Actor Mark Gatiss makes appearance at Finedon book store while on a ghost hunt

Finedon’s rich history with haunted spirits caught the attention of screenwriter Mark Gatiss this week as he attended a local book store during a ghostly visit to the town.

Harrowden Books of Finedon was a stop for the screenwriter/actor, who was joined by former vicar of Finedon Richard Coles.

Its owner, Michael Sumner, is keen on the topic himself, hosting annual ghost walks with ‘tales of ghostly happenings intermingled with history & local literature’ that take place around Halloween to ‘give people a bit of fun and raise money for [Air Ambulance] charity.’

The store in Finedon’s High Street specialises in used books of all manner of topics from horror to romance, the former being a genre that Finedon knows all too well.

The town has a spooky past dating back centuries with tales of the Dutch Doll of Finedon being known to locals. This week, Reverend Richard Coles and Mark Gatiss were in the area gathering information and talking points for a BBC Radio 4 feature about hunting ghosts and discussing the legitimacy of the paranormal.

Mark Gatiss is also at the helm of an adaptation of Count Magnus for the BBC anthology film series A Ghost Story for Christmas, his fifth writing credit on the project since it was revived in 2005. This will air on December 23, with the radio broadcast of Hunting Ghosts with Gatiss and Coles beginning from 10.15, the evening of Christmas Eve.