“The Spirit At One’s Elbow”: Ghost Story From Northern Ireland
On St. Patrick’s Day, what better way to celebrate than by sharing a ghost story from Northern Ireland?
And not just any ghost story, but one perfect for fans of found footage horror, “presented as a real live outside broadcast, much in the way that the later War of the Worlds and Ghostwatch were executed.”
One believed lost to time until 2014, when author Reggie Chamberlain-King uncovered Denis Johnston’s script “Not One Returns To Tell” in the archives at Trinity College, Dublin.
Originally aired across Northern Ireland on Christmas Eve 1937, Johnston’s treat-or-trick ghost story was told “with the intention of giving [listeners] a good Christmas scare.” This was a full ten months before Orson Welles’ infamous “The War Of The Worlds” radio broadcast…
What inspired and connected these two trans-Atlantic radio hoaxes?
Chamberlain-King explores this question in Filtered Reality, our love letter to found footage horror.
Read on for an extended excerpt from his brilliant chapter, “The Spirit At One’s Elbow: Denis Johnston, Orson Welles And Interrupted Radio,” which sets the scene for Johnston’s play…
If you dare to read on, visit our shop to read more about Filtered Reality…
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!