A lost episode of the BBC's terrifying horror series Late Night Horror has been rediscovered after nearly six decades. The episode, titled No Such Thing As a Vampire, was found by cinema projectionist Darren Payne in a storage room at The Regent, a 1930s art deco cinema in Christchurch, Dorset.
Originally broadcast in 1968, Late Night Horror was a six-part anthology known for its dark and deeply disturbing stories. The series gained notoriety for its graphic content, featuring gruesome scenes and sinister supernatural figures. Within a few years, it had vanished from television and was wiped from the BBC archives, partly due to the practice of reusing tapes and possibly because of its extreme nature.
The rediscovered episode is adapted from a short story by Richard Matheson, author of I Am Legend. It follows a vampire-themed narrative where a woman falls mysteriously ill and is found to have two small puncture wounds on her neck. The episode has been unseen for around 60 years.
BFI film curator Atlas Obscura commented on the series: 'It was quite shocking, I think it was controversial.' Four other episodes remain missing: William and Mary, The Triumph of Death, The Bells of Hell, and The Kiss of Blood. Another episode, The Corpse Can't Play, was recovered in 2016 after a 30-year search and is available on YouTube.
No Such Thing As a Vampire will be screened in Dorset on 20 September as part of the three-day Grindfest event, in partnership with the BBC Archives.
