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MR James wrote some of the most famous ghost stories in English. These were short stories which were collected in four full-length collections. The stories are frequently found in anthologies, and have often been imitated, but never surpassed.
Biography
Montague Rhodes James was born in 1862, and spent nearly all his life in academic surroundings. After attending school at Eton he went to King's College Cambridge. A brilliant scholar who studied both apocryphal Biblical literature and mediaeval manuscripts, he later became a Fellow of King's College and in 1905 was appointed Provost. He never married. In 1919 he left Cambridge to become Provost of Eton College, the famous public school. He died in 1936.
The Stories
The Settings and Characters
'Ghost Stories of an Antiquary' was the title he gave to his first published volume, and this was actually a good description of all his stories. An antiquary was not a scientific archaeologist, but a scholar who took an interest in historical artifacts as well as historical documents, both of which figure strongly in James' work. The stories are usually set in the quieter parts of the south of England: there are no grim mill towns or wild crags, just colleges, cathedrals, and country estates. A few striking stories use more exotic foreign locations, such as Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges in the Pyrenees, or Viborg in Denmark. The narrators or main characters are mainly scholars, clergymen and country gentry, and events are often described by reference to old journals and letters. James' expert knowledge made the various Latin quotations and historical references seem remarkably authentic.
The Ghosts
It is the sinister nature of James' ghosts that make his best stories so memorable. Some are looking to avenge past wrongs, but many are called up by a character's interference with something better left alone - 'A Warning to the Curious' could be used as a title to many of his stories. The ghosts can be associated with particular artefacts as well as with buildings and places - an object as apparently harmless as a whistle or a mezzotint engraving can develop a very sinister aura in James' tales.
In most of the stories the ghosts are described in a fairly understated way - the details are often left to the reader's imagination, with chilling effect.
Publication History
Many of James' stories were written to be read aloud at Christmas, to his colleagues at King's College Cambridge, or to the Choir School there. As he died in 1936, the stories will all enter teh public domain in the European Union on 1 January 2007. The published collections were:
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Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, 1904. This contained eight stories.
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More Ghost Stories, 1911. This contained seven stories.
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A Thin Ghost and Others, 1919. This contained five stories.
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A Warning to the Curious, 1925. This contained six stories.
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The Ghost Stories of M. R. James, 1931. This contained all 26 stories from the four previous collections, with five extra short pieces added (not all of which were strictly stories).
Some Stories
- The Ash-tree (in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary)
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"Oh, Whistle and I'll come to you, My Lad"
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Casting the Runes
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The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral
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A Warning to the Curious
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