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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Joe Cornish

‘Damaged a generation of viewers, including me’: Joe Cornish on the most terrifying horror for kids

Jobeth Williams in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 film Poltergeist
Jobeth Williams in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 film Poltergeist. Photograph: MGM/Sla/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock

Lately, people keep asking me if I have seen a ghost. Not because I am pale and sickly – that’s how I always look – but because of my new supernatural series Lockwood & Co, which follows the adventures of three teen ghost hunters in a London plagued by lethal apparitions.

In truth, the answer is “no”. I decided to adapt the brilliant novels by Jonathan Stroud – on which the series is based – not due to any personal paranormal experience, but because I was inspired by the terrifying TV shows and movies I saw growing up. There’s a scariness to them that I loved when I was a kid, so I wanted to create my own family show which channels that spookiness. Here, in nostalgic recollection, are my top-five unforgettable childhood screen scares.

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