The Collected Ghost Stories of M.R. James

Rating:
Summary: a very good read, but not at all scary
Review: Among authors of this genre, James stands out as the master of subtle, creeping horror. He knows better than anyone that "there are more things in heaven and earth..."

Rating:
Summary: Unpleasant dreams, everybody.
Review: I second most of what "hugh dignon" said below; he hit it on the head. I enjoy few authors more than James. I'm a full-grown, mostly rational, non-squeamish, non-superstitious adult, and these stories make my skin crawl, even on repeat readings.

One small caveat: It might be hard to resist devouring all the stories in a short period of time. Resist and ration them out. First, because these are (nearly?) all the ghost stories he wrote. Second, they're formulaic enough in structure that as you near the end of the book, they start to lose some impact if read all at once.

I've read "The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance" four or five times. I still can't follow the plot. It still keeps me awake at night. (Maybe this is because Punch & Judy puppets creep me out). Does anyone else get it?

Rating:
Summary: a very good read, but not at all scary
Review: I will definitely admit that I enjoyed reading this book. Undeniably, Mr. James was an extraordinary writer for his day and age. And I am sure that back then these stories would have been the "bone-chilling terror" that the back of the book promised, but I found that most of the stories in here were not even remotely terrifying. They all had a good build up. A terrific story line and some really interesting ideas, but it was at just that point when you start getting really interested, that the story is suddenly over, and you are left with a somewhat empty feeling, knowing that it could have been better. I would still recommend this book to those who would read it purely for literary enjoyment. However, if you're looking for a good scare, as I was, look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Unpleasant dreams, everybody.
Review: M.R.James was a master of the British ghost story. In the Victorian and Edwardian eras the ghost story was a very popular genre with some wonderful writers contributing to it. Writers such as Algernon Blackwood, J.S. Le Fanu, H.R. Wakefield, Oliver Onions, Marion Crawford, Henry James and Edith Warton (who both dabbled successfully in the genre), W.W.Jacobs, E.F.Benson, R.H.Malden and E.G.Swain (who were both influenced by James), and William Hope Hodgson produced many ghost stories of merit, but at the top of such an illustrious list should be placed the name of Montague Rhodes James. He wrote short, exquisite stories of ordinary human beings' encounters with the supernatural; all of which exhibit such a disquietingly high level of verisimilitude that he very nearly succeeds in making us believe that the strange events in his stories have actually happened. Because he was a scholar and spent all of his adult life in academia, at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, James was naturally able to inject his stories with an integral element of scholarly detail. They are told in a matter- of-fact, rather dry style and, like an historical text, are peppered with latin phrases and footnotes with bibliographical references. In "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" he even audaciously begins the story with a first paragraph entirely written in latin which, thank God, he translates; though not before his protagonist slyly sighs, "I suppose I shall have to translate this." His protagonists are usually antiquarians; rigid, late-Victorian academics who are not in any way given to flights of fancy. When the type of unimaginative men such as these come across an old etching like "The Mezzotint", or an ancient book like "The Tractate Middoth" or "Canon Alberic's Scrapbook", objects which turn out to be haunted, the reader believes that they indeed are because such protagonists surely lack the imagination to make up such fantastical occurances. James is also a master of subtlety. Unlike horror writers of today who are all too willing to try to shock the reader with sadistic, nauseating, gore-drenched descriptions, James knows how to describe just enough and let the reader's imagination supply the rest. He also lulls the reader into a false sense of security by at first evoking a kind of even-handed normalcy about his characters and settings; so that when the ghost finally makes its appearance it comes as a shock. M.R.James' ghosts are never good. They do not appear to the living to warn them about some impending disaster. At best, they are indifferent to human beings as in "The Mezzotint", "The Haunted Doll's House", or "Number 13" in which the spirits act as if they were in a neverending tape loop. But, for the most part, they are utterly malevolent creatures which actively seek to do harm to the unsuspecting human beings who unknowingly happen to awaken them. Unlike many other ghost story writers of his time, in most of his tales James provides no satisfactory explanation for the ghost's malevolence. He knows that a tidy, pat answer weakens the impact of the anarchic idea that there are unseen forces, usually remaining dormant, which at any time could awaken to inflict harm upon the living. The implications of this idea are truly frightening. Upon finishing one of his stories, the reader is left with a nagging, unnerving suspicion that the events of the story, no matter how strange or "unreal", have actually happened and that James' story is really only a factual accounting of them.

