10 Most Terrifying Ghost Stories For Christmas

Finally, perhaps the most definitive ghost story ever adapted for film, Whistle and I'll Come to You. Released in 1968 and starring Michael Hordern, this is a film that those of a certain generation will cite as the scariest thing ever broadcast on television. Modern audiences may be put off by the style and age; there is little to no dialogue, no music, and what could loosely be described as a special effect is little more than a sheet on wires, yet there is something lurking here, something intangible and disturbing.

Professor Parkin, a confirmed sceptic and with more than a little intellectual arrogance, spends the week at the coast, strolling the beaches and taking in the sea air. One afternoon, he unearths a small whistle from a sand dune and pockets it for later examination. "Finders keepers," mutters Parkin as he continues up the beach. When cleaned, an inscription is revealed: 'Who is this who is coming.'

Parkin is not a likeable man, bumbling, distracted by the sound of his own voice and borderline rude, but when he begins to suspect that something is indeed coming, he is reduced to a squealing child, thumb in mouth, with the covers pulled to his chin. The power of this film lies in its minimal approach; pensive, ethereal and quintessentially spooky. Be warned, this will sneak up on you hours after watching. As Parkin's breakfast companion wisely says, cribbing Hamlet, "There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Terrifying.