General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast

1:02:49

Department X: The Morning of the Magicians

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2026/09/21

Last time, the files of General Witchfinders Department X revealed how psychic powers and parapsychology grew to be one of the leading frights of 70s horror culture. Now, we look closer at one of the key texts from the 60s counter-culture milieu that drove the psychic boom: Pauwels and Bergier’s ‘The Morning of the Magicians’.Join James and Ross as they take a white-knuckle ride through a book that’s a who’s who of the occult: Charles Fort, H. P. Lovecraft, Arthur Machen and the Golden Dawn,

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1:35:46

Book Club 02 - Benighted aka The Old Dark House by...

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2026/09/09

Welcome to the second episode of the General Witchfinders Book Club – a spin-off from our regular British horror podcast, run in partnership with Teasel & Skylark, an independent bookshop in Dorchester. To accompany our real-life, face-to-face book club meet-ups, host Ross Cleaver invites a special guest co-host onto the show every two months to discuss our latest reading choice. On this episode, Ross welcomes Dylan Rees. Dylan is an Emmy-winning producer and line producer across British

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1:35:37

73: Alternative 3 (1977) – Anglia TV – Dir....

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2026/08/21

Alternative 3 (1977) – Conspiracies, Secret Mars Bases, Brian Eno and 1970s TV HoaxesOur #SummerOfStrange continues. We step away from Hammer, Amicus, vampires, and classic screen monsters to explore British television’s most infamous media hoax: Alternative 3. Produced for Anglia Television’s Science Report and written by David Ambrose, this 1977 mockumentary sparked widespread paranoia regarding climate emergencies, the UK "brain drain", secret space programmes, and covert Mars bases.We unpack the

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1:54:00

71: Penda’s Fen (1974) – BBC – Dir. Alan Clarke –...

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2026/07/14

The 16th episode of the fourth season of the BBC anthology series Play for Today, Penda’s Fen – originally broadcast on 21 March 1974 – is widely celebrated as a visionary masterpiece of British folk horror and 1970s television drama. Written by David Rudkin and directed by Alan Clarke, Time Out London named it one of the 100 best British films. The Visionary Realism of Alan ClarkeDirector Alan Clarke is renowned for his stark social realism and controversial depictions of institutionalised

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1:13:11

Book Club 01 - Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley...

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2026/07/08

Welcome to the very first episode of the General Witchfinders Book Club – a new spin-off from our regular British horror podcast, run in partnership with Teasel & Skylark, an independent bookshop in Dorchester.To accompany our real-life, face-to-face book club meet-ups, host Ross Cleaver invites a special guest co-host onto the show every two months to discuss our latest reading choice.On this inaugural episode, Ross welcomes author Ray Newman. Ray is the author of the novel The Grave Digger’s

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59:33

Department X: Mysterious Powers and Strange Forces

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2026/07/01

Summer is the season of the spin-off at General Witchfinders. We have a few episodes beyond our usual format to share, starting with James’s exploration of parapsychology in the 1970s.Why did that decade see such a dramatic rise in the cultural obsession with ESP, telekinesis, and psychic premonitions? James has been digging into the archives and thinks he has the answer.Join James and Ross for an intriguing journey into the seventies counterculture in our new spin-off: ‘General Witchfinders –

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2:54

Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde CINEMA SCREENING

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2026/06/25

https://www.actonecinema.co.uk/movie/general-witchfinders-present-dr-jekyll-sister-hyde/We are bringing General Witchfinders to London on Halloween-eve – Friday 30th October at 7:30pm.We really want to make this night a success – and by success, we mean not spending a load of money just to watch a film in a cinema all on our own! If you can make it, please grab a ticket and bring along a Hammer-friendly friend or two to help us fill the room. We would also massively appreciate your help to spread

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1:30:05

70: Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971) – Hammer...

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2026/05/31

Hammer Horror delivered one of its finest 1970s films with Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb, despite a notoriously cursed production. This 1971 British release is the studio’s fourth and final Mummy film, loosely adapted by Christopher Wicking from Bram Stoker’s 1903 novel The Jewel of Seven Stars. Crucially, it remains the only entry in the franchise where a physical mummy never actually appears.The trouble began early when a gap in the studio schedule forced the film into premature production. Wicking

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1:16:44

Live Podcast

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2026/05/08

On the 5th of May, we appeared live at the King’s Arms Hotel in Dorchester for our first event in front of an audience. We were invited by Teasel & Skylark – our local independent bookshop and the first shop to take a punt on selling our zine – to host a launch event and give a talk about Folk Horror.Naturally, being the attention seekers we are, we jumped at the chance and twisted the premise of the talk toward the topics we love to discuss: Big Christopher Lee, M.R. James, and Nigel

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2:14:00

68 - The Medusa Touch

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2026/04/05

LIVE EVENT: General Witchfinders x Tasel & Skylark BooksJoin the General Witchfinders for our first-ever live show! We are partnering with Dorchester’s premier bookshop, Tasel and Skylark, for a night of high-strung atmosphere and folk horror.Date: Tuesday 5th MayVenue: Kings Arms Hotel, DorchesterFeaturing: Live music, exclusive story readings, a deep-dive talk on Folk Horror, and the official launch of our brand-new zine.Tickets are strictly limited – grab yours now at

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2:01

STOP THE PRESS – LIVE EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT!