Rating:
Summary: The Lurking Belief That The Story's The Truth
Review: M.R.James was a master of the British ghost story. In the Victorian and Edwardian eras the ghost story was a very popular genre with some wonderful writers contributing to it. Writers such as Algernon Blackwood, J.S. Le Fanu, H.R. Wakefield, Oliver Onions, Marion Crawford, Henry James and Edith Warton (who both dabbled successfully in the genre), W.W.Jacobs, E.F.Benson, R.H.Malden and E.G.Swain (who were both influenced by James), and William Hope Hodgson produced many ghost stories of merit, but at the top of such an illustrious list should be placed the name of Montague Rhodes James. He wrote short, exquisite stories of ordinary human beings' encounters with the supernatural; all of which exhibit such a disquietingly high level of verisimilitude that he very nearly succeeds in making us believe that the strange events in his stories have actually happened. Because he was a scholar and spent all of his adult life in academia, at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, James was naturally able to inject his stories with an integral element of scholarly detail. They are told in a matter- of-fact, rather dry style and, like an historical text, are peppered with latin phrases and footnotes with bibliographical references. In "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" he even audaciously begins the story with a first paragraph entirely written in latin which, thank God, he translates; though not before his protagonist slyly sighs, "I suppose I shall have to translate this." His protagonists are usually antiquarians; rigid, late-Victorian academics who are not in any way given to flights of fancy. When the type of unimaginative men such as these come across an old etching like "The Mezzotint", or an ancient book like "The Tractate Middoth" or "Canon Alberic's Scrapbook", objects which turn out to be haunted, the reader believes that they indeed are because such protagonists surely lack the imagination to make up such fantastical occurances. James is also a master of subtlety. Unlike horror writers of today who are all too willing to try to shock the reader with sadistic, nauseating, gore-drenched descriptions, James knows how to describe just enough and let the reader's imagination supply the rest. He also lulls the reader into a false sense of security by at first evoking a kind of even-handed normalcy about his characters and settings; so that when the ghost finally makes its appearance it comes as a shock. M.R.James' ghosts are never good. They do not appear to the living to warn them about some impending disaster. At best, they are indifferent to human beings as in "The Mezzotint", "The Haunted Doll's House", or "Number 13" in which the spirits act as if they were in a neverending tape loop. But, for the most part, they are utterly malevolent creatures which actively seek to do harm to the unsuspecting human beings who unknowingly happen to awaken them. Unlike many other ghost story writers of his time, in most of his tales James provides no satisfactory explanation for the ghost's malevolence. He knows that a tidy, pat answer weakens the impact of the anarchic idea that there are unseen forces, usually remaining dormant, which at any time could awaken to inflict harm upon the living. The implications of this idea are truly frightening. Upon finishing one of his stories, the reader is left with a nagging, unnerving suspicion that the events of the story, no matter how strange or "unreal", have actually happened and that James' story is really only a factual accounting of them.

Rating:
Summary: Oh whistle and I'll come to you.....
Review: These quiet, strange, antique little stories from the age of the Edwardian gentleman have always seemed too good to be true. How can we be so lucky to share the same universe with M.R James. They are everything we desire in a ghost story : a curious, ancient setting,a cast of elite eccentric scholars from England's best schools in England's best time, and strange, plausible perfectly terrifying creatures representing the accummlation of sometimes centuries of nastiness. James knew something about what makes us so uneasy and it is a delight to accompany him there. Number 13 was the first story I read when I was thirteen myself and still a great favorite. Oh Whistle and I'll come to You My Lad has long been a favorite of many as well as An Episode In Cathedral History. They are all of them excellent, every one. Happy happy reading for this and many Halloweens and beyond.