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Interview Jamie-Lee Nardone Feb 19, 2013

As Hammer prepares its sequel to The Woman In Black, Martyn Waites is writing the novel. Jamie-Lee spoke to him about Angel Of Death...

There are various reasons why I’m afraid of things that go bump in the night, the dark and small children, but only one reason why I will also never live by a causeway and repeatedly freak out whenever I see a woman in full Victorian costume.

An undiagnosed geek from a young age, I quickly became a fan of horror, aided by the fact that my father let me watch The Exorcist and Dawn Of The Dead before I reached primary school. Social services were not involved.

At secondary school, I came across The Woman In Black by Susan Hill. Falling in love with its gothic nature, I was taken to the theatre to see the stage adaptation. It was spectacular...

Jeanette Winterson and Helen Dunmore among famous names venturing into the horror genre this year

As an icy wind blows in from the east, the grip of a good horror story is tightening its hold on many of Britain's leading literary talents. Terrifying new novels from outspoken author Jeanette Winterson and from the acclaimed novelist and children's writer Helen Dunmore are at the head of a blast of chilling fiction heading for British bookshops.

Where once an accomplished "lady novelist" in search of a change might have attempted a neat whodunnit or perhaps a cosy "Aga saga", suddenly the unholy desire to create a horror or ghost story has seized a range of established talents. Even the television book club presenter Judy Finnigan has been drawn to the genre for her debut novel, a ghost story that will be out this autumn.

Winterson, who had her first success with the...

A group of teenagers discover an old well hidden in a derelict house. They of course take a look at what is inside...and end up disturbing something very sinister indeed. And here's the fun part: the audience has the chance to stay a step ahead of the characters in this creepy tale. Written by British author Melvin Burgess - dubbed 'the godfather of young adult fiction - The Well is a four-week drama collaboration between the BBC and Conker Media created for BBC Two, bbc.co.uk and Bebo. As episodes are released on BBC Two, additional tasks and challenges will be released online designed to reveal backstory or to uncover mysteries within the show. For instance, at one point a character hides an item in the house on TV and the audience can immediately go to a 3D replica of the house online in order to solve a...

Singer/reality series star Kelly Osbourne is making her first foray into scripted series with ABC's Doing It. Osbourne, star of MTV's reality comedy The Osbournes, has been cast in the Touchstone TV drama pilot, which Stu Bloomberg is executive producing. Based on British author Melvin Burgess' controversial young-adult novel, Doing It centers on the sexual antics of three 16-year-old Seattle boys: Dino (Sean Farris), Jonathan (Chris Lowell) and Ben (Jon Foster) (HR 12/10). Osbourne will play a love interest for Jonathan.

ABC has given the green light to Doing It, a drama pilot from Touchstone TV and producer Stu Bloomberg targeted for fall 2004. Meanwhile, the network has given a script commitment to The Parent Trap, a comedy from Tollin/Robbins Prods. and Touchstone TV. Newcomers Sean Farris, Chris Lowell and Jon Foster have been cast as the three leads in the project, based on British author Melvin Burgess' controversial young-adult novel of the same name, which centers on the sexual antics of three 16-year-old boys. The coming-of-age drama, described as My So-Called Life meets American Pie, will be set in Seattle. Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs (NBC's Freaks and Geeks) penned the pilot for the project, which received a script commitment by the network earlier this fall, and are executive producing with Bloomberg and Touchstone TV-based nonwriting producer Francie Calfo (HR 11/12).