io9 spoke to Janice in 2024 when the series debuts, you come last to fireReached the streamer. That entry was written and directed by Sean Hogan and it follows a group of men carrying a coffin to its final resting place. It’s an impressive and scary story, but it doesn’t reference Christmas in any way. Last year, Janice explained haunted season Isn’t this that kind of “holiday” series; Instead, it’s picking what’s popular BBC A Ghost Story for Christmas Been doing it for decades.
Often based on early 20th-century stories written by M.R. James and his contemporaries, it draws on storytelling traditions that have endured for centuries – community building by sharing scary stories around a fire – and became even more popular in Victorian times with the release of Charles Dickens’s The New York Times. a Christmas CarolWhich is clearly full of festive ghosts.
“What is this haunted season “It’s the idea of an annual ghost story movie that premieres every year… It’s basically a Christmas special that’s going on, where there’s a new installment every year. That tradition still exists in Britain. So this series is a part of that bigger tradition.
At that time, everyone teased Janice about the future haunted season It was that they would all be period stories, taking place after the 1960s – and that she herself would direct an upcoming entry.
That film is here now—it premiered at Shudder on December 1—and it’s been named room occupantIt is based on Algernon Blackwood’s 1909 short story of the same name, although the film takes place in the early 1930s. It runs for 30 minutes and features live-action and animation, as well as a mood that ranges from restlessness to outright despair, helped by an evocative score by experimental sound artist The Nausea.
The screws start turning from the very beginning. A panicked man (Don McKellar) arrives at a secluded mountain inn in the middle of a late-night snowstorm, only to discover that his reservation was never confirmed and all the rooms are full. In fact, it is so close to Christmas, all the rooms in the entire village are full.
The front-desk clerk is politely sending the man on his way, when suddenly, the owner emerges and offers him accommodation that comes with one condition: a room that is vacant only because the guest who rented it went hiking a few days ago and has not yet returned. In other words, she could appear at any moment and take him out. But it’s better than sleeping in the snow, so he accepts this strange offer. He even willingly pays double the prevailing rate.
With this thorny arrangement leading us to confrontation or worse, we watch as the man takes stock of the room – the woman’s possessions are still scattered about; The strangest thing is that a bunch of his long, dark hair is hanging in the sink – and he’s ready for the least comfortable night of his life.
Janice has clearly observed and studied many A Ghost Story for Christmas Episode; His expertise also includes editing Yuletide Terror: Christmas Horror on Film and TelevisionAn anthology book that sheds even more depth on seasonal horror as a genre. And she perfectly captures the gloomy, serious, ice-cold atmosphere of those old BBC episodes room occupant,
The traveler’s plight is so serious that he agrees to an arrangement that he knows may lead to awkward situations; There is also the uncomfortable idea that he is profiting from the supposed misfortune of the previous guest. Also, there is a feeling of someone’s personal space being invaded, even if they are not physically present. But apart from her initial doubts, there is also a strange atmosphere in the room. “The infection of sadness,” as he calls it, and the film immerses us in that mindset with a black-and-white animated sequence that chronicles his increasingly frightening perception of what it feels like to be there.
If it’s Christmas cheer you’re looking for, haunted season It should not be your destination. But if cold pleases you most, you can find room occupant And you come last to fire-Also some classic BBC A Ghost Story for Christmas The entries that inspired this new series on Shudder Now.
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