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An aristocrat 'fainted' after being visited by the ghost of his dead mother, according to an unearthed 239-year-old manuscript.

The ‘haunting’, which was said to have taken place in a stately home in 1785, has been discovered by auctioneers going through an old box of legal deeds and papers. The official papers described how aristocrat Francis Eld was visited by the spirit of his dead mother Catherine around the time she died - unbeknownst to him - 150 miles away.

The manuscript told how Mr Eld was in his infant daughter’s bedroom in the early hours of March 29, 1785, when the apparition appeared. He experienced a “puff of air” across his face and saw “a sort of cloud or vapour”, which took on the appearance and voice of his mother.

The ghost said: “My child, be not grieved, I am dead, but happy.” The spooky visitation is said to have taken place at Seighford Hall, near Stafford, Staffordshire.

Jim Spencer, Director at Rare Book Auctions, in Lichfield, came across the papers while carrying out a valuation.

He said: “It was quite eerie discovering these papers during the run-up to Halloween. I found it in a box full of old indentures relating to the Whitby family of Shugborough and Haywood.

“It’s the sort of thing I see all the time but the word 'visitation' just caught my eye. As soon as I realised they were talking about a ghost, I genuinely couldn't read quickly enough, my eyes were racing ahead of my brain”...

Daniele Campea’s slow burn, MOTHER NOCTURNA, joins the ranks of folk horror films that serve to remind us that there are certain inescapable and unknowable primal forces that can consume us and our loved ones. Based on Euripides’ Greek tragedy, The Bacchae, this film is a family drama at its very core. Wolf biologist Agnese (Susanna Costaglione) is recently released from a long stay at a mental hospital. She reunites with her husband, Riccardo (Edoardo Oliva) and teenage daughter and dancer, Arianna (Sofia Ponente). Despite Riccardo’s best peace-keeping efforts, the reunion between Agnese and Arianna is less than happy, creating a mystery that slowly unravels until the film’s climatic and tragic ending. MOTHER NOCTURNA taps into the fear of unearthing terrible truths about our own families. Like all horror, it uses metaphors to take that fear to the next horrifying level.

Nature is a character in itself in MOTHER NOCTURNA. Set in the Italian countryside, the film opens with shots of a forest that are both beautiful and ominous. Campea continues to intercut this idyllic landscape throughout the film, even when it takes a disturbing turn. Agnese, who was seemingly removed from nature during her stay at the mental hospital, becomes reacquainted with the neighboring forest and the wolves that inhabit it. Campea’s use of still long shots of Agnese in rural settings tell a story in itself: Agnese cannot escape her dark past and will find herself succumbing to the same primal force that alienated her from her family once before...

We are very pleased to premiere the trailer for a new Mexican folk horror film called A Fisherman's Tale (Un cuento de pescadores). This is the new film from Edgar Nito the director of the Tribeca hit, The Gasoline Thieves. This time, with one of their co-writers from that first film, Alfredo Mendoza, they are exploring the legend of La Miringua.

A Fisherman's Tale is the cinematic adaptation of a Purépecha legend that is passed down by word of mouth in the lake areas of Central Mexico. It tells the story of a spirit that takes the form of a woman to attract fishermen to the depths of the lake, where it bewitches them. La Miringua, whose name means forgetting or forgetting, confuses people, making them lose track of time and space, until they forget themselves...

If you're someone who regularly finds themselves reminiscing fondly about the early days of computer role-playing games, then you might be interested to learn about Cyclopean — a promising new retro RPG from the Islands of Caliph developer Schmidt Workshops that is currently in development for Steam.

The game draws influence from various early role-playing games including Ultima, Questron, and Legacy of the Ancients, and features stunning monochrome graphics and pixellated character designs as well as two perspectives of the game's world that are split between a 2D map display and 3D first-person dungeons.

Much like Schmidt Workshops' previous titles, the title aims to evoke the look and feel of classic role-playing games from the '80s, but this time around, the developer is pairing this presentation with an ample dose of Lovecraftian horror, setting the game in the Great Abyss, a vast underworld that featured across various H.P Lovecraft's short stories...