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2026/04/04

LIVE EVENT: General Witchfinders x Tasel & Skylark BooksJoin the General Witchfinders for our first-ever live show! We are partnering with Dorchester’s premier bookshop, Tasel and Skylark, for a night of high-strung atmosphere and folk horror.Date: Tuesday 5th MayVenue: Kings Arms Hotel, DorchesterFeaturing: Live music, exclusive story readings, a deep-dive talk on Folk Horror, and the official launch of our brand-new zine.Tickets are strictly limited – grab yours now at

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1:38:02

67 - Frankenstein Created Woman (Hammer Horror 1967)

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2026/03/02

Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) | Hammer Horror & Peter Cushing Deep DiveWelcome to another atmospheric installment of the General Witchfinders podcast. In this episode, we are throwing chronology to the wind and jumping straight into the heart of the Hammer Films oeuvre. Having previously explored the Baron’s first experiment in The Curse of Frankenstein and his final bow in Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell, we now settle into the middle of the franchise with the 1967 cult classic:

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1:33:05

66 - The Asphyx (1972) aka Spirit of the Dead aka The...

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2026/02/07

The Asphyx (1972) In this episode, we dive deep into the 1972 British science fiction horror cult classic, The Asphyx (also known as Spirit of the Dead or The Horror of Death). Set in the Victorian era, this unique period chiller follows a wealthy philanthropist and amateur scientist, Sir Hugo Cunningham, who stumbles upon a way to photograph the "Asphyx"—the Ancient Greek spirit of death that appears at the precise moment of a person's demise.A Quick Mea Culpa on Picture QualityBefore we get into

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1:25:54

65b - K9 and Company: A Girl's Best Friend (Doctor...

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2025/12/31

In this episode, we explore the 1981 television pilot K-9 and Company, a unique and historic entry in the Doctor Who universe. Produced as a proposed Doctor Who spin-off, K-9 and Company stars the legendary Elisabeth Sladen as investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith alongside the robotic dog K9, voiced by John Leeson. While both were iconic former companions of the Fourth Doctor in Doctor Who, they had never appeared together on screen until the K-9 and Company pilot episode, titled A Girl’s Best

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1:20:04

65a - BBC Ghost Story for Christmas - The Ice House...

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2025/12/24

The Ice House is part of the BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas tradition, originally broadcast under the banner A Ghost Story for Christmas. First shown on BBC1 on Christmas Day 1978, it marked the final instalment of the original 1971 to 1978 run. This episode completes our podcast coverage of that era. - Written by John Bowen, who previously delivered The Treasure of Abbot Thomas, The Ice House was produced by Rosemary Hill and directed by Derek Lister. Its Christmas Day broadcast made it only the

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2:14:49

64 - Psychomania aka The Death Wheelers

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2025/12/13

This time we watched the 1973 British horror film Psychomania, a cult biker horror oddity originally filmed as The Living Dead before the title changed. In the United States it appeared as The Death Wheelers. Not to be confused with the 1963 American film Psychomania, also known as Violent Midnight. The film was produced by Benmar Productions, better known for Spaghetti Westerns shot in Spain. They also made Horror Express later the same year with the same writers, which we covered back in episode

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1:22:07

63 - Flash Gordon (part 2 of 2)

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2025/11/08

We return to our rundown of Flash Gordon, just as Flash and Prince Barin are being taken to the Hawkmen’s planet to fight to the death!Flash Gordon was directed by Mike Hodges, the British filmmaker behind Get Carter and Pulp, and produced by the legendary Dino De Laurentiis. Based on the King Features comic strip created by Alex Raymond, the film stars Sam J. Jones as the all-American hero Flash, Melody Anderson as Dale Arden, Ornella Muti as the dangerous Princess Aura, Max von Sydow as Ming the

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1:30:18

63 - Flash Gordon (part 1 of 2)

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2025/11/01

Sorry this one’s a bit late — but to make up for it, we’ve gone all in with an extra-long episode of General Witchfinders, split into two parts. This week, we take you through the extraordinary, over-the-top world of Flash Gordon (1980) — the space opera superhero film that blended camp comedy, science-fiction spectacle, and Queen’s iconic soundtrack into something truly cosmic. The second half of this intergalactic adventure will land next week. Flash Gordon was directed by Mike Hodges, the

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1:40:41

62 - Plague of the Zombies - Hammer Horror

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2025/09/26

Hammer horror reaches peak gothic chills with The Plague of the Zombies (1966), a Hammer Film Productions classic that defines British horror cinema. Shot at Bray Studios from 28 July 1965 and filmed back-to-back with Hammer’s The Reptile (see episode 19), it used the same eerie Cornish village set designed by Hammer’s celebrated production designer Bernard Robinson. Director John Gilling – the so-called “gentleman pig farmer” behind The Shadow of the Cat and The Mummy’s Shroud – stages a story of

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1:22:00

61 - Event Horizon (1997 - Dir. Paul W S Anderson)

General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast ·

2025/08/29

This time on General Witchfinders, we’re heading into deep space — and hell itself — with the notorious 1997 science fiction horror film Event Horizon.··Directed by Paul Anderson and written by Philip Eisner, Event Horizon is set in 2047. A rescue crew investigates the ship Event Horizon, which vanished years earlier and is now orbiting Neptune.··After Mortal Kombat (1995), Anderson was suddenly in demand, linked to Mortal Kombat: Annihilation and even X-Men. Instead, he wanted a darker R-rated

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