Collected Ghost Stories

by M R James

Overview

The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James is the title of M. R. James' omnibus collection of ghost stories, published in 1931, bringing together all but four of his ghost stories (which had yet to be published).

Montague Rhodes James (1862-1936) was a medievalist scholar; Provost of King's College, Cambridge. He wrote many of his ghost stories to be read aloud in the long tradition of spooky Christmas Eve tales. His stories often use rural settings, with a quiet, scholarly protagonist getting caught up in the activities of supernatural forces. The details of horror are almost never explicit, the stories relying on a gentle, bucolic background to emphasize the awfulness of the otherworldly intrusions. (wikipedia.org)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781636372747
Publisher:	Bibliotech Press
Publication date:	11/11/2022
Pages:	348
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.87(d)

About the Author

Darryl Jones's other publications include Horror: A Thematic History in Fiction and Film (London: Arnold; New York: OUP, 2002).

Table of Contents

Introduction
Select Bibliography
Chronology of M. R. James
Canon Alberic's Scrap-book
Lost Hearts
The Mezzotint
The Ash-Tree
Number 13
Count Magnus
'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad'
The Treasure of Abbot Thomas
A School Story
The Rose Garden
The Tractate Middoth
Casting the Runes
The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral
Martin's Close
Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance
The Residence at Whitminster
The Diary of Mr Poynter
An Episode of Cathedral History
The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance
Two Doctors
The Haunted Dolls' House
The Uncommon Prayer-Book
A Neighbour's Landmark
A View from a Hill
A Warning to the Curious
An Evening's Entertainment
There was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard
Rats
After Dark in the Playing Fields
Wailing Well
The Experiment
The Malice of Inanimate Objects
A Vignette
Appendix: M. R. James on Ghost Stories
Explanatory Notes

Editorial Reviews

James (1862–1936), a Cambridge don, laid the foundations of the modern ghost story with the 33 well-wrought antiquarian tales collected here. In “‘Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad,’” a note blown on an ancient instrument accidentally summons a horrifying entity from the primitive past. “Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book” and “The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral” both concern demonic beings aroused through scholarly researches into church history. “The Mezzotint” tells of a supernaturally animated print whose imagery replays a horrifying tragedy from the past. James emphasized atmosphere and mood over shock tactics, but he always insisted that ghosts be malevolent and found very disquieting forms for them to take. Many of these stories are time-tested classics, and this volume, which also includes an informative introduction and notes by Darryl Jones, is indispensable for any fan of supernatural fiction. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"Arguably the definitive collection by a single writer, this edition collects together all of James' spine-tingling tales in a single volume. From Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad to The Mezzotint, these stories guarantee unbearable horrified suspense." — The New European

From the Publisher