Hypnogoria

By the fireside in the Great Library of Dreams, Mr Jim Moon presents a special two part podcast – a complete and unabridged reading of Arthur Machen's classic novel of the weird The Great God Pan

In this week's show, Mr Jim Moon muses on the subject of censorship in film, asking what makes a horror film a horrible film and pondering how we handle extreme cinema and film classification.

This week we return to Eel Marsh House to see if Mr Jim Moon has survived his night there... And if he has, there's be a discussion of the BBC radio versions of The Woman in Black, the scarifying 1989 TV movie adapted by Nigel Kneale, Hammer Films' big screen incarnation starring Daniel Radcliffe, and a look at the sequel The Woman in Black: Angel of Death in the form of a novel by Martyn Waites and a movie by Tom Harper.

In this episode Mr Jim Moon takes up residence in the ill-starred Eel Marsh House to begin a two part investigation in the terrifying hauntings there. In this first episode, we discover the origins of Susan Hill's classic novel The Woman in Black, and discover how this dread spectre has manifested as a long running West End play at the Fortune Theatre in London through the medium of Mr Stephen Mallatratt.

Mr Jim Moon uncovers an ancient tome that was a whole generations introduction to horror history, an indispensable handbook detailing silent terrors, Universal monsters, Hammer horrors and much much more! Yes, it's a fond flip through and look back on Alan Frank's classic book Horror Movies (1974)

What would happen if the Devil was sacked? And exiled to live in Birmingham? Odile and Jim find out in the comedy horror novel Clovenhoof by Heide Goody and Ian Grant! As well as discussing the book, we also have a little chat with the authors too!

This week we catch up once again with that most unusual of amateur detectives, GK Chesterton's Father Brown. In this episode, Mr Jim Moon presents a reading of one of the little priest's most celebrated tales, the curious case of The Invisible Man

This week we had the sad news that Sir Terry Pratchett, beloved author and creator of the Discworld, had passed away. In this episode Mr Jim Moon pays tribute to the man and his work, looking back over his long career and celebrating his life.

Mr Jim Moon, armed only with a sword, backpack, leather armour and a Potion of Nostalgia, voyages to the little town of Fang in Southern Allansia to enter the Trial of Champions. Wielding his mighty two dice and a pen and paper, your host revisits Deathtrap Dungeon by Ian Livingstone, the classic Fighting Fantasy gamebook in which WE were the hero!

In this episode Odile and Jim keep an eye on the temperature and keep a wary ear open for the sound of dripping blood as they discuss the shivers and spectres found in Three Winter Ghosts by Mr Gary Sargent.

In a special surprise episode, Mr Jim Moon breaks out the debunking shotgun and delves into the mysteries of St Valentine's Day, attempting to sort the fact from the fiction about the origins of this celebration of romance!

Completing the trilogy of World of the Unknown books, Mr Jim Moon, in a predictably over-excitable fashion, voyages back to the 1970s to take a look at All About UFOs (Usborne 1977).

In this episode Odile and Jim go and visit a most benighted residence, with a discussion of Bentley Little's The Haunted (2012).

In this episode, Mr Jim Moon discovers a lost audio treasure in the dusty archives of the Great Library of Dreams – a rare recording of comedy legend Kenneth Williams performing an adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's classic tale of creeping insanity Diary of a Madman.

In the first of two shows this week, Mr Jim Moon presents a bonus episode, giving you all a taste of his blog series Folklore on Friday. In this show we cover legends of fearsome dwellers in the depths and learn the truth behind these horrible drowners of folklore!

Mr Jim Moon pays tribute to a true legend who recently passed away, the late great Brian Clemens, scriptwriter extraordinaire who gave us The Avengers, The Professionals and many many more, plus worked with legends such as Hammer, ITC, Gerry Anderson and Ray Harryhausen.

In our third episode, Odile and Jim investigate the strange case of Prospero's Mirror – a weird tale that is part ghost story and part historical mystery and features the great MR James as a lead character!

Just a quick little show to say hello and tell what going on with the podcast and what's coming up in the New Year!

