M. R. James

M. R. James, the bookish and precocious son of a curate, was born in Kent in 1862. He studied at Cambridge and remained there for most of his life, becoming Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Provost of King's College and later Vice-Chancellor of the university. A brilliant scholar, he translated the New Testament apocrypha and catalogued many of the university's medieval manuscripts. His first story collection, based on stories he read aloud to friends on Christmas Eve, was published in 1904 as Ghost Stories of an Antiquary and was followed by three more. He died in 1936. 
 
Montague Rhodes James was born on 1 August 1862 near Bury St Edmunds, though he spent long periods of his later life in Suffolk, which provided the setting for many of his ghost stories. He studied at Eton and Kings College, Cambridge, where he was eventually elected Fellow, and then made Provost in 1905. In 1918 he became Provost of Eton. He was a renowed medievalist and biblical scholar, and published works on palaeography, antiquarianism, bibliography and history, guides to Suffolk and Norfolk, as well as editing a collection of ghost stories by Sheridan Le Fanu. However, he remains best known for his own ghost stories, which were published in several collections including Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904), A Thin Ghost and Other Stories (1919), A Warning to the Curious (1925) and a collected edition in 1931. M. R. James never married and died on 12 June 1936.

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Spine-tingling stories by M. R. James, plus a chilling original drama and two bonus programmes about his life and work 
 
M. R. James was the master of the uncanny. His classic supernatural stories have haunted readers for over a century, and been adapted countless times for radio, TV and film. 
 
This collection features dramatisations of twelve of his most popular stories – The Mezzotint; Casting the Runes; The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral; A Warning to the Curious; Rats; Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come To You, My Lad; The Tractate Middoth; Lost Hearts; The Rose Garden; Number 13; Martin’s Close and Count Magnus. Among the star-studded casts are Mark Gatiss, Derek Jacobi, James D’Arcy, Anton Lesser, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Donald Wolfit. 
 
Also included are a trio of readings by Benjamin Whitrow: Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook; A School Story and The Haunted Dolls’ House. 
 
Neil Brand’s disturbing drama The Haunting of M. R. James, starring Mark Gatiss and Fenella Woolgar, sees horrific events from James’s own stories echoed in reality. 
 
The life of M. R. James is discussed by Muriel Gray and Christopher Frayling in an episode of biography series Great Lives, presented by Humphrey Carpenter. Finally, in a fascinating documentary – The Ghosts of M.R. James – Michell Raper examines the author’s life and work, with readings from several of his stories. 
 
Running Order: 
The Mezzotint 
Casting the Runes 
The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral 
A Warning to the Curious 
Rats 
Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come To You, My Lad 
The Tractate Middoth 
Lost Hearts 
The Rose Garden 
Number 13 
Canon Alberic's Scrapbook 
A School Story 
The Haunted Doll's House 
Martin's Close 
Count Magnus 
The Haunting of M. R. James 
Great Lives: M. R. James 
The Ghosts of M. R. James

The M. R. James BBC Radio Collection

Dramatisations and readings of his classic ghost stories

Malignant forces and supernatural visitors haunt this selection of superbly spooky tales selected and introduced by Ruth Rendell. 
 
M. R. James wrote his ghost stories to entertain friends on Christmas Eve, and they went on to both transform and modernise a genre. James harnesses the power of suggestion to move from a recognisable world to one that is indefinably strange, and then unforgettably terrifying. Sheets, pictures, carvings, a dolls house, a lonely beach, a branch tapping on a window - ordinary things take on more than a tinge of dread in the hands of the original master of suspense.

Ghost Stories

Horror maestro Christopher Lee reads this quartet of supernatural tales, adapted from the stories of M. R. James 
 
Over a century ago, M. R. James was the provost of King's College, Cambridge. He would gather together a select group of students in his rooms every Christmas Eve, and give a candlelit performance of one of his superbly unsettling ghost stories. Christopher Lee recreates the spine-chilling atmosphere of those evenings, as he dons James' mantle to read these four fearful tales. 
 
