I was hit by a bombardment of adverts for Ghost Stories in the newspaper today - or rather, Ghost Storeis, each one of them littered with deliberate typos (such as Arpil and cimenas) and accompanied by the tagline "the brain sees what it wants to see". Whilst I think it's smart, people on Twitter seem to be kicking up a fuss, saying "do you double check stuff before you post?",  "someone made a very expensive mistake", and "#someonesgettingfired"...but duh they are completely missing the point! That is the whole point, and once you watch Ghost Stories everything will become clear. Mostly.

The title alone is enough to make a horror wimp like myself run a mile. However, various events somehow led to me sitting in a cinema about to watch various events unfold to Professor/C-list local TV personality/paranormal debunker Phillip Goodman (actor, co-writer and co-director Andy Nyman). I'm pretty glad too, because this is a smart scare-fest. Don't be put off by the words "ghost stories", because what you actually get are three seemingly unrelated stories that are as intriguing as they are terrifying: a night watchman on shift, a teenager whose car breaks down at night in the middle of the woods (aaaah), and a businessman about to have a child. Yes, it is still a horror film (I can still vividly recall every jump and attempt to hide behind my hands) but it's not horror for the sake of a cheap scare. It is old-school with a twist; self-mocking and self-aware at times, but not what horror fans might be used to seeing. 

The three supernatural stories run separately, individual chapters originally introduced by an old and famous fellow debunker who lives in an eerie mobile home and has set Goodman the challenge to investigate as he is now convinced they are unsolvable. Apparently this differs from the material source, a 2010 play written by Nyman and Jeremy Dyson, but it has an interesting pay-off. The play must have been damn scary with scenes up close; in the film, the night watchman scene involves Dyson himself in the dark with your typical flickering lights, shadowy figures with a few old mannequins thrown in for good measure. Then there's driving in the dead of night in the middle of nowhere with strange things lurking outside - this is probably one of the most memorable chapters thanks to one-to-watch Alex Lawther as terrified teenager Simon, and some unexpected humour. Finally, the third chapter leads to the third act featuring Martin Freeman who is good as an arrogant but pained trader. Contrary to marketing material, he's not the main character, but he does get to have some fun. The grand homely setting (he's rather posh) is a stark contrast to the darkness of everything else, which is somehow even more unsettling. 

And of course there's more, much more, but I'm not going to spoil it. Let's just say things really escalate, but then again don't all horror films? There's a lot of simmering, lots of hidden meaning dotted around and I'd say it's even worth a second watch if you can handle living through the tension again. It actually took me a while to digest and even comprehend, and I'm certain there's a bunch of detail I missed whilst in hiding. It is also quite unimaginable that there are barely any females in the story and this would absolutely fail the Bechdel test with flying colours. Overall, it's a thrilling and satisfying watch that will leave you unable to sleep at night - not because of the scares, but because there's a very human underlying message that will have your mind turning.  

Ghost Stories is in UK cinemas on 6th April.