Customer Reviews

Collected Ghost Stories

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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Love this book and, as with any collection, thought a specific listing of all thirty included short works might be helpful to potential buyers.

Canon Alberic's Scrapbook; 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. Paynter; An Episode Of Cathedral History; The Story Of A Disappearance And An Appearance; Two Doctors; The Haunted Doll's House; The Uncommon Prayer-Book; A Neighbor's Landmark; A View From A Hill; A Warning To The Curious; An Evenings Entertainment; There Was A Man Dwealt By A Churchyard; Rats; After Dark In The Playing Fields; Wailing Well; Stories I Have Tried To Write

Some of the subtlest ghost stories ever written and all the more chilling for that. James never piles on the horror as, say, Lovecraft does but plants fears in your mind that will keep you from sleep: whispering voices, the touch of a cold hand in the darkness, an unseen cat brushing your legs.

James's fictional world, which owes something to Dickens, was based on the world he lived in, of Cambridge scholars exploring old libraries or churches or country houses. In such places, there are secrets hidden for centuries, only waiting for the careless unbeliever to open the door behind which they are lurking.

Try some of the classics like 'Casting the Runes' or 'The Treasure of Abbot Thomas' or, better, splash out on the Collected Stories. The quality is very high, with no more than three or four inferior ones in the whole book.

First published in 1931, Colected Ghost Stories is a collection of most of M.R. James much revered stories. These stories were all first written for publication in magazines or for his famous Christmas readings, and were subsequently collected into four seperate volumes: Ghoast Stories of an Antiquary (1904), More Ghost Stories (1911), A Thin Ghost and Others (1919), and A Warning to the Curious (1925). Three stories that were published in magazines following the first publication of this work, and do not appear in this reprint; they are: The Experiment, The Malice of Inanimate Objects, and A Vignette.

James' skill for conceiving and presenting ghost stories seems to have developed at relatively young age, and his reading of some of his stories at King's College at Christmastime was a quite popular event. But ghost stories were, unfortunately, not James' priority; he was an antiquarian, and much respected one at that. He was also a noted linguist, paleographer, medievalist and biblical scholar--fields that all influenced his stories.

While it is safe to say that these ghost stories are among the best ever written, their style and subject matter are still a matter of taste. So it is difficult to catagorically recommend this book, but I doubt that any lover of ghost stories will be able to put this book down without difficulty after sampling but a story or two.

M.R. James has many imitators and if you've read any ghost story anthologies at all, you're probably already acquainted with him. "Casting the Runes" and "Oh Whistle and I'll Come for You, My Lad" are probably his two most collected stories, but they're all good. I still shiver through every one of them, and I've read all of his stories at least a hundred times (well, maybe ten times). His usual protagonist is an elderly (or elderly seeming) scholar, British of course, who gets himself into horrible, occult trouble by going where he shouldn't go or reading what he shouldn't read.

There are other good writers of ghostly tales: Sheridan LeFanu, Charles Dickens, E.F. Benson, Shirley Jackson, etc.; and Ramsey Campbell once wrote a short story in the style of M.R. James that almost could have been written by the Master, himself. However, if you haven't already read M.R. James' "Collected Ghost Stories", please do so. He is the writer by which all others in this difficult genre are measured.

M. R. James was the master of subtle disquiet. The Victorians loved and perfected the ghost story genre. The unexpected intrusion of the weird and eerie into the carefully structured life of 19th century respectability was a favorite theme in these stories. James' protagonist was usually a discomfited scholar, clergyman or "antiquary," whose well-ordered existence was forever changed by a supernatural encounter.

Superbly spooky tales, beautifully lucid prose, very English. Classic ghost stories. I first read these tales as a teenager on the recommendation of a high school teacher. They gave me chills then, and sometimes, if I find myself alone at night, walking a deserted road, they come back to haunt me. Be warned, some of these stories will stay with you.

great stories from the master. excellent at details, truly chilling, great descriptions, noone can make as much out of the traditional ghost story. james no that one change is enough to make a completely different story. changing objects, persons, places, angles, james shows the complete potential of the ghost story. built up excellent, these stories are among the best read in horror. lurking evil, suggestive evil, warning of evil, sudden icy touches by ghostly hands. i have read a lot of horror, but james almost startles me. like that scene in the well, i could almost feel a hand on my shoulder.

Buying this book used for $.01 + $3.99 shipping was perhaps the most fun I've ever squeezed out of four bucks. I took my time reading this book over several months, and James kept my interest in coming back for more. Horror in the writing of M R James is subtle, his prose is a bit academic and he makes you wait for that kernel of horror, but he's able to imply so much in so few words. In that way he's the opposite of H. P. Lovecraft (whom I love) in his use of adjectives about the "unutterable eldritch cyclopean explosions of tentacles."

