Keyword Strange Tales

The executioner Xie Qi, who is in charge of the ghost-headed knife, will encounter the ghost of a woman who is back for revenge because he killed the female prisoner during the taboo of three quarters of noon. The people of the town were very angry and blamed Xie Qi for all the inauspicious things that happened. Xie Qi wants to use the old method of stitching up the human head back to its body and subsequently burn it to pacify the female ghost, but unexpectedly the human head was stolen, and the body sewer was killed. The case of the town’s wealthy merchants grave moving and the girl’s disappearance, things start coming together, and Xie Qi is now in grave danger…

This documentary explores and provides new insights into the life and writing of British author Robert Aickman (1914-1981), with special reference to his celebrated 'strange stories' - modern ghost stories - his two volumes of autobiography and his campaigning work for the restoration of the British canal system. The film includes rare footage, recordings and photographs of Aickman, interviews with his friends and with writers Jeremy Dyson and Reggie Oliver, and dramatized excerpts of his stories.