Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories by James
Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories: The Complete Ghost Stories of M. R. James, Volume 1
by M. R. James
288 pages - Penguin Classics
Montague Rhodes James was a scholar and teacher who is most popularly known for the ghost stories he wrote. This collection contains his first two books, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904) and More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911). James was concerned with crafting 'classic English ghost stories', which for him meant a subdued atmosphere and no overt violence, sex, or gore, and subtle chills rather than anything outrageous.
My favourite stories here were "The Mezzotint", "The Ash-Tree", and "Mr. Humphries and His Inheritance", which is about a man who inherits a mansion with a very peculiar hedge maze. Though, I have to be honest and say that I probably wanted to like this book more than I actually did. A lot of the stories are just dull and dry and spend a lot of time talking around the story. I can't count the number of times I picked up this book feeling fairly alert, and then drifted off to sleep after just getting a few pages farther on.
by M. R. James
288 pages - Penguin Classics
Montague Rhodes James was a scholar and teacher who is most popularly known for the ghost stories he wrote. This collection contains his first two books, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904) and More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911). James was concerned with crafting 'classic English ghost stories', which for him meant a subdued atmosphere and no overt violence, sex, or gore, and subtle chills rather than anything outrageous.
My favourite stories here were "The Mezzotint", "The Ash-Tree", and "Mr. Humphries and His Inheritance", which is about a man who inherits a mansion with a very peculiar hedge maze. Though, I have to be honest and say that I probably wanted to like this book more than I actually did. A lot of the stories are just dull and dry and spend a lot of time talking around the story. I can't count the number of times I picked up this book feeling fairly alert, and then drifted off to sleep after just getting a few pages farther on.