Collected ghost stories / M.R. James ; edited with an introduction and notes by Darryl Jones.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Considered by many to be the most terrifying writer in English, M. R. James is an unlikely producer of ghost-stories. An eminent scholar who spent his entire adult life in the academic surroundings of Eton and Cambridge, his classic supernatural tales have lost none of their power to unsettle and disturb. They draw on the terrors of the everyday, in which documents and objects unleash terrible forces, often in closed rooms and night-time settings where imagination runs riot. Lonely country houses, remote inns, ancient churches or the manuscript collections of great libraries provide settings for unbearable menace, from creatures seeking retribution and harm. Stories that were first read aloud in James's study late on Christmas Eve have the power to haunt us still.This book presents all of James's published ghost stories, including the unforgettable "Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" and "Casting the Runes", and an appendix of James's writings on the ghost story. Darryl Jones's introduction and notes provide a fascinating insight into James's background and his mastery of the genre he made his own.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction
• Select Bibliography
• Chronology of
• Canon Alberic's Scrap-book
• Lost Hearts
• The Mezzotint
• The Ash-Tree
• Number 13
• Count Magnus
• 'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad'
• The Treasure of Abbot Thomas
• A School Story
• The Rose Garden
• The Tractate Middoth
• Casting the Runes
• The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral
• Martin's Close
• Mr. Humphreys and His Inheritance
• The Residence at Whitminster
• The Diary of
• An Episode of Cathedral History
• The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance
• Two Doctors
• The Haunted Dolls' House
• The Uncommon Prayer-Book
• A Neighbour's Landmark
• A View from a Hill
• A Warning to the Curious
• An Evening's Entertainment
• There was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard
• Rats
• After Dark in the Playing Fields
• Wailing Well
• The Experiment
• The Malice of Inanimate Objects
• A Vignette
• Appendix: M. R. James on Ghost Stories
• Explanatory Notes

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

James (1862-1936), a Cambridge don, laid the foundations of the modern ghost story with the 33 well-wrought antiquarian tales collected here. In " 'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad,' " a note blown on an ancient instrument accidentally summons a horrifying entity from the primitive past. "Canon Alberic's Scrap-book" and "The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral" both concern demonic beings aroused through scholarly researches into church history. "The Mezzotint" tells of a supernaturally animated print whose imagery replays a horrifying tragedy from the past. James emphasized atmosphere and mood over shock tactics, but he always insisted that ghosts be malevolent and found very disquieting forms for them to take. Many of these stories are time-tested classics, and this volume, which also includes an informative introduction and notes by Darryl Jones, is indispensable for any fan of supernatural fiction. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

James (1862-1936) is said to have written the best English ghost stories. Reading only the most often reprinted Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book, 'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad,' Wailing Well usually compels agreement. This book doesn't limit one's sampling to just three tales, of course, and jumping around in its chronologically presented contents confirms that James never lost his quality. Yes, the tales share the same basic premise: something evil is uncovered or discovered, deliberately or inadvertently. The settings are seldom other than churches, old country houses, libraries, and their environs. The characters are country gentry, their servants, and tradesmen, all of whose speech James reproduces charmingly and often hilariously. The ghosts, reliably nasty, are more or (mostly) less traceable to particular dear departeds. Besides all the ghost stories James completed, this edition has a fine introduction (best read as an afterword); invaluable reference notes (especially for readers who don't know Latin, English history, and the Bible); and a little treasury of James' comments on ghost stories. Indispensable, even for possessors of earlier editions.--Olson, Ray Copyright 2010 Booklist