Martin Freeman causes a scare in 'Ghost Stories' trailer

In the new trailer for the British film Ghost Stories, based on the 2010 Liverpool stage hit, Andy Nyman (also co-writer, along with Jeremy Dyson of The League of Gentlemen) plays Professor Goodman, something of a professional supernatural debunker.

But when he is summoned by a mysterious man to look into three unsolved paranormal cases, Goodman appears to become involved in a personal manner while the cases unfold on screen in different chapters. And Martin Freeman (Fargo, Sherlock) plays some sort of figure with his own connection, and skepticism. (Although he almost strikes me as some Lovecraftian character who appears mundane but is up to no good.)

The stage play was famous for its unique marketing that only showed images of shocked audiences, instead of photos from the production. And critics played along with the request to keep the details of each chapter secret, so plot details are fairly thin. That's exciting since we don't entirely know what tale the movie will tell.

The film has already opened in the UK on a limited run, and opens wide April 13. But the reviews are pretty great, and this sounds like what I look for in a spooky movie: Atmospheric, and creepy with lots of twists, some jumps, and even a little bit of humor. If it's what I'm hoping, Ghost Stories is of that classic M.R. James British Gothic Horror genre that evokes dread.

Thus far, The Hollywood Reporter called it "a witty and well-crafted love letter to old-school horror tropes," while The Guardians said it is "a weird world of menace, despair and decay."

Check out the trailer, and let me know what you think. And if you're in the UK, and have seen it, I want to hear from you.

-Aaron Sagers

Coldplay Hides 'Ghost Stories' Lyrics in ...Ghost Stories Worldwide

Oh you clever boy, Chris Martin, father of Apple and Moses. So Coldplay has a new album coming out on May 19 titled "Ghost Stories," and to drum up buzz about it, the band has hidden lead singer Martin's handwritten lyric sheets in libraries worldwide for fans to find.

Beginning today, the band's Twitter account will post clues as to the exact locations of the lyric sheets in nine different countries. Using the hashtag #lyricshunt, fans are encouraged to check out ghost story books in libraries and help solve the clues to find an envelope containing the lyric sheets. As the lyrics are discovered, a photo will be posted online for all to see. Also, one of the envelopes will contain a "Golden Ticket" and a free trip to London's Albert Hall for a July 1 concert (so that probably rules out London as the location of the Golden Ticket, unless Coldplay is feeling really cheap).

As if you didn't already have a good reason to visit the library and start paging through cool ghost stories, the biggest (or second biggest, if you ask U2) rock band in the world just gave you an incentive to dust off the old library card.

-Aaron Sagers

'Woman in Black' Receiving Multiple Sequels

Courtesy IMDB

While "The Woman in Black," sequel isn't set for release until 2015, that isn't stopping Hammer CEO, Simon Oakes from planning further additions to the franchise.

In an interview with Total Films, Oakes revealed that he is already thinking about the third and fourth installments, stating that- "If your second’s successful, then your third, then you’ve got a franchise… I just don’t believe in the notion that you can press a button and create a franchise, but, I mean, I’m definitely planning 3 and 4…"

The upcoming sequel, "The Woman in Black: Angel of Death," is based on an original story by Susan Hill, written by Jon Croker and directed by Tom Harper. Currently there is no US release date, but the movie is set to be released in the UK on February 13, 2015.

For the curious, here is a synopsis of the film:

“The Woman in Black" was set in the early 1900′s and detailed the story of a young lawyer who is ordered to travel to a remote corner of the U.K. to sort out the papers of a recently deceased client. In the eerie setting of Eel Marsh House he discovers the vengeful ghost of the title. Seized by the government and converted into a military mental hospital during World War II, the sudden arrival of disturbed soldiers to Eel Marsh Harsh has awoken its darkest inhabitant. Eve, a beautiful young nurse, is sent to the house to care for the patients but soon realizes she must save them from more than their own demons. Despite Eve’s efforts to stop her, one by one they fall victim to the Woman in Black.

-Nowal Massari