by M. R. James
“There are all sorts of writers of all sorts of nightmares, but M.R. James wrote the best ghost stories. He may well have created the ghost story in its current form. Nobody can do what he did as well as he could.”
Neil Gaiman
“I have given M.R. James the title of genius, an accolade which should not be lightly bestowed.”
Ruth Rendell
“A writer of great supernatural imagination, a master of style and purity … I believe that it is unlikely his ghost stories will ever be surpassed.”
Christopher Lee
“M.R. James is the most influential British writer of supernatural fiction.”
Ramsey Campbell
“His own subtle and oblique way of constructing narrative has been my dictum: less is more.” Basil Copper
“M.R. James did more for the ghost story than any other writer. He raised the art of writing tales of terror to a new high level.”
Hugh Lamb
“Stylish, beautifully constructed, mountingly sinister and ultimately frightening tales.”
Peter Haining
“I was agreeably sensible of their eeriness … There is much invention shown in their construction.”
Thomas Hardy
“The name of Montague Rhodes James at once signifies the very best in ghost fiction.”
Mike Ashley
“The tales of M.R. James remain as entertaining, and as implausibly plausible, as ever.”
Michael Cox
“James is perhaps unsurpassed in originality by any living writer.”
Clark Ashton Smith
“The most frightening, learned and humorous ghost stories.”
Sir John Betjeman
“M.R. James is one of horror fiction’s few class acts.”
Geoff Ryman
“A literary weird fictionist of the very first rank.”
H.P. Lovecraft
Also by M.R. James
SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS
Ghost-Stories of an Antiquary (1904)
More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911)
A Thin Ghost and Others (1919)
Ander og Trolddom, translated by Ragnhild Undset (1919)
A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories (1925)
The Collected Ghost Stories of M.R. James (1931)
The Penguin Complete Ghost Stories of M.R. James (1931)
Thirteen Ghost Stories (1935)
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1937)
Best Ghost Stories of M.R. James (1944)
Three Ghosts, with H.G. Wells and Rudyard Kipling (1947)
More Ghost Stories (1959)
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1971)
Ghost Stories of M.R. James (1973)
The Complete Ghost Stories of M.R. James (1984)
Collected Ghost Stories (1985)
The Ghost Stories of M.R. James (1986)
“Casting the Runes” and Other Ghost Stories (1987)
A Warning to the Curious: The Ghost Stories of M.R. James (1987)
The Ghost Stories of M.R. James (1991)
Collected Ghost Stories (1992)
Room 13 and Other Ghost Stories: Elementary Level (1992)
Two Ghost Stories: A Centenary (1993)
Ghost Stories (1994)
The Haunted Dolls’ House, with Robert Louis Stevenson (1995)
Selected Ghost Stories (1995)
A Warning to the Curious (1998)
Casting the Runes (1998)
The Fenstanton Witch and Others: M.R. James in Ghosts and Scholars (1999)
A Warning to the Curious (1999)
The Haunted Dolls’ House and Other Stories (2000)
A Pleasing Terror: The Complete Supernatural Writings of M.R. James (2001)
Collected Ghost Stories (2002)
Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories: The Complete Ghost Stories of M.R. James Vol.1 (2005)
The House in Picture and Abbott Thomas’s Treasure: Beginner, with F.H. Cornish (2005)
The Haunted Dolls’ House and Other Stories: The Complete Ghost Stories of M.R. James Vol.2 (2006)
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (2006)
Collected Ghost Stories (2007)
Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book (2011)
Collected Ghost Stories (2011)
SEPARATE PUBLICATIONS
The Five Jars (1922)
Wailing Well (1928)
The Five Jars (1976)
The Five Jars (1995)
MEMOIR
Eton and King’s: Recollections, Mostly Trivial 1875–1925 (1926)
Eton and King’s: Recollections, Mostly Trivial 1875–1925 (2006)
AS EDITOR
Madam Crowl’s Ghost and Other Tales of Mystery, by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1923)
AS TRANSLATOR
Hans Andersen: Forty Stories, by Hans Christian Andersen (1930)
The Little Mermaid, by Hans Christian Andersen (1935)
Hans Andersen: Forty-Two Stories, by Hans Christian Andersen (1953)
NON-FICTION
Some Remarks on Ghost Stories (1985)
INTRODUCTIONS
Ghost-Stories of an Antiquary (1904)
The Story of a Troll-Hunt, by James McBryde (1904)
More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911)
A Thin Ghost and Others (1919)
The Lion’s Birthday, by Emily Plenderleath Harrison (1920)
Madam Crowl’s Ghost and Other Tales of Mystery, by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1923)
Ghosts and Marvels, edited by V.H. Collins (1924)
A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories (1925)
Uncle Silas, by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1926)
The Collected Ghost Stories of M.R. James (1931)
Curious Warnings
The Great Ghost Stories of
M.R. JAMES
150TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
Edited with an Afterword by
STEPHEN JONES
Illustrated by
LES EDWARDS
New York • London
This selection and editorial material © 2012 by Stephen Jones
Cover and interior illustrations © 2012 by Les Edwards
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review. Scanning, uploading, and electronic distribution of this book or the facilitation of the same without the permission of the publisher is prohibited.
Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
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ISBN 978-1-62365-025-4
Distributed in the United States and Canada by Random House Publisher Services
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, institutions, places, and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons—living or dead—events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Contents
Editor’s Note
Ghosts—Treat Them Gently!
Ghost Stories
Canon A
lberic’s Scrap-book
Lost Hearts
The Ash-tree
Count Magnus
The Mezzotint
Number 13
“Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad”
The Treasure of Abbot Thomas
The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral
Casting the Runes
Martin’s Close
Mr. Humphreys and His Inheritance
The Rose Garden
A School Story
The Tractate Middoth
The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance
An Episode of Cathedral History
The Diary of Mr. Poynter
The Residence at Whitminster
Two Doctors
The Uncommon Prayer-book
The Five Jars
I: The Discovery
II: The First Jar
III: The Second Jar
IV: The Small People
V: Danger to the Jars
VI: The Cat, Wag, Slim and Others
VII: The Bat-Ball
VIII: Wag at Home
The Haunted Dolls’ House
A Neighbor’s Landmark
After Dark in the Playing Fields
There Was a Man Dwelled by a Churchyard
A View from a Hill
A Warning to the Curious
An Evening’s Entertainment
Wailing Well
Rats
The Experiment: A New Year’s Eve Ghost Story
The Malice of Inanimate Objects
A Vignette
The Bulbul and the Cuckoo: An Indian Folk Tale
Stories I Have Tried to Write
A Night in King’s College Chapel
The Fenstanton Witch
John Humphreys
Marcilly-le-Hayer
The Game of Bear
Speaker Lenthall’s Tomb
Merfield House
Living Night
Some Remarks on Ghost Stories
Afterword: “The Stony Grin of Unearthly Malice” by Stephen Jones
Acknowledgments
Special thanks, as always, go to my editor and publisher Jo Fletcher, Val and Les Edwards, Nicola Budd, Lindsay Nash, Peter Gibbs, Colin Murray, Hugh Lamb, Neil Gaiman, Johnny Mains, Robert Lloyd Parry, Reggie Oliver, Jim Bryant, Simon Ball, Nicholas Rhodes James, Richard Dalby, the late Michael Cox and, especially, Rosemary Pardoe, for all their help and support.
“Editor’s Note” copyright © Stephen Jones 2012.
“Ghosts—Treat Them Gently!,” first published in The Evening News, April 17, 1931.
“Ghost Stories,” first published in The Eton Rambler No. 2, May 18, 1880, and The Eton Rambler No. 4, June 21, 1880.
“Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book,” first published under the title “The Scrap-book of Canon Alberic” in National Review Vol. XXV, No. 145, March 1895.
“Lost Hearts,” first published in Pall Mall Magazine, Vol. VII, No. 32, December 1895.
“The Ash-tree,” first published in Ghost-Stories of an Antiquary (1904).
“Count Magnus,” first published in Ghost-Stories of an Antiquary (1904).
“The Mezzotint,” first published in Ghost-Stories of an Antiquary (1904).
“Number 13,” first published in Ghost-Stories of an Antiquary (1904).
“‘Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad,’” first published in Ghost-Stories of an Antiquary (1904).
“The Treasure of Abbot Thomas,” first published in Ghost-Stories of an Antiquary (1904).
“The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral,” first published under the title “The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral: Materials for a Ghost Story” in Contemporary Review Vol. XCVII, No. 35, 1910.
“Casting the Runes,” first published in More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911).
“Martin’s Close,” first published in More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911).
“Mr. Humphreys and His Inheritance,” first published in More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911).
“The Rose Garden,” first published in More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911).
“A School Story,” first published in More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911).
“The Tractate Middoth,” first published in More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911).
“The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance,” first published in Cambridge Review, June 4, 1913.
“An Episode of Cathedral History,” first published in Cambridge Review, June 10, 1914.
“The Diary of Mr. Poynter,” first published in A Thin Ghost and Others (1919).
“The Residence at Whitminster,” first published in A Thin Ghost and Others (1919).
“Two Doctors,” first published in A Thin Ghost and Others (1919).
“The Uncommon Prayer-book,” first published in Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 127, No. 6, June 1921.
“The Five Jars,” first published in 1922.
“The Haunted Dolls’ House,” first published in Empire Review, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 265, February 1923.
“A Neighbor’s Landmark,” first published in The Eton Chronic, March 17, 1924.
“After Dark in the Playing Fields,” first published in College Days, No. 10, June 28, 1924.
“There Was a Man Dwelled by a Churchyard,” first published in Snapdragon, December 6, 1924.
