Monday Nov 08, 2021

Season 5: Episode 218 - KINGS OF HORROR: Ghost Story by Peter Straub/Ghost Story (1981)

Book:

Ghost Story

By Peter Straub

Film:

Ghost Story (1981)

The book was released on 01 January 1979 and would be the watershed moment of Peter Straub career and become a bestselling smash. His earlier work had great critical acclaim but this would be the book that made him a household name. The story would involve five elderly gentleman in which the book explores their five narratives into a chilling story. This is considered one of the greatest horror novels of the 20th Century . Some of the characters and location would pop up in other books by Straub such as the novels Koko and Floating Dragon.

This 1981 film would bring together some of the greatest actors from the golden age which would include Fred Astair, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr and John Houseman and would make Alice Krige an actress to look out for. It follows a group of elderly businessmen in New England who gather to recount their involvement in a woman's death decades prior when one of them suspects her ghost has been haunting him. The film differs from the book as it removes a fifth characters story within the framework of the film. the filming process was emotionally turbulent for star Fred Astaire, who confided in Irvin that he felt he was going to die or be murdered while shooting the film, and at one point considered dropping out of the production.

Opening Credits; Introduction (1.38); Plot Synopsis (7.30); Forming the Plot (8.21); Book Thoughts (16.21); Rating Ghost Story (45.09); Introducing a Film (48.04); Ghost Story Film Trailer (49.23); Film Synopsis (51.41); Lights, Camera, Action (57.17); Epilogue (1:29.57); End Credits (1:36.30); Closing Credits (1:37.21)

Season 5: Episode 218 - KINGS OF HORROR: Ghost Story by Peter Straub/Ghost Story (1981)

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