The Stalls of Barchester - Perusing the papers of Archdeacon Haynes, our narrator uncovers a hidden history of intrigue, murder, a sinister cat and some strange ecclesiastical carvings. 
 
The Ash Tree - When Sir Matthew Fell, squire of Castringham Hall, testifies against suspected witch Mrs Mothersole, she is found guilty and hanged. From that day forward, a series of tragic events afflict the Fell family, all seemingly linked to the old ash tree growing in the Hall grounds... 
 
Number 13 - Staying in Room 12 of the Golden Lion in the Danish town of Viborg, historian Mr Anderson is perturbed by the mystery of the room next door. Who, or what, is the inhabitant of number 13? 
 
A Warning to the Curious - The horrific account of an archaeologist named Paxton, who takes the fateful decision to excavate the last of the legendary East Anglian crowns - and unleashes a terrifying supernatural force... 
 
 
Cast and credits 
Written by M. R. James 
Adapted by Ronald Frame 
Read by Christopher Lee 
Directed by Eleanor Yule 
Produced by Richard Downes 
Title music: Geoffrey Burgon 
Editors: James Hamilton and Phyllis Ironside 
Production manager: Monica O'Connor 
 
First broadcast on BBC Two on the following dates: 
 
The Stalls of Barchester 23 December 2000 
The Ash Tree 26 December 2000 
Number 13 29 December 2000 
A Warning to the Curious 31 December 2000 
 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Ghost Stories with Christopher Lee

Four chilling tales from the BBC TV series

Evil comes with many different faces. 
 
A macabre human drama is re-enacted in a Gothic dolls&rsquo; house one night; a whistle awakens a force of unspeakable malevolence; an ancient curse is passed from person to person; a grisly crime is avenged from beyond the grave; the tomb of a Swedish count will not rest quietly &hellip; 
 
M. R. James&rsquo;s chilling ghost stories reveal a world where the familiar becomes diabolical, the smallest object can lead to unimaginable horror, and evil brushes against everyday life in the most unexpected and sinister of ways.

The Haunted Dolls' House

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'The lower jaw was thin - what can I call it? - shallow, like a beast's; teeth showed behind the black lips...' 
 
M. R. James is the master of the English ghost story, whose tales are inhabited not by ethereal spirits, but by terrifying, palpable forces of evil. In these four stories figures appear in paintings, demonic voices are heard, books awaken ancient horrors - and ordinary objects and situations are transformed into inescapable nightmares. 
 
This book includes Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book, The Mezzotint, The Rose Garden and The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral.

Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book

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'Still as the night was, the mysterious population of the distant moonlit woods was not yet lulled to rest' 
 
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 ... 
 
The Penguin English Library - collectable general readers' editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War.

A high-pitched laugh echoes in an empty church. Servants discover their master dead in his bed, the only sign of disturbance an open window. The coffin of a woman hanged as a witch is found to be empty. A bed that hasn’t been slept in is crumpled and distressed come the morning. A skeletal figure creeps closer and closer to the house where an unsuspecting family lie sleeping. In these chilling tales of the supernatural, M. R. James proves he truly is the master of the ghost story. 
 
Selected from the book Ghost Stories by M.R. James 
 
VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS. 
 
A series of short books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us human 
 
Also in the Vintage Minis series: 
Drinking by John Cheever 
Summer by Laurie Lee 
Friendship by Rose Tremain 
Love by Jeanette Winterson

Ghosts

Widely acknowledged as the master of the supernatural, M. R. James penned many of his classic ghost stories to be read aloud to friends, by candlelight, in his study on Christmas Eve. These five adaptations, originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4, perfectly capture the mood of nerve-jangling suspense that would surely have been present during those readings.   In ‘Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’, Professor Parkins embarks on a terrifying journey of discovery after he removes a curious artefact from the ruins of a Templar preceptory; while ‘The Tractate Middoth’ sees diligent curator David Garrett caught up in the machinations of the mysterious Dr Rant when he’s sent to retrieve an obscure manuscript from the library stacks.   ‘Lost Hearts’ tells of a young boy haunted by two ghostly children, and in ‘The Rose Garden’, terrifying forces are unleashed when the Goodmans tear down their old summer house. Finally, ‘Number 13’ takes us to the Danish town of Viborg, where Dr Anderson puts himself in terrible danger as he investigates why the hotel he’s staying at does not contain a room 13.   Starring BAFTA and Emmy-award winning actor Derek Jacobi, and with powerfully chilling music and sound effects, these rich, riveting dramatisations make for irresistible listening.

