It goes back centuriesit comes from the older tradition of telling winters tales.
Theres this idea of liminal boundaries between one state of being and another.
It was part of Queen Victorias mandate to repopularize Christmas.
© Shudder
Then, that transformed into television.
So the BBC was kind of always active and doing ghost stories for Christmas in some form or another.
He proposed one film doing an adaptation of M.R.
© Shudder
James storyThe Stalls of Barchester.
He used a previous adaptation of an M.R.
And it was not made for Christmas.
© Shudder
It was made for a different time of year, a different program.
So he madeThe Stalls of Barchester.
It was a big hit, so then he got permission every year to keep making another one.
© Shudder
And so it became a series; all through the 70s, there would be a different episode.
Its basically a Christmas special thats ongoing, where theres a new installment every year.
That tradition still exists in the UK.
So this series is just part of that bigger tradition.
io9: How did you decide onTo Fire You Come at Lastas the first entry?
How did writer-director Sean Hogan get involved?
Hes incredibly talented, really great with period dialogue.
We were doing our new box set,All the Haunts Be Ours Volume Two.
And we were like, We dont have an equivalent of that for the second box set.
So we asked Sean if he would make a film for that.
I gave him a couple of prompts for it.
But we had wanted Sean Hogan to make that film.
And David was like, Sure, go for it.
We were so excited about it, like, Lets do it now!
And so that was really how it happened.
I love the film.
It turned out so well.
They were in very adverse conditions, but I think it turned out really well.
Is that something well be seeing as the series continues?
Janisse:I dont know that theyll be in black and white, but they will all be period.
That was what the tradition always was.
They made new stories, modern stories set in modern parameters.
And the audience at the time revolteda lot of them got bad reviews.
Now people love those episodes because now theyre vintage, now theyre period pieces.
But at the time when they were new, people were like, Youre ruining the tradition!
So I decided that I was going to keep the parameters.
Its [a pretty broad time frame], but they will still be period pieces of some sort.
io9: Can you tease anything about any of the other entries?
io9: I am a big fan ofWoodlands Dark and Days Bewitched, your folk horror documentary.
Are these Christmas ghost stories part of the folk horror tradition?
Janisse:It definitely crosses over because of that oral tradition aspect of it.
Janisse:Well, Shudder has licensed Jonathan MillersWhistle and Ill Come to You.
Absolutely start with that.
And theyve licensed Lawrence Gordon ClarksA Ghost Story for Christmasfrom the 1970s.
I dont know if they haveThe Stone Tapeon Shudder [editors note: they do!]
butThe Stone Tapewas broadcast for Christmas.
And thats a great one, too.
WatchTo Fire You Come at Last, the first episode ofThe Haunted Season, on Shudder now.
Want more io9 news?
News from the future, delivered to your present.
