Ghost Stories

Thirty-one classic ghost stories from the haunting world of M. R. James.

The aim of a good ghost story is to make the blood freeze, pleasurably, and this M. R. James achieves to perfection in these wonderful stories. His most atmospheric settings include English country houses and gardens, the north end of the churchyard, the yew-maze in ‘Mr Humphreys and his Inheritance’ and the unforgettable train journey in “Casting the Runes’. To each of these stories he brings an eye for the telling detail, an imaginative twist, and a narrative tone that is, at least to begin with, urbane and reassuring ...

‘If you like a well-told story redolent of the England of horse carriages and branch railway lines; if old churches and old houses delight you; if evil things, with hairy arms and talons alarm you; if you believe in haunting horror, or if you do not, buy this book’ - John Betjeman

 

Montague Rhodes James, who used the publication name M.R. James, was a noted English mediaeval scholar & provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–18) & of Eton College (1918–36). He's best remembered for his ghost stories which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature. One of James' most important achievements was to redefine the ghost story for the new century by dispensing with many of the formal Gothic trappings of his predecessors, replacing them with more realistic contemporary settings.