Spine Chillers

The only annotated edition of M. R. James's writings currently available, Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories contains the entire first two volumes of James's ghost stories, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary and More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. These volumes are both the culmination of the nineteenth-century ghost story tradition and the inspiration for much of the best twentieth-century work in this genre. Included in this collection are such landmark tales as "Count Magnus," set in the wilds of Sweden; "Number 13," a distinctive tale about a haunted hotel room; "Casting the Runes," a richly complex tale of sorcery that served as the basis for the classic horror film Curse of the Demon; and "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad," one of the most frightening tales in literature. The appendix includes several rare texts, including "A Night in King's College Chapel," James's first known ghost story.

Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories

There are many great English ghost stories, but they appear flimsy and emotionally spectral compared to the works of M.R. James. This selection gives the reader a flavour of his strange gifts. Often, the ghost is barely glimpsed and yet somehow sticks with the reader for years, making ordinary rooms or gardens or churches uncanny and threatening. Is that the kitchen cat? And what is it that terrible thing stalking about in the dolls’ house?

The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral

With carefully adapted text, new illustrations, language practise activities and additional online resources, the Penguin Readers series introduces language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction. 
 
Ghost Stories, a Level 3 Reader, is A2 in the CEFR framework. The text is made up of sentences with up to three clauses, introducing first conditional, past continuous and present perfect simple for general experience. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear on most pages. 
 
A strange whistle, a dangerous curse, a buried crown and a hotel without a room 13. Don't read these four frightening ghost stories by M.R. James late at night!

Penguin Readers Level 3: Ghost Stories (ELT Graded Reader)

Abridged Edition

Bram Stoker

To mark the publication of Stop What You're Doing and Read This!, a collection of essays celebrating reading, Vintage Classics are releasing 12 limited edition themed ebook 'bundles', to tempt readers to discover and rediscover great books. 
 
M.R. JAMES' GHOST STORIES 
SELECTED AND INTRODUCED BY RUTH RENDELL 
M. R. James wrote his ghost stories to entertain friends on Christmas Eve, and they went on to both transform and modernise a genre. James harnesses the power of suggestion to move from a recognisable world to one that is indefinably strange, and then unforgettably terrifying. Sheets, pictures, carvings, a dolls house, a lonely beach, a branch tapping on a window - ordinary things take on more than a tinge of dread in the hands of the original master of suspense. 
 
DRACULA 
'The door is shut, and the chains rattle; there is a grinding of the key in the lock; I hear the creaking of lock and bolt...I shall not remain alone with them. I may find a way from this dreadful place, away from this cursed spot, from this cursed land, where the devil and his children still walk with earthly feet!' 
Young lawyer Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania on business for a mysterious Count. Months later in England, beautiful Lucy Westenra falls ill and dies, inexplicably, as if from a severe loss of blood. Lucy's friends, including Jonathan's fiancée Mina and the intrepid doctor Van Helsing, must begin a desperate battle against a powerful, ancient evil, in Bram Stoker's definitive gothic tale.

Stop What You’re Doing and Read…After Dark: Ghost Stories & Dracula

Antiquarian Paxton travels to a small town on the coast of Norfolk and learns of a legend concerning three crowns buried on the coast thousands of years ago to protect the land against marauding Vikings. Paxton tries to find the remaining crown, unaware of the supernatural presence that protects it.