The US government is keeping tabs on any and all claims of UFO sightings as part of an ‘above top-secret’ programme, a whistleblower has alleged.

‘Immaculate Constellation’ is an alleged database of high-quality photographs, videos, firsthand accounts and electronic sensor evidence of UFOs.

Officials use the off-the-books programme to ‘detect’ and ‘quarantine’ UFO materials without congressional knowledge or oversight, according to a leaked report shared with the Substack newsletter Public.

American military and intelligence officials have a ‘high level of confidence in the accuracy and integrity of the data gathered’, which includes mentions of not only UFOs but ‘Alien Reproduction Vehicles’, or reverse-engineered crafts.

If confirmed, the very existence of ‘Immaculate Constellation’ would be a ‘game-changing development’, the UK’s top UFO expert told Metro...

Psychological horror has a way of getting under viewers' skin. Some films have long-lasting effects that can't be shaken off for days and even weeks. With unnerving suspense and deeply disturbing plots, psychological horror can also feel like a mouse-and-cat chase between the director and the viewers. From Smile to Speak No Evil to Jacob's Ladder, some films have left fans truly terrified.

Some horror is external, while some come from within. Leaning toward the unknown, the most terrifying psychological thrillers make viewers' worst nightmares come true. Leaving the lights on after watching these is highly recommended. The worst psychological horrors are not for the faint of heart...

• 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer' Explores What's Familiar
• 'Excision' Delivers the Horror It Promised
• 2015's 'The Invitation' Traps Viewers in an Unsettling Dinner Party
• 'Session 9' Evokes Slow-Burning Unease
• 'A Clockwork Orange' Depicts Systemic Violence
• 'Last Shift' Creates a Story of Fear
• 'Jacob's Ladder' Delivers a Puzzling Experience
• 'Se7en' Recontextualizes Events With a Massive Plot Twist
• The Original 'Speak No Evil' Terrifies Fans With a Bleak Ending
• 'Smile' Torments Viewers Along With Rose

The Evil Within was released a decade ago today, on October 14, 2014. As the initial production and new horror IP from Tango Gameworks (and published by Bethesda), the studio formed by legendary Resident Evil creator and director, Shinji Mikami, in 2010, The Evil Within understandably had many curious and eager about it prior to its debut. While its launch was generally successful in terms of sales, the resulting experience nevertheless left some fans and critics divided over its quality and content, with certain decisions leaving some confused and feeling that it didn't quite live up to the legacy it promised.

Despite these mixed reactions and misgivings, though, one of The Evil Within's most notable and widely praised aspects was its heavy emphasis on the surreal, particularly its liberal use of trippy, psychedelic scares woven into more traditional horror and gameplay. The Evil Within experimented with veering much further into disturbing mental spaces (both figuratively and literally) than many other games within the genre at the time. Now, with 10 years worth of horror titles since, it's abundantly evident that Tango's work on The Evil Within in this area marked a clairvoyant vision that has been embraced by numerous developers, from AAA to indies...

We don’t want to put you off taking the Tube, but according to legend London’s historic network and its stations are home to a whole variety of ghosts.

Among them is the mysterious ‘Girl on the Train’, as she’s now known.

Several people, both underground employees and passengers, have reported seeing her on Bakerloo Line trains at Elephant and Castle.

The young woman boards the train, walks through the carriages, then disappears without a trace, they say.

Unexplained foot steps, possibly running, plus rapping noises have also been heard at the station while it’s been closed.

The BBC has previously shared one employee’s account of seeing the apparition...

Throughout decades of cinema, horror has changed so much that there's no question it's one of the genres that has been reinvented the most. Audiences have evolved, and with them, the ways they can be scared. Horror has also had to adapt itself to inevitable cultural shifts.

Yes, horror is universal. But some do it better than others. While the Japanese and the Koreans have proven they can master the art of the scare, American filmmakers have cleverly found a way to adopt those resources. However, the British have also found a way into the conversation of terrifying films based on classic tropes. These are the underrated British horror films that'll give you a scare this Halloween season. That is if you dare to watch them...

