Vic is fired up by the latest child kidnapping and crosses the bridge to find the unlikely abductor.

The relevance of the creepy flashback to Sugar Creek, Pennsylvania, Christmas 1978 that opens this episode very quickly clicks into place when the young child is gifted a gas mask. It’s young Bing, and as we witnessed last week when he transformed into Manx’s henchman, he has no qualms in putting on a gas mask and getting down to business. His bullying oaf of a father pushes him too far, just one taunt too many, and gains a nail in his forehead. And so we witness the birth of the monster.

Vic hears that Haley has been abducted and crosses the Shorter Way Bridge – her in-scape – to track down her young friend. But surely it can’t be Bing (an excellent Olafur Darri Olaffson – The Crimes of Grindelwald) the friendly school janitor who reads her comic books? But all evidence suggests it is him, and after a confrontation with him in his cellar, a call comes through from Manx. This is the first encounter between Vic and Manx and it won’t be the last.

Darby Camp (The Christmas Chronicles) is excellent as the no-nonsense Haley. She’s no pushover, as Manx (an aged Zachary Quinto) discovers as he tries his usual tricks and temptations on the journey to Christmasland. But the further he travels with his abductee, the weaker she becomes – he’s draining her life force. By the time Manx is buying a bunch of air fresheners (“I like pine”) from a gas station, she has transformed into a feral ghoul, sporting rows of razor teeth. And when she meets up with equally toothsome Danny (who now looks more like Tobe Hooper’s Ralphie Glick from Salem’s Lot) there seems little hope for these young lost souls.

Verdict: A powerful episode that layers on further shocks after three already shocking instalments. The back story on Bing really fleshes out the character, but is he beyond redemption? Vic’s face to face with Manx must surely be any time now, but does she have the strength to square up against him? 9/10

Nick Joy