10 Most Terrifying Ghost Stories For Christmas

10. Lost Hearts (1973)

Lost Hearts is a total product of the '70s - low budget, overtly theatrical and with the Hammer quality of 'Home Counties Horror.' In other words, it's dated but immensely atmospheric. Mark Gatiss has cited this particular episode as his favourite, simply because it was the one that scared him the most as a child. Don't be put off by the Star Wars haircuts and Romero-style zombie make-up - what follows is disconcertingly graphic.

Young Master Stephen arrives at the country estate of his elderly cousin (twice removed), Mr. Abney, and finds himself doted on by the eccentric old man, who seems to take a particular interest in Stephen's age and health (his upcoming twelfth birthday alarmingly falls on Halloween). Stephen, meanwhile, is distracted by the appearance of two strange, bedraggled children whom haunt his dreams and the surrounding fields, replete with whispery encounters in every shadowy corner of the house.

If the prospect of creepy old bachelors taking in orphans is a bit distasteful, fear not - James reserves a gruesome fate for the decrepit alchemist, whose chief concern is removing the boy's heart for the purpose of gaining everlasting life. This is a somewhat trippy affair - the adolescent spectres belong in a Kate Bush video and the repetitive lullaby of a hurdy-gurdy completes the bizarre hippy-horror vibe.