[Editorial] Inside No. 9’s Top 5 Horror Episodes

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Inside No 9

Over six phenomenal seasons, Inside No. 9 has earned its status as one of the greats when it comes to horror anthology shows. Its writing and performing duo Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, famed for their darkly bizarre sitcoms The League of Gentleman (1999-2017) and Psychoville (2009-2011), are experts in pushing the fine line between the macabre and the comedic.

Inside No. 9 has its fair share of creepy moments with some episodes veering into full-blown horror territory. So, it’s about time these standout horror episodes got some attention. With a show that’s all about twists, turns and misdirection, it’s impossible to not mention the endings and fangirl over how brilliant they are, so this article does contain spoilers. You have been warned!

5. Seance Time 

Scaredy Cam, a cancelled hidden camera reality show, makes a big return to screens after quite literally scaring one of its contestants to death. With a reputation this controversial, the show wouldn’t be complete without a suitably desperate cast of characters. Reece Shearsmith nails the washed-up TV presenter type, deluded by the hope of clawing back fame and throwing his weight around with ridiculous diva demands. Meanwhile, Alison Steadman (Gavin and Stacey) guest stars as the pretentious darling of the London stage slumming it in the role of a dishevelled spirit medium to delight the show’s unsuspecting contestants with a few cheap scares. The combination of the two makes for a smart and satirical commentary on the fickle world of acting and the highs and lows of stardom – something that Inside No. 9 is especially good at dissecting with episodes like The Understudy and Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room. 

The reality TV concept is another strength of the episode. Horror can be a great genre for exploring the problems with reality TV, from American Horror Story: Roanoke (2016) to Charlie Brooker’s Big Brother-inspired zombie series Dead Set (2008). With its flickering candles, demonic voices and ectoplasm, Seance Time pokes fun at how formulaic paranormal reality shows can be, while the premise of the episode more generally exposes reality TV’s uncomfortable history of capitalising on shock moments at the expense of its contestants’ welfare. 

Inside No. 9 loves pulling off a twisty ending and this one is ambiguous enough to work in the confines of the episode’s horror reality show format, but at the same time it feels a bit far-fetched. The TV presenter is seemingly possessed by the vengeful spirit of the dead contestant, but it’s not entirely clear how. Is the show itself cursed? Are the cast and crew possessed by their own guilt? Is the spirit a ghost in the machine that possesses the recording equipment? It’s not the neatest or most original ending for a show that’s famous for its twists and turns. That said, I appreciate this episode for its horror literacy, with nods to classics like The Exorcist (1973), The Blair Witch Project (1999) and Drag Me to Hell (2009). 

4. The Harrowing

Schoolgirl Katy (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) takes a housesitting job for a creepy brother and sister with a suspiciously close relationship. Little does she know that she will also be taking care of their demonically possessed elder brother Andras, who is imprisoned in his bedroom and on the verge of death. Helen McCrory (Peaky Blinders) guest stars as mistress of the house Tabitha, sporting Tim Burton-esque Victorian goth chic with big hair and steampunk sunglasses – a look that is somehow both out of place and extremely fashionable. McCrory excels in this role; blending prickly Victorian villainess with a campy touch of Morticia Addams, she showcases her incredible talent for playing characters with a gothic flair from Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter films (2001-2011) to Evelyn Poole in Penny Dreadful (2014-2016). 

The Harrowing has all the hallmarks of a quintessential gothic novel: a dimly lit mansion, eerie portraits, incestuous siblings and a mysterious presence, but paired with a jarring choice of synth music that would be better off in an 80s slasher film. The mismatched musical choice is forgivable because the ending is so horrifically memorable. The episode coasts along on campy gothic tropes and then delivers the mother of all tone shifts. With echoes of The Wicker Man (1973), Katy is a pure soul who has been lured to the house to become the demon’s new host, which involves her being stripped, bound and gagged so that the demon can ‘enter’ her. The sexually violent connotations of this final scene make it deeply unsettling to watch, along with the monstrous-looking Andras who lurches towards her until we are confronted with a terrifying close up of his face. The ending is truly horrible and so scary that I avoided rewatching the episode for a long time afterwards. This is what Inside No. 9 does best: you think the story is going in one direction and then it throws you a nasty blood-spattered curveball.

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3. The Stakeout 

PC ‘Tommo’ Thompson (Steve Pemberton) stakes out a local graveyard on a rogue mission to find the killer of his former partner, while his enthusiastic new partner PC Varney (Reece Shearsmith) is dragged along for the ride. With an impressively minimalistic concept that takes place entirely in a police car, there is a mounting sense of claustrophobia, tension and eventually threat as Tommo is trapped in his own spiralling grief and unknowingly trapped with his partner’s killer. The rapport between the two characters as they learn to navigate each other’s foibles is one of the great pleasures of this episode. So much emotion is experienced in this one confined space. They play games, they make jokes, they fight, they share stories of loss. Tommo is at his most vulnerable and begins to trust in his new partner, which makes the ending even more effective and somewhat tinged with sadness when Varney’s bloodthirsty deception is revealed. 

