The First Omen rocked. Well done @jamescswanton.bsky.social - you messed me up!

James Swanton

James Swanton as The Mummy

Our lantern light falls on the extraordinary @jamescswanton.bsky.social - a masterful actor who has brought chilling life to phantoms & monsters on the big & small screen. James also performs the ghost stories of #CharlesDickens - an essential event for all storytelling fans. www.jamesswanton.com

Tv showing the credits opening : James Swanton as The Beast in red text on a black background card.

Well, you know you’re on for a real treat when you see @jamescswanton.bsky.social ‘s name in the opening credits (The Severed Sun — wonderfully refreshing horror— check it out, it’s my head-canon now as to what Thomasin did after the events of The Witch (2015).

The best podcast going! I'm slowly catching up; currently on THE BRIDES OF DRACULA (1960).

Where do you go to find authoritative pronunciations for alchemical terms? Nigredo, albedo, citrinitas (especially) and rubedo, etc. All I'm finding online are videos created by pseuds (or, indeed, robots) that I don't exactly trust.

Ooh, a lede buried there; @jamescswanton.bsky.social in a @bigfinish.bsky.social at last! Hurrah!

Showtime! - Adapting and Acting in Charles Dickens's Stories | Charles Dickens Museum YouTube video by Charles Dickens Museum

My interview for the Dickens Museum's SHOWTIME! exhibition is now available online. They projected it on a wall for six months, meaning I was too frightened to watch! Includes ramblings on David Lean's seminal OLIVER TWIST (1948), Simon Callow, Alastair Sim, Gonzo, etc.

York's Famous Pantomime | A Retrospective YouTube video by Henry Calvert

Here's the full retrospective...

A home office lined with posters for pantos past. There are also two bookshelves, one of which displays a copy of THE GHASTLY ONE.

This pleased me immensely: in a recent mini-doc on York's legendary panto, you can clearly see a copy of @jimmymcdonough.bsky.social's THE GHASTLY ONE on display in Berwick Kaler's home office. Check the bottom shelf, on the far right...

A sheet of newsprint, including an article with the title '"A Christmas Carol" Read Aloud With Dickensian Intensity'.

Alice Zoo's New York Times portrait of James Swanton, sitting on a wooden chair in Victorian attire, bereft of shoes and socks.

I gave 62 one-man Dickens plays in the run-up to Christmas, as well as being interviewed by The New York Times. Common sense dictates I should get some rest, but what I'd really like is another job. Ah - who'd be an actor?

BBC Radio 4 - The Road by Nigel Kneale The legendary 1963 lost TV play. Adapted by Toby Hadoke.

On BBC 4 Extra at 4pm: a repeat of @tobyhadoke.bsky.social’s estimable and effective 2018 radio adaptation of The Road. Genuinely not to be missed if you’re a Nigel Kneale fan.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

How heartwarming! Thank you so much, Claire!

Last chance today!

Watching...Marveling, really at @jamescswanton.bsky.social 's INCREDIBLE performance as Ransley in The Haunted Season: To Fire Come At Last!

Holy macaroni, US folks run, don't walk over to Shudder to check it out!

Funnily enough, I was fitted with a Judge Death helmet - ages ago now, pre-pandemic - for an unmade TV pilot. Not sure where the picture's gone... Bleach, by the way, might be our greatest living actor. An authentic genius.

The Dead of Winter (2023) - Projected Figures Stephen Graves' short Christmas ghost story THE DEAD OF WINTER confronts a modern-day Scrooge with how the other half lives... and dies

"confronts a modern-day Scrooge with how the other half lives... and dies": @stephengraves.co.uk's short ghost story THE DEAD OF WINTER (2023) is now on ShortsTV and Prime Video, screening as part of the "Christmas Stories" compilation. projectedfigures.com/2023/10/18/t...

A Christmas Carol – The Charles Dickens Museum, London   - The Reviews Hub Writer: Charles Dickens  Have we ever lived in more Dickensian times? With shameful levels of child poverty, homelessness, and hunger, it’s shocking to think that almost two centuries later, these iss...

