Ray Newman
@raynewman.bsky.social
He/him. From Bridgwater, in Bristol. Writer, editor, content designer. Ghost stories, films. No alt text, no repost. Not here for politics. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/raynewman Header: my book Intervals of Darkness https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DDR8X9QY
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Ray Newman
@raynewman.bsky.social
· Mar 22
Between them ‘Municipal Gothic’ and ‘Intervals of Darkness’ have 27 stories full of haunted buildings, haunted people, and working class weirdness. Obviously *I* think they're great – but so do strangers who owe me nothing!
👉 www.amazon.co.uk/Municipal-Go...
👉 www.amazon.co.uk/Intervals-Da...
👉 www.amazon.co.uk/Municipal-Go...
👉 www.amazon.co.uk/Intervals-Da...
There must be a taped-off-British-telly fan edit floating around somewhere.
I have a hankering to watch the original Star Wars in 4:3 with ad breaks for Scotch VHS tapes and the MFI sale, as God and nature intended.
November 26, 2025 at 6:58 PM
There must be a taped-off-British-telly fan edit floating around somewhere.
Reposted by Ray Newman
Yes I have come to them only in the last five years or so and consequently this will be no surprise to anyone else but Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood absolutely went for it didn't they?
There were some seriously messed-up, existential and surreally beautiful horrors in their heads.
There were some seriously messed-up, existential and surreally beautiful horrors in their heads.
November 26, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Yes I have come to them only in the last five years or so and consequently this will be no surprise to anyone else but Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood absolutely went for it didn't they?
There were some seriously messed-up, existential and surreally beautiful horrors in their heads.
There were some seriously messed-up, existential and surreally beautiful horrors in their heads.
Reposted by Ray Newman
My favourite local issue is the ways people have proposed splitting up Staffordshire’s councils.
Latest suggestion: divide along oatcake lines.
Latest suggestion: divide along oatcake lines.
November 26, 2025 at 6:46 PM
My favourite local issue is the ways people have proposed splitting up Staffordshire’s councils.
Latest suggestion: divide along oatcake lines.
Latest suggestion: divide along oatcake lines.
Reposted by Ray Newman
I'm told it was Alfred Hitchcock, who, when Psycho was released, instructed theatres not to allow people in after the start, who introduced the concept of fixed showing times.
a woman is screaming in a shower with her mouth open .
ALT: a woman is screaming in a shower with her mouth open .
media.tenor.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:45 PM
I'm told it was Alfred Hitchcock, who, when Psycho was released, instructed theatres not to allow people in after the start, who introduced the concept of fixed showing times.
Reposted by Ray Newman
Yes, I remember seeing films that way when I was young. Also, my dad had worked as a projectionist when he was young, and said that on occasion reels got mixed up and went on in the wrong order. He said nobody ever noticed (or if they did, they didn’t complain).
November 26, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Yes, I remember seeing films that way when I was young. Also, my dad had worked as a projectionist when he was young, and said that on occasion reels got mixed up and went on in the wrong order. He said nobody ever noticed (or if they did, they didn’t complain).
Municipal Gothic (2022) continues to outsell Intervals of Darkness (2024) by quite some way. That's fine. That's grand. But if you liked MG, don't sleep on IoD. “It's every bit the equal of Municipal Gothic, and if anything it's darker and stranger,” said John Grindrod, who knows wots wot.
Between them ‘Municipal Gothic’ and ‘Intervals of Darkness’ have 27 stories full of haunted buildings, haunted people, and working class weirdness. Obviously *I* think they're great – but so do strangers who owe me nothing!
👉 www.amazon.co.uk/Municipal-Go...
👉 www.amazon.co.uk/Intervals-Da...
👉 www.amazon.co.uk/Municipal-Go...
👉 www.amazon.co.uk/Intervals-Da...
November 26, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Municipal Gothic (2022) continues to outsell Intervals of Darkness (2024) by quite some way. That's fine. That's grand. But if you liked MG, don't sleep on IoD. “It's every bit the equal of Municipal Gothic, and if anything it's darker and stranger,” said John Grindrod, who knows wots wot.
This makes sense.
My dad always says that this where the phrase 'and this is where we came in' comes from. Not sure of the veracity but see the logic.
November 26, 2025 at 6:19 PM
This makes sense.
Still ill, so... Now watching: ‘The Pledge’, dir. Sean Penn, 2001. Based on Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt's 1958 novel, modernised, and transposed to Nevada.
November 26, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Still ill, so... Now watching: ‘The Pledge’, dir. Sean Penn, 2001. Based on Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt's 1958 novel, modernised, and transposed to Nevada.
Reposted by Ray Newman
I read an Elizabeth Taylor (the novelist) book recently, written in the 50s and it had a passage about cinema-going which talks about 'seeing it round'.
November 26, 2025 at 3:08 PM
I read an Elizabeth Taylor (the novelist) book recently, written in the 50s and it had a passage about cinema-going which talks about 'seeing it round'.
A reminder that watching a film in the 1930s was not a purist experience, from John O’Hara’s ‘BUtterfield 8’, 1935.
November 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM
A reminder that watching a film in the 1930s was not a purist experience, from John O’Hara’s ‘BUtterfield 8’, 1935.