The Haunted Dolls' House and Other Ghost Stories

Tim Firth

Noel Coward

William Chaucer

E F Benson

W.W.Jacobs

Classic plays and ghost stories, as performed by the residents of Ambridge and friends - plus bonus drama Dead Girls Tell No Tales 
 
Borsetshire's queen of amateur theatricals, Lynda Snell, never misses the chance to put on a Christmas show. Her productions are always a big hit with Ambridge audiences - and now, Archers fans can enjoy these top-notch performances alongside them (as well as eavesdropping on the shenanigans backstage). 
 
In Blithe Spirit, the Ambridge Am-Dram Society and guest star Julian Rhind-Tutt recreate Noël Coward's ghostly masterpiece, and Lynda finds herself in sympathy with eccentric medium Madame Arcati as she attempts to conjure some festive high spirits. Calendar Girls sees the group taking on Tim Firth's comedy of jam and Jerusalem, along with honorary resident Siân Phillips (who starred in the original West End show). Will the intrepid cast really bare all? And in the 2-parter The Canterbury Tales, the company present barnstorming adaptations of Chaucer's classic stories of courtly love, deadly rivalry and boisterous sex - with a little bit of magic thrown in. 
 
In Ambridge Ghost Stories, it's a cold December night, in the darkened attic of Lower Loxley. Then Jim Llloyd (John Rowe) takes to the stage to recount three spine-chilling supernatural tales from the turn of the last century - 'The Room in the Tower' by E. F. Benson, 'Lost Hearts' by M. R. James and 'The Monkey's Paw' by W. W. Jacobs. Prepare to be enthralled - and terrified... 
 
Also included are two special seasonal pageants, The Ambridge Mystery Plays- The Nativity and The Passion and a stunning original drama by Joanna Toye. Starring Eleanor Tomlinson and Ysette Churchman and Miles Jupp Dead Girls Tell No Tales explores the real story behind the death of Grace Archer: a watershed moment in the history of broadcasting and one of the defining cultural events of the 1950s. 
 
Production credits 
Blithe Spirit 
Written by Noël Coward 
Adapted and directed by Sean O'Connor 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26 December 2014 
 
Calendar Girls 
The accompanying pianist was Simon Taranczuk 
Written by Tim Firth and based on the motion picture Calendar Girls written by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi. Adapted and directed by Sean O'Connor 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 27 December 2015 
 
The Canterbury Tales, Parts 1 &amp; 2 
Tellers of the Tales 
The Knight's Tale 
The Miller's Tale 
The Wife of Bath's Tale 
The Sailor's Tale 
The Pardoner's Tale 
The Friar's Tale 
The Franklin's Tale 
The Bailiff's Tale 
Written by Geoffrey Chaucer 
Dramatised by Nick Warburton. Directed by Kim Greengrass. Produced by Alison Hindell 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 29 December 2018-5 January 2019 
 
The Ambridge Mystery Plays 
The Nativity 
The Passion 
First Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26th December 2021 &amp; 2nd January 2022 
 
Ambridge Ghost Stories 
Abridged by Jeremy Osborne 
 
'The Room in the Tower' written by E F Benson 
Produced and directed by Charlotte Davey 
 
'Lost Hearts' written by M. R. James 
Produced and directed by Mel Ward 
 
'The Monkey's Paw' written by W. W. Jacobs 
Produced and directed by Charlotte Davey 
 First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 30 December 2019-1 January 2020 
 
Dead Girls Tell No Tales 
Cast: Jon Culshaw, Pam Ferris, Lex Shrapnel, Eleanor Tomlinson, Georgie Fuller, Geoffrey Streatfeild, Sally Bretton, Simon Russell Beale, John Hopkins, Claudie Blakley, David Reed, Miles Jupp, Zeb Soanes, Paddy O'Connell, Ysanne Churchman, David Hounslow, Sam Dale, Chris Pavlo, Jessica Turner and Alex Tregear 
Written by Joanna Toye. Directed by Sean O'Connor 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 19 September 2015 
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Archers: The Ambridge Players

Six BBC full-cast drama productions including Blithe Spirit, Calendar Girls & More

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