Why I took them off the list: After reviewing the 2005 & 2006 editions of the Ghost Stories for Christmas last year, I decided to review the most recent installments in this anthology for the festive period, as it’s become a bit of a tradition.

So, let’s dig in!

Review of Count Magnus (2022)

This installment in the A Ghost Story for Christmas anthology follows tradition by adapting an M.R. James ghost story, but stands out as it takes place in rural Sweden instead of England.

It follows a somewhat pompous British academic, Mr. Whraxhall, as he arrives in the Swedish village of Vestergothland to investigate the family history of the owners of the Råbäck manor.

However, he soon becomes fascinated by the founder of the estate, the titular Count Magnus. After first becoming fixated on a rather scary-looking portrait of the aristocrat, he finds out from a local innkeeper that the count was involved in alchemy.

Also, that he embarked on a ‘black pilgrimage’ to the holy land, from which he said to have taken back “something or someone” and possibly made a deal with the devil for eternal life.

The innkeeper also tells him a story of 2 men who decided to go hunting near the count’s mausoleum after his death, only to end up with grim fates. Undeterred, he decides to investigate the tomb for himself, only to find some of the chains on the coffin broken. He eventually has an encounter with something slimy that slips out from under the tomb, and becomes haunted by black-clad figures.

Handsomely Shot but Underwhelming in its Horror

Count Magnus is somewhat hampered by hard-to-decipher narration in heavily Swedish-accented voiceover. Much of the exposition is also delivered in equally indecipherable accents, which makes the story hard to follow at times.

Although well-shot, the horror here is delivered in small doses, perhaps a little too small as it only really manages a couple of effectively creepy images. It also doesn’t have the same sustained eeriness of some of the other recent installments of the A Ghost Story for Christmas revival.

Final score: 6/10

Review of Lot No. 249 (2023)

Based on a short story by Sherlock Holmes writer Arthur Conan Doyle, Lot No. 29 starts with a bang, as Abercrombie Smith (Game of Thrones‘ Kit Harrington) bangs on the door of a friend begging to bet let in and fleeing from some shadowy figure outside.

He exclaims that he’s “been in the hand grip of the devil” and then proceeds to explain the “black business” that has him in such a frenzy.

After a title card showing an Egyptian frieze depicting the embalming of a mummy, we flash back to 6 weeks earlier, when the soon-to-be doctor Smith is introducing himself to his neighbor, Monkhouse Lee. After explaining that he has had little luck in befriending another neighbor, Bellingham, Lee remarks that the man is immersed in “strange studies” and that he has a temper.

Soon after, Smith is called to attend to Bellingham after he appears to have fainted. When he’s revived, he’s hysterical until Abercrombie gives him a strong slap across the face. They discover that Bellingham’s got an obsession with Lot No.249, an Egyptian mummy he obtained from an auction house.

Compelling and Creepy

After Bellingham recites an Egyptian incantation over the corpse, the mummy appears to come to life and attacks Norton, a sporting rival. Soon after, Lee is found almost drowned, and Smith begins to take his warnings about Bellingham seriously. He then seeks the counsel of his friend from the beginning (who’s heavily implied to be Holmes himself), before confronting Bellingham about his misdeeds.

Lot No. 249 is more compelling than Count Magnus, and the story is a bit more propulsive, with more drama and stakes. The period detail and cinematography are as excellent as any other installment of the A Ghost Story for Christmas revival.

Harrington makes for a charismatic lead, and Fox for a compelling villain. And the mummy, in its brief appearances, is very creepy.

Final score: 7/10