BBC Radio 4, October 17 2022, and BBC Sounds

 “The Grand Budapest Hotel of Horrors.”

Danny Robins carries us with him as we start down the path towards Heol Fanog – and I mean that literally, it’s as if we’re walking beside him as he runs out of breath climbing the stunning Brecon Beacons. I’d probably run out of puff a lot sooner, especially if I was en route to the old South Wales farmhouse that’s had more exorcisms than any other house in Britain.

Thus begins this Autumn’s petrifying podcast from The Battersea Poltergeist and Uncanny team.

It’s 1989 and the start of a six year ordeal for Bill and Liz Rich and their family within the walls of what should have been their dream home. There’s a top-drawer cast including Alexandra Roach and Joseph Fiennes providing the compelling dramatic sequences intertwined with balanced analysis of this paranormal detective case from Ciaran O’Keefe and Evelyn Hollow. There’s also gorgeous, atmospheric music from Welsh artist Gwenno, that I need to be able to get on Spotify now, please and thank you.

It’s a full on case immediately, with solid facts like scary electric bills that are several times higher than they should be (no, this isn’t set in 2022) and unexplainable footsteps that – although Bill heard them first – the whole family soon hear. There’s some reasonably scientific analysis of how you rack up an electric bill that would equate to almost £8,000 in today’s money. It’s sprinkled with a little levity, which I think is always a nice touch if appropriate when dealing with the dark and scary world of hauntings.

It’s the style of narration that makes it so accessible and once again the team has created an event podcast that will have us on the edge of our seats for this interactive real-life ghost story. Witch Farm community, arise!

Verdict: Witch Farm community, arise!  9/10

Claire Smith