The Woman in Black" is based on a popular 1983 horror novel by Susan Hill. It's obviously ripe for adaptation, because the 160-page ghost story has taken on a number of different forms. First there's the 1987 stage play by Stephen Mallatratt, which has been running continuously in the West End for 23 years and been staged in the U.S., South Africa, and Japan. Next came the TV movie on Britain's ITV network in 1989. And then the BBC adapted the ... more 

The Woman in Black" is based on a popular 1983 horror novel by Susan Hill. It's obviously ripe for adaptation, because the 160-page ghost story has taken on a number of different forms. First there's the 1987 stage play by Stephen Mallatratt, which has been running continuously in the West End for 23 years and been staged in the U.S., South Africa, and Japan. Next came the TV movie on Britain's ITV network in 1989. And then the BBC adapted the book for a radio broadcast, not once, but twice, in 1993 and 2004. This is the first time the book has been adapted for the big screen, though it was far from the first try. "Over the years, we made several attempts with different screenwriters to adapt the story, but I was never fully satisfied with the scripts," says producer Richard Jackson. Until now, he probably should have added. less