10 Most Terrifying Ghost Stories For Christmas

The Signalman, written in 1866 by Charles Dickens - the man almost singlehandedly responsible for bringing the tradition of ghost stories at Christmas to the popular imagination - stars the charming and late lamented Denholm Elliott of Indiana Jones fame. This is a tale of isolation, imagination and omens of death on a deserted stretch of railroad somewhere in a dark corner of England.

While out walking in the English countryside, a man spies a lone signalman on a desolate railway line and decides to make his way down into the ravine to speak with him. The signalman appears deathly afraid of something and when the pair are finally settled in the signal box with a roaring fire and a stiff drink, he recounts a tale of ghostly occurrences within the tunnel that have left him a nervous wreck.

Isolated and fearing for his sanity, the signalman has been haunted by a ghostly figure on the track, face obscured, waving it's arms and shouting the warning, "You there! Below! Look out! Look out!" Mere hours later, a terrible crash takes place, the dead are brought out right at the spot where the spectre is seen. Plagued repeatedly by the phantom, he doesn't realise it's true purpose until too late.

"Is everything as it should be?" asks the Signalman's companion - NO IT ISN'T! screams the audience. This is easily one of the best adaptations of the series. A spooky, ominous tale of ghostly warnings from beyond the grave and an absolute must for horror fans.