I liked Alasdair Beckett-King as the guest sceptic on the latest episode of Uncanny, daring to suggest that "events may not have unfolded exactly as described" and triumphantly revealing that his description of a poltergeist incident was actually a list of panic attack symptoms from the NHS website.
November 26, 2025 at 1:40 PM
I liked Alasdair Beckett-King as the guest sceptic on the latest episode of Uncanny, daring to suggest that "events may not have unfolded exactly as described" and triumphantly revealing that his description of a poltergeist incident was actually a list of panic attack symptoms from the NHS website.
Reposted by Ray Newman
Pleasing trip to the high street.
Bought 50 singles. Here are some of the highlights.
Especially happy to have those Love 45s, finally.
Bought 50 singles. Here are some of the highlights.
Especially happy to have those Love 45s, finally.
November 26, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Pleasing trip to the high street.
Bought 50 singles. Here are some of the highlights.
Especially happy to have those Love 45s, finally.
Bought 50 singles. Here are some of the highlights.
Especially happy to have those Love 45s, finally.
Reposted by Ray Newman
Middle aisle at Lidl yesterday; was fairly tempted. Resisted.
November 26, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Middle aisle at Lidl yesterday; was fairly tempted. Resisted.
Reposted by Ray Newman
She’s here, and she’s spectacular.
November 26, 2025 at 11:28 AM
She’s here, and she’s spectacular.
Reposted by Ray Newman
Anyone enjoying the current re-runs of vintage Call My Bluff on BBC Four might like to check out the show's cameo appearance ten minutes into this barking mad NF Simpson parody. I remember watching this in 1973 and being flabbergasted.
Elementary My Dear Watson (1973)
YouTube video by TV Gold
www.youtube.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Anyone enjoying the current re-runs of vintage Call My Bluff on BBC Four might like to check out the show's cameo appearance ten minutes into this barking mad NF Simpson parody. I remember watching this in 1973 and being flabbergasted.
Reposted by Ray Newman
Still looking for a stuffing recipe to serve on Thanksgiving? Try cramming your bird full of Twinkies! Don't forget to baste the turkey with the cream filling to round out the flavor profile.
November 25, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Still looking for a stuffing recipe to serve on Thanksgiving? Try cramming your bird full of Twinkies! Don't forget to baste the turkey with the cream filling to round out the flavor profile.
Now watching: ‘Midnight’, dir. Mitchell Leisen, 1939, with a screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder. 🎥🎬
November 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Now watching: ‘Midnight’, dir. Mitchell Leisen, 1939, with a screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder. 🎥🎬
Looking forward to this because apparently Vic Reeves is in it.
November 25, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Looking forward to this because apparently Vic Reeves is in it.
Reposted by Ray Newman
Leave Her to Heaven often gets classed as a Technicolor noir, but of course it’s actually a horror film dressed as melodrama.
November 25, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Leave Her to Heaven often gets classed as a Technicolor noir, but of course it’s actually a horror film dressed as melodrama.
Casting – Boaty Boatright
Now watching: ‘The Man Who Would Be King’, dir. John Huston, 1975. 🎬🎥
November 25, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Casting – Boaty Boatright
Reposted by Ray Newman
By the way, the British English for Dirty Fries is Fucked Up Chips.
November 25, 2025 at 4:48 PM
By the way, the British English for Dirty Fries is Fucked Up Chips.
Now watching: ‘The Man Who Would Be King’, dir. John Huston, 1975. 🎬🎥
November 25, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Now watching: ‘The Man Who Would Be King’, dir. John Huston, 1975. 🎬🎥
Set Decorator (Miami) – C L O U D I A
Joanie Shriver’s Corpse by Kurtzman, Nicotero & Berger EFX Group, Inc.
Special Effects – Joe Pancake
Storyboard Artist – Brick Mason
Joanie Shriver’s Corpse by Kurtzman, Nicotero & Berger EFX Group, Inc.
Special Effects – Joe Pancake
Storyboard Artist – Brick Mason
Now watching: ‘Just Cause’, dir. Arne Glimcher, 1995. Because sometimes you just want an expensive 1990s thriller with a very low rating on Rotten Tomatoes and James Newton Howard doing his strings again. 🎥🎬
November 25, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Set Decorator (Miami) – C L O U D I A
Joanie Shriver’s Corpse by Kurtzman, Nicotero & Berger EFX Group, Inc.
Special Effects – Joe Pancake
Storyboard Artist – Brick Mason
Joanie Shriver’s Corpse by Kurtzman, Nicotero & Berger EFX Group, Inc.
Special Effects – Joe Pancake
Storyboard Artist – Brick Mason
Now watching: ‘Just Cause’, dir. Arne Glimcher, 1995. Because sometimes you just want an expensive 1990s thriller with a very low rating on Rotten Tomatoes and James Newton Howard doing his strings again. 🎥🎬
November 25, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Now watching: ‘Just Cause’, dir. Arne Glimcher, 1995. Because sometimes you just want an expensive 1990s thriller with a very low rating on Rotten Tomatoes and James Newton Howard doing his strings again. 🎥🎬
Reposted by Ray Newman
famously the audience panicked, believing the group of slow motion men were going to crash out of the screen and into the tent playing the film.
November 25, 2025 at 11:06 AM
famously the audience panicked, believing the group of slow motion men were going to crash out of the screen and into the tent playing the film.