This unsettling short horror story still remains etched on my memory almost 45 years after it was shown.
Part of the BBC's annual Series of Ghost stories at Christmas and the only one set in contemporary times, the story begins with the removal of one of the Avebury Stones which inconveniently lies in the garden of its new owners, Peter and Katherine, unleashing a supernatural force which affects Katherine, who starts to bleed uncontrollably.
It's a slow burner with a lot of nudity for the time, as Katherine tries to find the source of the bleeding and to stop it, which initially she seems to succeed.
Later the following morning, the stone is removed to reveal a skeleton hidden below, surrounded by daggers and a blade in the rib, roughly in the area of Katherine's bleeding, but by then it is too late. There is no reason given for the bleeding, other than retribution from the dead, as it is later revealed that the skeleton may be that of a witch, but enigmas are sometimes the best way to end a tale.
Part of the BBC's annual Series of Ghost stories at Christmas and the only one set in contemporary times, the story begins with the removal of one of the Avebury Stones which inconveniently lies in the garden of its new owners, Peter and Katherine, unleashing a supernatural force which affects Katherine, who starts to bleed uncontrollably.
It's a slow burner with a lot of nudity for the time, as Katherine tries to find the source of the bleeding and to stop it, which initially she seems to succeed.
Later the following morning, the stone is removed to reveal a skeleton hidden below, surrounded by daggers and a blade in the rib, roughly in the area of Katherine's bleeding, but by then it is too late. There is no reason given for the bleeding, other than retribution from the dead, as it is later revealed that the skeleton may be that of a witch, but enigmas are sometimes the best way to end a tale.