• Kill List (2011)
• The Ritual (2017)
• The Borderlands (2013)
• Host (2020)
• A Dark Song (2016)
• The Innocents (1961)
• The Woman in Black (2012)
• Saint Maud (2019)
• Ghostwatch (1992)
• Repulsion (1965)

Horror movies are closely associated with rapid succession sequels than they are legacy sequels. (How many years did we have a new “Saw” and/or “Paranormal Activity” sequel to look forward to?) But there are still a fair amount of legacy horror sequels – follow-ups that take much longer to marinate than the traditional sequel – and these are the ones that were definitely worth the wait...

• “Psycho II” (1983)
• “Phantasm II” (1988)
• “Halloween H20” (1998)
• “Halloween” (2018)
• “Doctor Sleep” (2019)
• “The Craft: Legacy” (2020)
• “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” (2021)
• “Candyman” (2021)
• “Scream” (2022)

Many things can cement a horror movie scene as truly great — a powerful scare, a shocking twist, or unique and creepy imagery being key features. Some of the most famous and beloved horror movies of all time have established themselves as pop culture touchstones on the strength of individual scenes, such as the horrifying first-act twist in Hereditary or the first-person opening of Halloween. As a result, discussions surrounding horror cinema often revolve around debating the best and scariest individual scenes, with some standing out as particularly resonant.

While any film can contain one great scare, the film's overall quality elevates these moments from simply shocking to iconic and pivotal. From silent films to the modern mainstream, these are the greatest scenes in horror movie history, genre-defining moments that have stood the test of time. The ranking will take into account their filmmaking, acting, impact, and the overall quality of the films...

• 'The Exorcist' (1973) Regan's head turns 360 degrees
• 'Alien' (1979) The chest-burster scene
• 'Carrie' (1976) The prom scene
• 'The Blair Witch Project' (1999) Heather's monologue
• 'Audition' (1999) Asami's apartment scene
• 'Texas Chain Saw Massacre' (1974) The Sawyers' dinner scene
• 'Ring' (1998) Sadako emerges from the television
• 'Nosferatu' (1922) The shadow scene
• 'Possession' (1981) Anna's subway breakdown
• 'Psycho' (1960) The shower scene

The folk-horror genre has been a perennial mainstay on screens for decades, with recent installments from films like Midsommar, Enys Men, and more recently Starve Acre revitalizing the genre. Harvest, which marks the English-language debut of Greek director Athina Rachel Tsangari, continues this tradition but deploys it in more novel ways. The film utilizes its quasi-folk-horror sensibility to paint an elegiac portrait of a pre-industrial village in the Scottish Highlands.

The film, adapted from Jim Crace’s novel of the same name, follows a small community nearing the end of the harvest season, run under their master Charles Kent (Harry Melling), who inherited the estate their village is on from his late wife, and his right-hand man Walter Thirsk (Caleb Landry Jones). The village displays all the traditional trappings of folk-horror communities found in films like The Wicker Man. They consciously live outside the gaze of God, engage in bizarre practices, like banging children’s heads against rocks, and carry out pagan dances around a bonfire in elaborate animal masks. There is even a lot of wicker.

They are also highly wary of outsiders and those they believe don’t belong. This includes a mapmaker called Quill (Arinze Kene), whom Kent has hired to chart his land, and a trio of two men and a woman who they falsely accuse of burning down their barn. The village is forced to belligerently accept Quill’s presence but punishes the others for their supposed crimes. The two men are locked in pillories while the villagers shave the woman’s head and accuse her of witchcraft before she flees and begins stalking them in the dead of night. The film continually plays with the horror genre in this way, maintaining a creeping sense of dread throughout its runtime. However, it never dives headlong into all-out horror and opts to teeter on the edge of the sinister and the supernatural. Instead, Tsangari fixes the film closer to the ground to forge an earthly and elemental picture of pre-industrialized agricultural life...