Robert Aickman

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.

A man becomes involved with a woman who can be penetrated by swords.

After three months of marriage, Phrynne and Gerald Banstead stay at the Bell Inn, a picturesque pub in East Anglia. When they arrive, the place seems to be all but deserted apart from the lonely sound of a church bell.