“A View from a Hill,” first published in London Mercury, Vol. XII, No. 67, May 1925.
“A Warning to the Curious,” first published in London Mercury, Vol. XII, No. 70, August 1925.
“An Evening’s Entertainment,” first published in A Warning to the Curious (1925).
“Wailing Well,” first published in 1928.
“Rats,” first published in At Random, March 23, 1929.
“The Experiment: A New Year’s Eve Ghost Story,” first published in Morning Post, December 31, 1931.
“The Malice of Inanimate Objects,” first published in The Masquerade, No. 1, June 1933.
“A Vignette,” first published in The London Mercury and Bookman, No. 35, November 1936.
“The Bulbul and the Cuckoo: An Indian Folk Tale” (aka “The Story of the Bulbul”), from a letter dated February 9, 1917, to Gwendolen McBryde. First published in Letters to a Friend (1956).
“Stories I Have Tried to Write,” first published in The Touchstone, No. 2, November 30, 30 1929.
“A Night in King’s College Chapel” copyright © N.J.R. James 1985. First published in Ghosts & Scholars, No. 7, 1985. Reprinted by permission of the copyright owner and his agent, Michelle Kass Associates. Transcription copyright © Rosemary Pardoe 1985.
“The Fenstanton Witch” copyright © N.J.R. James 1990, 1999, 2003. First published in Ghosts & Scholars, No. 12, 1990. Reprinted by permission of the copyright owner and his agent, Michelle Kass Associates. Transcription copyright © Rosemary Pardoe 1990, 1999, 2003.
“John Humphreys” copyright © N.J.R. James 1993, 2007. First published in Ghosts & Scholars, No. 16, 1993. Reprinted by permission of the copyright owner and his agent, Michelle Kass Associates. Transcription copyright © Rosemary Pardoe 1993, 2007.
“Marcilly-le-Hayer” copyright © N.J.R. James 1996, 1999, 2006. First published in Ghosts & Scholars, No. 22, 1996. Reprinted by permission of the copyright owner and his agent, Michelle Kass Associates. Transcription copyright © Rosemary Pardoe 1996, 1999, 2006.
“The Game of Bear” copyright © N.J.R. James 1999, 2007. First published in The Fenstanton Witch and Others. Reprinted by permission of the copyright owner and his agent, Michelle Kass Associates. Transcription copyright © Rosemary Pardoe 1999, 2007.
“Speaker Lenthall’s Tomb” copyright © N.J.R. James 1999, 2005. First published in a severely truncated version in The Fenstanton Witch and Others. This almost-complete version first published in Ghosts & Scholars M.R. James Newsletter, No. 7, 2005. Reprinted by permission of the copyright owner and his agent, Michelle Kass Associates. Transcription copyright © Rosemary Pardoe 1999, 2005.
&nb
sp; “Merfield House” copyright © N.J.R. James 1999, 2007. First published in The Fenstanton Witch and Others. Reprinted by permission of the copyright owner and his agent, Michelle Kass Associates. Transcription copyright © Rosemary Pardoe 1999, 2007.
“Living Night” copyright © N.J.R. James 2011. From a letter dated January 17, 1888, to the author’s family. First published in Ghosts & Scholars M.R. James Newsletter, No. 20, October 2011. Reprinted by permission of the copyright owner and his agent, Michelle Kass Associates. Transcription © Jim Bryant 2011.
“Some Remarks on Ghost Stories,” first published in The Bookman Christmas Issue, December 1929.
“Afterword: ‘The Stony Grin of Unearthly Malice’” copyright © Stephen Jones 2012.
Some texts have been re-punctuated for publication in this new edition.
Every effort has been made to trace the owners of any copyright material in this book. In the case of any question arising as to the use of such material, the publisher, while expressing regret for any errors, will be pleased to make the necessary corrections in future editions of the book.
For
ROSEMARY PARDOE
DAVID ROWLANDS
STEVE DUFFY
and
NICHOLAS RHODES JAMES
for continuing to promote the works of Montague Rhodes James.
Editor’s Note
M.R. JAMES was a wonderful storyteller, but he was not much of a stylist. Well, he was a stylist—but he wrote in a unique style that was very much all his own.
The marvelous thing about language is that it is always changing, and the way in which stories were written in James’ time—in some cases more than 100 years ago now—is very different from how fiction is presented to today’s readers. Not just certain words or phrases which have passed out of popular usage, but with the application of spelling and punctuation as well.
While re-reading the author’s classic supernatural stories in preparation for compiling this present collection of his work, the possibility struck me that he had never really been properly edited before. It is more than likely—especially given James’ stated resistance initially to having his work collected in print form—that the original publications of his work were mostly set from the “rough” manuscripts he had prepared for his annual Christmas readings to a select audience.
As anyone who is used to public speaking knows, a script can be very different from a page of prose—the “beats” and timbre of reading aloud are not always the same as a carefully constructed piece of fiction.