The turn of the screw is an 1898 horror novella by henry james which first appeared in serial format in colliers weekly january 27 april 16 1898 in october 1898 it was collected in the two magics published by macmillan in new york city and heinemann in london. The turn of the screw tv movie 1999 imdb directed by ben bolt with caroline pegg jodhi may colin firth pam ferris a governess put in charge of two young children begins to see the ghost of her dead predecessor menu. The turn of the screw also known as ghost story the turn of the screw is a british television film based on henry jamess 1898 ghost story of the same name commissioned and produced by the bbc it was first broadcast on 30 december 2009 on bbc one the novella was adapted for the screen by sandy welch and the film was directed by tim fywell although generally true to the tone and story of jamess work the film is set in the 1920s in contrast to the original 1840s setting and . Definition of turn of the screw in the idioms dictionary turn of the screw phrase what does turn of the screw expression mean definitions by the largest idiom dictionary