‘However, there is also a broader sense of the region as being rather out on a limb, a relative hinterland, which lends itself to ghost story telling,’ she continues. ‘In James’ stories, and their television adaptations, the geography and landscape of the region—expanses of flat land, the whispering grasses of the East Anglian coast line, sparsely populated agricultural land—has a particularly haunting quality.’

This landscape is key to the series’ hauntological appeal. Scholar Derek Johnston has an extensive catalogue of writing that examines nostalgia in relation to the Christmas ghost story—and the A Ghost Story for Christmas series in particular—and notes that the Victorian middle class idealization of rural life was subverted by James’ stories, which presented the country as peaceful on the surface but a place of dark, tumultuous secrets. He also points out that East Anglia is a land of invaders and colonizers, writing in his essay ‘Season, Landscape and Identity in the BBC Ghost Story for Christmas’ that ‘The connection to the local soil and landscape runs generations deep, but it has also been built upon the remains of earlier populations, with earlier connections to that landscape, overrun by the incomers...the landscape may encourage identification with the nation, but it also emphasises how the landscape is interpreted through the history of human action upon it.’” — Kier-La Janisse, from Yuletide Terror: Christmas Horror on Film and Television (2017).

[iamblue15]

Stop Motion is Orange

[geekynerfherder]

Showcasing art from some of my favourite artists, and those that have attracted my attention, in the field of visual arts, including vintage; pulp; pop culture; books and comics; concert posters; fantastical and imaginative realism; classical; contemporary; new contemporary; pop surrealism; conceptual and illustration.

The art of Renato Casaro.

[chernobog13]

Sweaters too ugly...eyes bleeding...!

[buonaseranatasha]

Happy Hour at the Institute

[mariocki]

Lalla Ward makes a brief appearance as Lady Augusta, intended bride to an ill-fated aristocrat, in A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Ash Tree (BBC, 1975)

[cult-princess]

all i want for christmas is one night with JPM in room 64 at the hotel cortez

[1shirt2shirtredshirtdeadshirt]

Could not resist. These were 50% off at the card shop.

(Seriously though, no Boanz up in the shop? TF?)

Icons.

[the-interidiot]

by the way after watching VHS Christmas Carols, well. Call me Agent Curt Mega because I am smitten and swooning (for the Ghost of Christmas Present) /silly

[twiptoe]

if i ever become a million/billionaire i will use my money to fund stopmotion animation. thank you and good night.

[marypickfords]

Whistle and I'll Come to You (Jonathan Miller, 1968)

[kitschykitschykoo]

The episode with Spock riding a cock...

[monocordum]

Better than Legos for visual representation re: slash scenes?

[lobbycards]

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, US lobby card #6. 1983

[frary-us]