Today I was running a bit low on energy, so took on the relatively low input challenge of ‘watch a horror film’. Oof. The most unpleasant task yet. I absolutely hate these; I sit there unable to watch, hiding behind a pillow, then find I’m traumatised for nights afterwards, so although passive, it deserved its place on the list.

I had ordered some nonsense called ‘The Orphanage’ from Amazon; it arrived today. I persuaded my other half to watch with me, and we both had a thoroughly miserable evening, sitting in front of ghosts, ghouls, death, deformity, and generally unpalatable goings on. Basically a woman goes to live at the orphanage where she grew up, taking her young son with her… the boy disappears, and it transpires that the ghosts of all the children she grew up with are still in the house and have something to do with it all… Don’t let me spoil it by saying more.

If anyone likes that sort of thing, I guess it was quite well crafted and even kind of convincing – and actually not nearly as alarming as the films I remember watching at sleepovers in my teens …. But Good Lord, I can think of about 350 things I would rather do with an evening.

The verdict: scary, horrible, psychologically disturbing, massively unpleasant. The only upside is no hangover after a Saturday night!