Charlie Manx starts closing in on Vic, Maggie is getting more messages from her Scrabble tiles, and how do you get to college when your parents aren’t paying tax?

After the initial set-up and mythology building in the first two instalments, the AMC TV adaptation of Joe Hill’s fantasy novel goes deep. Instead of introducing new characters we’re starting to scratch beneath the surface of our regulars, and being a lot richer for it. Vic really is facing an uphill battle to get into college when neither of her parents are prepared to share their respective tax returns – truth is that they’ve been working off the grid. They truly are not the parents she deserves.

Even more worrying, Manx and Bing are now in the area, having located the Shorter Way Bridge that Vic uses to travel between realities. They can only see the stretch of river where the bridge once stood, and question young Haley Smith, who is out alone, looking for her kitten. But she’s been taught well and refuses to take a candy cane from a stranger (and you don’t get much stranger than Manx), keeping her promise to Vic to not disclose her adventures with the bridge.

But what appears to be a lucky escape for Haley is only a temporary reprieve, with Manx transforming into the gas mask man and kidnapping both her and her mother in a chilling home invasion. As for Manx, we now know he’s the sort of guy that would snap the neck of a kitten.

Verdict: It was inevitable that Manx would come to Vic, his demonic 1948 Rolls-Royce Wraith taking him to Massachusetts, but the search for kidnapped Danny Moore seems to have lost steam, with seemingly only Maggie and Sheriff Bly actively looking for him. Like a good book, each chapter takes us deeper into the narrative, boosting the dread quotient while sinking its hooks even deeper into us. I can’t wait until next week. 8/10

Nick Joy