Unlike The Harrowing’s offbeat 80s synth, Stakeout’s Slavic string accompaniment not only adds something atmospheric but becomes one of the many clues to unlocking the episode’s vampire twist. The concept of a vampire story veiled beneath a police procedural is a fresh take on the genre. While the crime drama tropes are intentionally familiar and heavy handed, the vampire ones are fed into the plot with such a light touch that some are easily missed. Varney’s disgust with Tommo for eating cold leftovers (garlicky, of course) and persistently asking if he can get back in the car could easily be interpreted as the quirks of a less experienced officer, but the fact that they are variations of well-known vampire traits shows how clever this episode is. If you’re blessed (or perhaps cursed) with an encyclopaedic knowledge of vampires, then this reveal isn’t quite as impactful as it could be due to the sheer volume of clues that become more and more obvious as the episode progresses. It may not have the skill that The Devil of Christmas has in giving away as little as possible, but there is still fun to be had in spotting the breadcrumb trail. 

2. The Devil of Christmas 

A family spend Christmas at an Austrian ski lodge, but their stay becomes increasingly disturbed by the legendary Krampus who makes it his business to spook naughty children. If it wasn’t already clear that the episode is a parody of a 1970s low budget horror flick from its shoddy acting and production gaffes, a retrospective voiceover from the director (guest star Derek Jacobi) interjects to criticise the film for these very qualities, assuring that he only took the job because ‘there was so little work around’. You think he’s referring to the embarrassment of being associated with such a trashy film, but the real story is much more sinister.    

Through techniques like self-aware stagy acting and deliberately overshooting their marks, the cast brilliantly capture all the B movie-isms. Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife) stands out with her multi-layered performance as the actress of two very different films, switching between theatrical final girl distress when being pursued by the Krampus and raw terror when she realises her true fate in the final scene. Even the aesthetic of the episode is pure 70s cinema, from the grainy filter to the questionable moustaches and wallpaper. 

Then, of course, there’s THAT ending. This is not just Inside No. 9’s best horror twist, but one of the best twists of the whole series. In fact, the twist is made even more impactful because the rest of the episode is deceptively bad. The hammy B movie feel makes you so uninvested in the story that by the time the ending arrives, it’s like being hit by a freight train. Much like the mock-snuff films of the 1970s that caused widespread moral panic, the plot is inconsequential and rarely makes much sense because it’s all about the big finish. The Devil of Christmas imitates this style of filmmaking perfectly. The final scene is so quick that you don’t even have time to process what happened, its total jaw-hitting-the-floor stuff. 

This episode is a masterclass in giving away the right number of clues without giving away the ending. It’s the sort of episode that makes you want to go back and watch it again to spot the hints, and then it becomes a completely different viewing experience because the smallest reference takes on a whole new chilling meaning. The fact that The Devil of Christmas is meant to be one of Inside No. 9’s seasonal episodes just makes it even more fucked up considering that the others (Love’s Great Adventure and The Twelve Days of Christine) have such strong emotional pulls and heart-warming tones fit for the festive period. 

1. Dead Line 

This live Halloween episode pulls off a masterstroke in television broadcasting. What begins as a slow paced and rather conventional scripted drama about a lost mobile phone ends up being a multi-layered horror experience with spooky technical glitches, tormented actors and ghosts lurking in the dark. The way the episode toys with the broadcasting process and deliberately misdirects viewers is genius. In fact, the fake tech faults were so convincing that I nearly switched off the first time. The episode is a technological work of art, splicing together archival footage from TV history with a live scripted performance so smoothly that it makes what could be a logistical nightmare look completely effortless. So much thought went into making this as realistic and immersive as possible. Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith play themselves in a way that taps into their usual chemistry without it feeling performed. There were even choreographed tweets sent during the live broadcast that appeared on Twitter in real time. 

With a combination of jump scares and slow burning creepy moments, Dead Line is undoubtedly the scariest episode of the whole series. Its ghost-in-the-machine premise takes inspiration from the haunted videotape subgenre that has become a horror film staple, while the audience trickery that it pulls off has echoes of the BBC’s iconic Halloween show Ghostwatch (1992). Dead Line reigns supreme as a work of horror because it has absolutely everything you’d want: an original concept, technical feats, genuinely scary moments, and all executed perfectly in a live broadcast. 

There is something special about live TV when it’s done right, and Inside No. 9 totally nailed it. It was a real television event, a collective experience where everyone was simultaneously freaked out and bewildered and amazed together, which is rare in the age of streaming platforms. It’s epic on a first watch, but it’s also a great one to experience again and again because each time you spot new ghostly goings on that will keep you awake at night. 

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