The Man in the Picture: A Ghost Story, By Susan Hill

A real treat for fans of a true, elegant ghost story, this slim novella is as accomplished a chiller as you would expect from the author of The Woman in Black.

Told second-hand, as is traditional, alongside a scotch, a glowing log fire and a crackle of menace, it relates the history of a sinister painting and a figure in it who looks out at the viewer "with what I can only describe as pleading." This is chilling stuff in the mould of MR James's finest – so make sure there's someone else in the room before you come to the end.