Wow! Such a good movie.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Blistering performances.

Sebastian Cabot starred as Winston Essex, manager of Mansfield House, where he would tell supernatural stories about various guests who had stayed there, or were about to. A great pity he never participated in an episode proper, but the viewer got the feeling that there was a back story to the man we were never privy to...Sadly, he was dropped as host, and much of the charm was lost, though some fine episodes remained. It was retitled "Circle Of Fear" from "Ghost Story", an unwise change that suggested the studio was trying to fool the audience that it was a different show(in some ways it was!) Spooky title sequence and theme added to the eeriness.The pilot episode 'The New House' was the best, though only a few of the subsequent episodes ever came close to this quality again. A few duds, but for a one season series, still quite watchable, just better with Sebastian Cabot as host!

I was a child of ten when this came out, and if our family was home on Friday nights, we'd tune into it. We lost interest when it became "Circle of Fear," but I still remember this one fondly, and wish I could get it on video/DVD or whatever.The basic setup of the show was that Winston Essex (Sebastian Cabot) would invite you into his hotel, and point out a guest that was about to have a very odd experience. The episode then featured that person dealing with whatever supernatural issues they faced for the week. About halfway through the season, Essex disappeared, and the episodes started without any preamble. Unfortunately, neither version of the series caught on, and it only lasted a season, but I still remember some of the more frightening episodes: The New House: A young couple (David Birney, Barbara Parkins), expecting their first child move into their first home, which happens to be built on the site of a gallows where an innocent girl was hanged two centuries before. Her spirit, however, lives on, and takes a most unfortunate interest in the newborn baby...At the Cradle Foot: Paul, a recently divorced man (James Franciscus) has a vision of his young daughter, Emily (Lorie Busk) being murdered as an adult (Lisa James). He decides to go to the town he sees in his vision to see if he can stop the murder from happening. During his stay there, he becomes involved with Julie (Meg Foster), the young woman who runs the boardinghouse where he's staying, who just happens to be engaged to Ed, the man (Karl Swenson) who killed Emily in Paul's vision. Tensions heat up between the two, and Paul ends up killing Ed. While on trial, his ex-wife Karen (Elizabeth Ashley) comes to help out. Paul gets off by claiming the killing was accidental. However, just as he is about to leave, Julie informs him that she is carrying Ed's child. Realizing that Julie's child will grow up to be the man who kills his daughter, Paul goes to his car, where Karen is waiting, and grabs a gun. Karen stops him from killing Julie, saying that she and Paul should be able to stay alive long enough to keep Emily from being murdered.The Summer House: A woman (Carolyn Jones) goes to spend the summer at a vacation house that she and her husband (Steve Forrest) own. She hates the house, and it turns out to be with good cause, as there is a malevolent spirit that lives in the well in the basement. Unfortunately, the spirit causes a time loop, and she and her husband are trapped forever in that house during that summer. What was particularly cool about this episode was that you only got part of the information each time through the loop, and it wasn't until the very end that it became apparent what was happening.Alter-Ego: Bobby (Michael-James Wixted) is a somewhat sickly boy who loves to play chess. He has just started the fifth grade, and loves his popular teacher (Helen Hayes), so he is especially disappointed when he becomes too sick to attend school early on in the year. A young boy who looks just like him tells him not to worry, that he will go to school in Bobby's stead and teach him everything when he comes back home. Bobby is too sick to do anything other than agree to this arrangement, but the alter-ego quickly takes over, terrorizing the teacher, causing her to retire in disgrace, and ultimately causing her death when she falls on a pair of pruning sheers. He brags about all of this to Bobby who seems to become weaker as the alter-ego becomes stronger. The alter-ego decides that the two should play a game of chess, and whoever wins gets to live out his life as Bobby. The game seems to be going in favor of the alter-ego when the teacher appears telling Bobby what moves to make. The alter-ego complains that this is unfair, but the teacher informs him that he can't finish the game anyway, as he is due to spend eternity in a little classroom with the teacher discussing what he did to her. The teacher and the alter-ego vanish, and Bobby is well again.Half a Death: A young woman named Christina (Pamela Franklin) comes home to visit her parents. Christina has a twin named Lisa (Pamela Franklin, oddly enough) whom she has never met. She is expecting to meet Lisa once she gets home, but finds, to her disappointment that Lisa has recently died. However, Christina starts hearing Lisa calling for her at night. Pressing her mother (Eleanor Parker) for information about Lisa, she finds that Lisa had severe mental problems, and that when Lisa was sick with a high fever one night, her mother delayed calling the doctor until morning, and by morning Lisa had died. When Lisa calls for Christina again, their mother offers herself to Lisa, dying so that Christina may live.The episodes were exceptionally well done. The writing was subtle so that often it wasn't until the end that the viewer figured out what was going on. The acting was good. The atmosphere created lent to the sense of unease in the story. All in all, it made for very enjoyable viewing.It's a shame they no longer broadcast these. Hopefully, a channel will pick them up, or they will be released on video someday. They truly were well crafted, scary stories.

I was 8 when Ghost Story aired and I looked forward to it every week! My 2 favorite episodes:"Half a Death"(my #1 favorite)- about a girl named Christina whose dead twin comes back to haunt her. It wasn't clear as to the exact cause of death, but it is implied that she was both sickly and disfigured. Things start up when Christina goes back to her parents house to visit. I remember her standing in the back yard and all of sudden the wind started blowing very hard and she would hear this voice whispering her name: Christinaaaa! She looks around but doesn't see anything at first, only hears the voice getting louder and louder.Then in the distance the ghost of her sister appears in a white shroud with her face covered and the wind is blowing all around her-Very creepy!! In another scene, she goes to the cemetery to visit her sisters grave and when she turns back to look she sees an open casket with either her or her sister in it. When they showed a close up of the ghost later on in the story, I remember running away from the TV because I was too afraid to look! My other favorite was the Concrete Captain, about a sea captain who was harpooned through the heart then covered in cement which became a permanent grave by the sea. The ghost of the captain and his girlfriend come back to haunt the couple who live in their house. The one scene I can remember vividly is the one where the girl living in the house holds up a mirror to look at herself and when tilting it to the side sees the face of the female ghost right behind her!Some episodes I had forgotten, but was able to remember after reading comments, like the Susan Dey episode. Another was the one where the guy kills his wife and another person and buries them only to see them on his TV digging themselves out of their grave. I also liked the one with the toy rocking horse a family finds in their new home that gets bigger and bigger. I saw repeats of the show about 10 yrs ago on one of the cable channels, and still found it to be pretty creepy! I wish they would start airing them again!!

I very much enjoyed watching Circle of Fear. Being only 7 at the time, there was one episode that has stayed with me to date. Thanks to the episode "Dark Vengeance" I still have a small fear of wooden toy horses. The "scary" stuff on TV today does not compare with the horror shows of 70's such as Circle of Fear. I would be overjoyed if copies of these episodes were avaible for purchase.