Five stars (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) for my CAROL here: 'While there will undoubtedly be many versions of A CHRISTMAS CAROL to choose from this festive season, on screen and stage, this is one helluva performance not to be missed.' Virtually sold out in London, but SIGNAL-MAN and HAUNTED MAN tickets remain!

What's on at the Charles Dickens Museum Find out more about the fantastic events and activities at the Charles Dickens Museum which take place throughout the year.

Click and scroll to find all London tickets!

A green-lit selfie with a piercing white over-the-shoulder light.

A blue-lit selfie with a background of heavy curtains and moulded plaster ceiling.

Selfies taken before shows 19 (THE HAUNTED MAN) and 20 (A CHRISTMAS CAROL). 42 left! We're sold out in York, but we've some London availability coming up. The two CAROLs on 2nd December are the only ones with any spaces left; also room for THE HAUNTED MAN and THE SIGNAL-MAN (3rd and 4th December).

I'm ashamed never to have read any Scott. I've just stationed George Eliot's MIDDLEMARCH on my coffee table to coax myself into reading that at last!

The Haunted Man The last of Dickens's Christmas Ghost Stories, The Haunted-Man is brimming with that classic Dickensian combination of gothic chills and warming Christmas spirit. Join actor James Swanton for his solo...

... and for THE HAUNTED MAN here.

The Signalman & The Trial for Murder - Live Performance Live, onsite performance.  £22 per adult£18 per concessionWe have not placed an age limit on this performance, but please note that this show is, by its nature, designed to be frightening. We would no...

Tickets for THE SIGNAL-MAN here...

A Christmas Carol – The Charles Dickens Museum, London   - The Reviews Hub Writer: Charles Dickens  Have we ever lived in more Dickensian times? With shameful levels of child poverty, homelessness, and hunger, it’s shocking to think that almost two centuries later, these iss...

Five stars (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) for my CAROL here: 'While there will undoubtedly be many versions of A CHRISTMAS CAROL to choose from this festive season, on screen and stage, this is one helluva performance not to be missed.' Virtually sold out in London, but SIGNAL-MAN and HAUNTED MAN tickets remain!

What's on at the Charles Dickens Museum Find out more about the fantastic events and activities at the Charles Dickens Museum which take place throughout the year.

Book sharpish for A CHRISTMAS CAROL, THE HAUNTED MAN and THE SIGNAL-MAN...

A blue-lit selfie, incorporating a Victorian collar and a fragment of Christmas tree.

Here's my pre-show selfie from last week's press night at the Dickens Museum. The first CHRISTMAS CAROL of the season, and the 18th performance in this year's marathon. 44 to go! We're now fully sold out in York. The best availability is for London at the start of December. Hurry, do!

The Horned King animatronic, a featured villain in Tokyo Disneyland's defunct Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour - part of the strange legacy of The Black Cauldron (1985).

Listen to our episode with @jamescswanton.bsky.social - linktr.ee/onceuponavhs

A surprisingly sensual witch encounter in The Black Cauldron (1985).

Listen to our episode with @jamescswanton.bsky.social - linktr.ee/onceuponavhs

The Black Cauldron UK VHS cover

New episode: The Black Cauldron (1985) with @jamescswanton.bsky.social

Listen: linktr.ee/onceuponavhs

Donate to Tracheostomy Support For Michael, organized by Conal Maguire Hello everybody, We are Michael’s mates. We love Michael. Michael has Motor Neu… Conal Maguire needs your support for Tracheostomy Support For Michael

Anything you can donate to assist the truly great Michael Patrick would be most welcome! He's an incredibly gifted actor and writer, and he's going through something I can't begin to imagine - but he's carrying on with his typically massive optimism, courage and heart. Long may he reign.

Donate to Tracheostomy Support For Michael, organized by Conal Maguire Hello everybody, We are Michael’s mates. We love Michael. Michael has Motor Neu… Conal Maguire needs your support for Tracheostomy Support For Michael

Anything you can donate to assist the truly great Michael Patrick would be most welcome! He's an incredibly gifted actor and writer, and he's going through something I can't begin to imagine - but he's carrying on with his typically massive optimism, courage and heart. Long may he reign.