Souris Noire Les Doigts Rouges Pre-owned book

Souris Noire – Red Fingers: a childhood mystery that hit disturbingly close to home

There were no monsters. No spells. No special effects. Just two brothers, a suspected murder, and a red stain that refused to fade.

Aired in 1988 as part of France’s Souris Noire anthology series, Red Fingers (Les Doigts Rouges) is perhaps the most unsettling, poignant, and emotionally mature entry of the entire show. Adapted from the novel by Marc Villard, it tells the story of a young boy who slowly becomes convinced that his older brother has killed someone. And from there, it’s a spiral of silence, fear, and suspicion.

No action. No gore. Just the unbearable weight of guilt, of not knowing, of imagining the worst. The pacing is slow, the mood heavy, the visuals stark and cold. The “red fingers” are more than a clue — they’re a metaphor for irreversible guilt.

Souris Noire was never afraid to treat kids like real people, capable of dealing with moral ambiguity and psychological tension. And this episode? It’s basically Hitchcock Junior meets French art-house — filtered through the lens of a middle-school nightmare.

Rarely rebroadcast and largely forgotten by mainstream media, Red Fingers lives on in the memories of those who watched it — and felt that uneasy chill settle deep in their bones.

A children's mystery? Maybe.
But it left grown-up scars.