‘There are all sorts of writers of all sorts of nightmares, but M.R. James wrote the best ghost stories. He may well have created the ghost story in its current form. Nobody can do what he did as well as he could.’ – NEIL GAIMAN. Montague Rhodes James (1862-1936) is perhaps the finest and most influential writer of ghost stories England has ever produced. Told initially as a diversion during Christmas entertainments for friends and colleagues at King’s College, Cambridge (where he was provost), their convincing terrors soon found James published to great acclaim establishing him as the leading writer of the genre, still arguably unsurpassed. This volume collects together some of James’ greatest stories including the classics The Mezzotint, ‘Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad’, A Warning to the Curious, Count Magnus, The Ash Tree, The Diary of Mr. Poynter, Casting the Runes, The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance, A View From a Hill and A School Story. These tales are not only classics of their genre but are also outstanding examples of chilling understatement, compelling background and mounting horror. Also included in this new edition is an introduction to James’ stories by H.P. Lovecraft and a notable essay by James, Some Remarks on Ghost Stories.