At last it's Christmas Eve, and for one final time we gather round the fireside in the Great Library of Dreams. As is traditional, our Christmas Eve story comes from the great MR James, and Mr Jim Moon reads A School Story for your festive entertainment!

It's the third night of ghostly tales at the Great Library of Dreams. Tonight Mr Jim Moon takes his place by the fireside to deliver a tale from EF Benson that will take us to Egypt and takes place upon a benighted Christmas Eve!

Welcome to our second ghost story for Christmas! Tonight Mr Jim Moon reads The Red Room by HG Wells, often claimed to be one of the most frightening tales ever written!

This Christmas we are are hosting four nights of ghost stories from the Great Library of Dreams. Tonight we begin with Mr Jim Moon reading a festive ghost story about festive ghost stories, Jerry Bundler by WW Jacobs.

In the second of this year's Christmas specials, Mr Jim Moon mounts an assault on the north face of the drinks cabinet and explores the world of festive music. We unwrap the history of the Christmas carol, do a spot of wassailing, discover strange forgotten festive cash-in singles and indulge in all manner of off beat versions of Yuletide favourites.

In the first of our festive shows this year, Mr Jim Moon searches the Great Library of Dreams for books given as gifts on many a Christmas Past, and uncovers the history and wonders of the British Christmas Annual!

In this episode Odile and Jim explore the strange world of Landfall, a realm of crumbling castles, strange mutations, sinister scheming and swordplay galore! Yes, we are discussing The Boy With the Porcelain Blade by Den Patrick, the first book in the Erebus Sequence.

In this episode of the Zombi Zombi series, Mr Jim Moon heads to 1970s Spain to explore one of the legendary Eurohorror franchises. Created by director Amando de Ossorio, The Blind Dead saga is a quartet of movies featuring blood drinking, horse riding, sword wielding undead Knights Templar, who hunt by the sense of sound! We discuss in depth all four movies in the sequence Tombs of the Blind Dead (1971), Return of the Evil Dead (1973), The Ghost Galleon (1974) and Night of the Seagulls (1975).

On the 21st of November in 1984, BBC One screened the first episode of a lavish television adaptation of John Masefield's children's book The Box of Delights - a series that has gone on to be become a beloved classic and part of many folks' Christmas traditions. To the mark the 30th anniversary of its showing, Mr Jim Moon revisits the series with some new thoughts on this old favourite.

Mr Jim Moon takes a trip into the Vinyl Vault at the Great Library of Dreams to tell the tale of a most seminal spooky record beloved of the monster kids of the '60s which paid homage to the Universal horrors and was hosted by Mr Boris Karloff himself!

In this inaugural show, our hosts take their chairs by the fireside to discuss the recently released tome The Girl With All The Gifts - a highly impressive post apocalypse novel actually penned by famed famed Mike Carey under the pseudonym MR Carey. WARNING - this is a highly spoilerific discussion of this book, proceed with caution!

In an epic length show, Mr Jim Moon traverses the centuries in search of the origins of Halloween. Along the way we'll investigate the festival of All Hallows, the pagan rites of the Celts at Samhain, uncover the truth about trick or treating, the genesis of the jack o'lantern, and discover all manner of folk charms and rituals for Halloween night!

Mr Jim Moon once more finds a childhood favourite lurking on the shelves in the Great Library of Dreams - a tome by one Sean Richards who turned out to be none other than legendary editor and anthologist Peter Haining. Flipping through this vintage paperback from Armada, we indeed find much fun in knowing all about ghosts!

In the third and final part of our series of double features in horror, Mr Jim Moon examines the history of the late night horror double bill on TV, discussing the likes of Shock Theater, horror hosts, Creature Features and the legendary BBC 2 horror double bills.

BONUS EPISODE!!!! In the latest episode of WITLESS FOR THE DEFENCE – Case 16 – Michael Bay's Transformers films are in the dock. And Mr Jim Moon somewhat foolishly decided to watch all four… in a single day. The following audio logs have been recovered from the wreckage…

Time travelling once more on the black batwings of nostalgia, Mr Jim Moon enthusiastically rambles about World of the Unknown: All About Monsters published by Usborne back in 1978. Swearing, over-excitement and a feast of monsterdom results!

