What do a terrifying children’s book, a supposedly haunted staircase, and a children’s TV show featuring some truly horrific deaths have in common? They’ve all left their mark on horror writer Georgia Cook!

This week on Scarred for Life, we’re joined by award-winning writer, illustrator, and horror enthusiast Georgia Cook, whose work includes stories for Big Finish’s Doctor Who range and The Holmwood Foundation—a modern-day found-footage horror podcast and sequel to Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Georgia takes us back to her childhood in a tiny, isolated village in the south of England, where dark countryside, creepy local legends, and a supposedly haunted grandparents’ house provided plenty of inspiration for a young horror fan.

First up, we revisit Little Miss Lucky, a seemingly innocent children’s book that left Georgia terrified of an evil tree lurking in the darkness. Then there’s the particularly unsettling staircase at her grandparents’ 500-year-old former Quaker meeting house, where she was convinced something was waiting in the darkness to grab her ankles.

And finally, we get properly gruesome with Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids—the long-running CITV animated series that taught an entire generation that being naughty could result in some spectacularly horrific consequences. From a child being crushed by a falling cow to some truly stomach-churning body horror, this was children’s television with a seriously dark side!

Along the way, Georgia talks about her love of ghost stories, Shirley Jackson, Clive Barker, and Tanith Lee; finding horror in the mundane; writing for Doctor Who; and why she believes children’s horror has such an important place in growing up.

So, settle in, keep the lights on, and whatever you do, don’t put your feet down near the bottom of the stairs…

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Comedian and podcaster James Shakeshaft joins Andy and Dave on this episode of Scarred for Life From terrifying television puppets and demonic time travellers to the fallout from one of the world's worst nuclear disasters, this episode has a little bit of everything!

James is best known as one half of the brilliant folklore and local legends podcast Loremen, alongside Alasdair Beckett-King. We chat about their shared fascination with ghosts, folklore, urban legends, time slips and the strange stories that get passed down through generations. We also get into the mysteries of Liverpool's Bold Street, the conspiracy theories surrounding Denver Airport and why some of our favourite myths and legends stick around.

But what about the things that genuinely scarred James growing up?

First up, it's Terrahawks, Gerry Anderson's puppet-based sci-fi series, and the terrifying Zelda. We also get into childhood fears of puppets, the unsettling scarecrow from Round the Twist and how we're all affected by the uncanny valley of it all.

Then it's back to the 1990s with Quantum Leap. James revisits a particularly unsettling Halloween episode, “The Boogieman,” in which Sam Beckett discovers that his trusted companion Al, might not be quite who he seems. What happens when someone you trust turns out to be the devil? Apparently, it's enough to haunt you for years!

Finally, we revisit the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and James's earliest television memory: watching news coverage of radioactive fallout travelling across Europe and learning that sheep in parts of Wales had been barred from being moved or slaughtered because of radioactive contamination. It's a reminder of just how frightening real-world news could be for children growing up in the 1980s.

Along the way, we discuss Ghostwatch, nuclear anxiety, childhood television, Stephen King, time travel and the strange things that stick in your imagination long after you've grown up.

So settle in, join us for a trip back to the television nightmares of our childhoods, and remember: sleep well, do have nightmares!

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What happens behind the scenes when a horror classic gets a brand-new release? And how do you track down footage that hasn’t been seen for nearly 50 years?

This week on Scarred for Life, we’re joined by James Flower, Director of Production at Arrow Films, for a fascinating deep dive into the world of horror films, film restoration, and the people working behind the scenes to keep our favourite movies alive.

James takes us inside the world of boutique physical media, explaining how Arrow decides which films to release, what goes into creating a special-edition Blu-ray or 4K UHD, and why preserving a film’s original look is so important. We get into the thorny business of director’s cuts, controversial digital restorations, and why some filmmakers want their old movies to look as though they were shot yesterday.

We also explore the growing love for physical media in the age of streaming. From the magic of browsing a video shop on a Friday night to the joy of discovering a battered VHS cover that you absolutely had to take home, we discuss why collecting films is about so much more than simply pressing play.

James reveals how he went from studying film archiving and briefly planning his own independent label to landing his dream job at Arrow. He also shares the incredible story of how the team uncovered previously unreleased footage for the Bruce Lee at Golden Harvest box set, including material from the original Game of Death shoot that had gone unseen for nearly half a century—and explains why rescuing lost film material can involve equal parts detective work, persistence, and sheer luck.

Plus, we chat about the childhood TV shows and films that sparked James’s love of horror, the films he’d recommend for Halloween, and why he believes physical media still has a future.

Whether you’re a horror movie obsessive, a Blu-ray collector, a fan of cult cinema, or someone who still misses the ritual of choosing a film from the video shop, this one’s for you.

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