A Ghost Story for Christmas: Lot No. 249
It’s 1881, and Old College, Oxford plays host to three very different academics. Abercrombie Smith is a model of Victorian manhood, clean of limb and sound of mind. Monkhouse Lee is a delicate and unworldly student from Thailand. And occupying the rooms between them is the strange and exotic Edward Bellingham, whose unnatural researches into the secrets of ancient Egypt are the talk of the college. Can Bellingham’s experiments truly bring the breath of life to the horrifying bag of bones that is the mysterious Lot No 249?
Why it matters
A Ghost Story for Christmas: Lot No. 249 (2023) conjures a meticulously crafted Victorian occult thriller that channels classic ghost story traditions through a late 19th-century Oxford lens.
- Steeped in atmospheric dread, it’s a slow-burn period piece where dusty libraries and shadowy college halls become portals to ancient terror.
- Kit Harrington and Freddie Fox bring layered performances that ground the supernatural in claustrophobic intellectual rivalry.
- Fans of M.R. James-inspired tales and gothic horror will appreciate the film’s reverence for antiquarian lore and measured pacing.
- Not for adrenaline junkies—the creeping unease and cerebral mystery demand patience and an appetite for subtle chills over outright scares.
Director
Cast
Horror DNA
Gore
14
Slow Burn
83
Psychological
14
Supernatural
40
Creature
55
Disturbing
17
Fun Factor
17
Cerebral
71
Survival
33
