A Pleasing Terror: The Complete Supernatural Writings

Rating:
Summary: The definitive collection of M.R. James's supernatural works
Review: Ghost-story fans will buy this book, no matter how steep the price, because it contains all of Montague Rhodes James's ghost stories, both finished and unfinished, his fantasy novella "The Five Jars," his parody of "Doctor Faustus," all of his commentary on ghostly literature, and much, much more. I shelled out the big bucks when "A Pleasing Terror" was first published by Ash-Tree Press (August, 2001), not because I cared about first editions, but because I had to have this book. It's the only complete collection of Monty's supernatural fiction.

All of the stories are heavily annotated. The Latin tags and obscure scholarly references that pepper Monty's writings are explained for the non-classically-educated reader (most of us I should guess.) And his stories reverberate with his own special brand of horror--a muffled scratching within the tomb--not the gothic bombast of a Poe, or the eyeball-stomping aggression of a Stephen King. The scene in "Count Magnus" where the last padlock falls from the medieval coffin, or the cobwebby face that peers over the assistant librarian's shoulder as he reads from "The Tractate Middoth" are typical Jamesian touches. This Edwardian Prevost of King's College, Cambridge specialized in antiquarian settings, and scholarly heroes who open the wrong book or peer into the wrong sarcophagus.

Some of the most interesting tidbits for M.R. James fanatics can be found in the multiple appendixes to "A Pleasing Terror." Those of us who were lucky enough to subscribe to Rosemary Pardoe's "Ghosts and Scholars" (a journal devoted to M.R. James and his imitators) before it ceased publication after thirty-three editions, will recognize her contributions, most especially in Appendix I: "James Wilson's Secret," and Appendix II: "The Black Pilgrimage."

If this is not enough to satiate true M. R. James addicts, "A Memoir of Montague Rhodes James" by S. G. Lubbock is also included, as is a selected bibliography, and Rosemary Pardoe's "M.R. James on TV, Radio, and Film." I've never seen or heard any of the dramatizations of his stories, as most of them were done in England, but "Night of the Demons (1958)" whose screenplay was 'adapted' from Monty's "Casting the Runes" might have worked its way onto video by now.

Monty fans, "A Pleasing Terror" is 'the' big kahuna. It doesn't get any better than this.

Rating:
Summary: Why spend $ for this book?
Review: You say you've already got THE COLLECTED GHOST STORIES OF M.R. JAMES? You still don't have it all. There are illustrations and annotations. I like annotations of older books or historical mysteries anyway because they help me to understand social facts or puns, etc. that would otherwise go right over my head because I don't know them. I was particularly pleased with what I learned about "Martin's Close". The annotations helped me to better appreciate a story I always considered a minor effort and rather dull.

You also get:

1. "A Memoir of Montague Rhodes James" by his friend, S. G. Lubbock (1st published in 1939)

2. Some very short pieces that don't appear in the regular collection: "The Experiment", "The Malice of Inanimate Objects" and " A Vignette", as well as story fragments.

3. Those 12 medieval ghost stories that were in in THE BOOK OF GHOST STORIES edited by Peter Haining

4. M. R. James writings about ghost stories

5. Some of his letters to a child that mention the supernatural.

6. THE FIVE JARS! (the book is worth [the money])

7. the amusing "Auditor and Impresario"

8. Appendices: "James Wilson's Secret" [see "Mr. Humphreys and His Inheritance"], "The Black Pilgrimage" ["Count Magnus"], Samuel D. Russell's 1945 article, "Irony and Horror: The Art of M. R. James", "Ghosts in Medieval Yorkshire" [See "12 Medieval Ghost Stories"], an annotated M.R. James Letter, a select bibilography, and a checklist of "M.R. James on TV, Radio, and Film".

Not only did I buy this book for myself when it first came out, but I got another copy to give to my brother that Christmas.