Dipping once again into his battered copy of The House of the Nightmare and Other Eerie Tales, Mr Jim Moon unearths a ghostly tale that first aired on Radio 4. Exactly what did Mr Eric Roberts encounter in the dead of night in a lonely Cornish cottage? Find out in this bite-sized serving of audio spookery which tells of how he went in search of a ghost!

In the second part of our investigations of horror double bills, Mr Jim Moon details the second wave of the Universal Monsters, the chillers from RKO conjured up by Val Lewton, charts the building of the Hammer house of horrors, takes a spin through the history of the drive-in, and examines the double trouble that was AIP and Roger Corman!

In this episode, Mr Jim Moon reminisces about a favourite old anthology of ghost stories The House of the Nightmare and Other Eerie Tales edited by Kathleen Lines (Puffin 1970) and explores a real life haunting found in its pages – a frightening encounter with the legendary Wish-hounds of Dartmoor.

In the first episode of our new show HYPNOGORIA, Mr Jim Moon delves through the cinema archives of the Great Library of the Dreams to unearth the history of everyone's favourite two for one – the horror double bill!

To celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the great HP Lovecraft, Mr Jim Moon delves into the Cthulhu Mythos section of the Great Library of Dreams to bring you the prose poem Nyarlathotep.

It's a balmy summer's night in the gardens of the Great Library of Dreams, and the spirit of the season moves Mr Jim Moon read a highly appropriate tale from the great MR James. Afterwards we discuss this curious story and try and unravel its mysteries before true midnight arrives…

In this mini-cast, Mr Jim Moon braves undead postmen to visit the Dead Letter Office in the Great Library of Dreams and finally get round to catching up with some listener feedback!

In the second half of this musical marathon, an even drunker Mr Jim Moon continues his journey through the dark side of rock, charting the influence of horror, death and the Devil through a variety of genres such as punk, electronica, metal and goth and exploring the darker musical legends such as cursed songs and satanic backmasking.

To mark the 150th episode of Hypnobobs, Mr Jim Moon embarks on an epic journey through rock and pop, tracing the history of horror, the occult, voodoo, and Old Nick Himself in popular music. And all while doing untold damage to the drinks cabinet!

In this minicast, Mr Jim Moon once again dusts off a spooky childhood favourite. This time we talking about a volume in Usborne's late 1970s series World of the Unknown, the haunting volume All About Ghosts.

In this edition of Microbobs, Mr Jim Moon waxes lyrical about an old beloved paperback tome of spectres, phantoms and other things that go bump in the night, Ghosts, Ghouls & Other Horrors by Bernhardt J. Hurwood, published by Target Books back in 1974.

Mr Moon once again explores the world of the big bugs, examining classic giant insect rampages from the '50s such as Them!, Jack Arnold's Tarantula (1956), Bert I Gordon's Earth Vs The Spider (1958) and Nathan Juran's The Deadly Mantis (1957).

In this edition of Microbobs, Mr Jim Moon looks at the dread undead horror, the wight, delving into folklore and fiction, and concluding with a reading of the Barrow-wight's song from Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien.

As it's the anniversary of the birth of the legendary Vincent Price, Mr Jim Moon tracks down the great gentleman of horror to hear all about witchcraft and demonology!

In what was intended to be the first of a new strand - Microbobs - that brings short, quick casts between the main show, Mr Jim Moon completely fails in that objective and talks for roughly a hour and a half about the new Legendary Pictures version of Toho's classic monster Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards. This monster-sized 'cast comes complete with a potted history of the Big G, a lengthy spoiler-free review, and a spoiler-tastic closing section for all who have seen the movie already.

Mr Jim Moon once again delves into his big book of Favourite Monsters and explores the world of the big bugs, tracing the history and evolution of the giant insect rampage, and discussing the seminal ant-tastic monster movie Them!