For example, in "Number 13" a man in a hotel suspects something bad is going on in room 13 next to his. One night looking out the window he sees his image projected onto the opposite wall, and further down, that of the occupant of 13 as well. All James has to say is that the occupant "must be possessed of a red lamp shade and the lamp must be flickering very much." We know exactly what's going on. His tales are filled with touches such as this, and they're often more subtle, giving you that fearful moment of realization.

The settings in the stories of James are often "cozy" - remote villages, manor houses, desolate moors and perhaps his favorite of all; old cathedrals. His favorite evils are cloaked figures, demons and spiders. The idea of eternal evil forces that are shut up and unwittingly released appears over and over again; similar to Lovecraft's writing on "forbidden knowledge." This is also a bit like Arthur Machen's works that make folklore absolutely terrifying. Tension is built slowly with atmosphere, and when that hint of the horror is given it's unexpected.

James didn't write one story that would be considered "epic" in the way that fellow English ghost story writer Algernon Blackwood did with "The Willows" or "The Windigo." Neither is he as intense as Machen or Lovecraft. However, the overall quality is better than Blackwood, who has a lot of "misses" in my opinion - if you like James' style, there's very few misses to be found here. Whereas Blackwood (and many other writers) often put you into the mind of the protagonist who senses something wrong, James just gives you the facts and makes YOU sense something is wrong.

Some of the best stories here are "Canon Alberic's Scrapbook," "The Ash Tree," "Number 13," "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" and "A View From a Hill" just to name a few. Some I would skip starting out are "Two Doctors" and "The Uncommon Prayer-Book."

M.R. James is nothing like Lovecraft, though he did influence H.P.L. in some respects ( though not as much as Dunsany, Blackwood, Machen and others ). James was a master of the subtle, 'antiquarian' ghost story, whereas Lovecraft was more interested in aeon-old daemonic unspeakable horrors and cyclopean eldritch shamblers from unnameable nether pits of cosmic unfathomable darkness, so to speak! He ( Lovecraft ) wrote some effective stories but they don't really bear comparison with those of James, who could elicit more fear in a couple of sentences than H.P.L. could in a whole story.

M.R. James may well be the most famous of early modern ghost/supernatural fiction writers but he certainly isn't the 'father' of the ghost or horror story, nor is he the best, in the opinion of many afficionados. In fact, he himself was directly influenced by the true father of the psychological ghost story, J.Sheridan LeFanu. James openly acknowledged his admiration and debt to LeFanu and those who enjoy James should definitely try reading LeFanu - his 'Best Ghost Stories' published by Dover are also available from Amazon.com and are a must for anyone with an interest in supernatural fiction. There are so many great writers who are the equal of or superior to James who have been unjustly neglected over the years, including Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, Oliver Onions, Robert Aickman, and Fritz Leiber to name just a few. To all who've enjoyed the wonderfully creepy tales of the late provost, I whole-heartedly recommend these sadly forgotten masters of the ghostly tale.

One bad thing about reading James' ghost stories is that he tends to ruin you for others. I mean, I thought E.F. Benson was quite good---until reading James. Put it this way, the worst of M.R. James is better than the best of other ghost-story writers.

Ah, yes---GHOST stories. Yes, Poe is also wonderful. But M.R. James writes ghost stories. They are not really comparable genres. However, the reviewer who did compare them also did not like Lovecraft, Machen, a few others, and even Borges. So at least James is in very, very good company. Can't please everyone, I guess.

So I guess I should put in a warning: These stories are quite literary and you have to read them with very careful attention---the real chills can slip right past without your noticing it if you are not careful. This is one reason why I have re-read this book probably twenty times, and still love every story.

Of course, everyone has favorites. Here are mine: "Casting the Runes" (yikes), "Count Magnus" (yikes again), and "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" (and since reading this story, I still don't like sleeping in hotel rooms with an empty bed in the same room).

Here's sort of an odd comparison: The people who love James (count me in) would also love T.E.D. Klein, I think (count me in again). Even though the settings and styles are quite different, they both have the knack of adding one layer of detail upon another, one seemingly minor incident after another, until the cumulative effect gives one a serious case of chills. This is the kind of writer James is; if you want something biting off someone's head and gore oozing all over the floor, you won't like him.

But in conclusion: Over the years, this has been one of the most consistently satisfying books in this genre I've ever read.