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Wailing Well
Wailing Well is a ghost story by M. R. James published in 1931. It was later added to a collection "The Collected Ghost Stories of M.R. James" published in 1936.
M. R. James wrote his ghost stories to entertain friends on Christmas Eve, and they went on to both transform and modernize a genre. James harnesses the power of suggestion to move from a recognizable 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.
M. R. James wrote his ghost stories to entertain friends on Christmas Eve, and they went on to both transform and modernize a genre. James harnesses the power of suggestion to move from a recognizable 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.
40 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1928
56 people want to read
About the author
M.R. James
1,520 books909 followersMontague Rhodes James, who used the publication name M.R. James, was a noted English mediaeval scholar & provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–18) & of Eton College (1918–36). He's best remembered for his ghost stories which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature. One of James' most important achievements was to redefine the ghost story for the new century by dispensing with many of the formal Gothic trappings of his predecessors, replacing them with more realistic contemporary settings.
Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
M.R.^James
Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
M.R.^James
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
December 20, 2025
Oh, I envy the scouts to whom M.R. James himself read this aloud! Properly campfire-scary, although with a really dumb main character .
July 23, 2019
First published in a private edition of 157 copies by the Mill House Press in the Berkshire village of Stanford Dingley, “The Wailing Well”--considered purely as an effective, entertaining ghost story—is not nearly so rare as its coveted first edition. It begins in a tedious, jocular fashion, comparing the very good boy scout Arthur Wilcox with the very bad boy scout Stanley Judkins. Soon, however, it settles down to business, and—although it far from being even a second-rate M.R. James story—it ends much better than it begins.
The premise is perhaps the most hackneyed of all that has ever been used by writers of cautionary tales for children: the bad child is told repeatedly not to do something, he does it (of course), and suffers a painful—often fatal—consequence as a result. In this case the thing forbidden is a particular place: a “sort of clump in the middle of a field,” said haunted by three women and a man, known as the “Wailing Well.”
One of the best parts of the story is the description of the ghosts given to the scouts by an old shepherd native to the area:
I've seen 'em, young gentleman!" said the shepherd, "seen 'em from near by on that bit of down: and my old dog, if he could speak, he'd tell you he've seen 'em, same time. About four o'clock of the day it was, much such a day as this. I see 'em, each one of 'em, come peerin' out of the bushes and stand up, and work their way slow by them tracks towards the trees in the middle where the well is."
"And what were they like? Do tell us!" said Algernon and Wilfred eagerly.
"Rags and bones, young gentlemen: all four of 'em: flutterin' rags and whity bones. It seemed to me as if I could hear 'em clackin' as they got along. Very slow they went, and lookin' from side to side."
"What were their faces like? Could you see?"
"They hadn't much to call faces," said the shepherd, "but I could seem to see as they had teeth."
"Lor'!" said Wilfred, "and what did they do when they got to the trees?"
"I can't tell you that, sir," said the shepherd. "I wasn't for stayin' in that place...”
The boys pondered for some moments on what they had heard: after which Wilfred said: "And why's it called Wailing Well?"
"If you was round here at dusk of a winter's evening, you wouldn't want to ask why," was all the shepherd said.
June 9, 2018
Curiosity killed the cat is certainly a phrase to sum up this horror. Set in a field in the middle of nowhere, a warning from a shepherd and an eerie folk tale that makes you afraid to look out of your bedroom window at night.
June 18, 2019
A disobedient boy disobeys his elders one time too many with horrific and gruesome consequences for all involved.
August 4, 2018
One does not generally associate M R James with black humour or the morality tale but we get both in this 1928 horror story about a very naughty boy scout and vampiric ghosts in one of his less plausible settings.
Not one of his best with a rather odd introduction of a 'good' version of boyhood at the beginning who seems to have no function other than to provide a contrast (almost as if James had started off intending to write another story altogether) yet it certainly cannot be accounted bad.
Those who have a penchant for English folk horror might like this one with its accursed field (again the well seems to be forgotten rather quickly despite being the title), a classic 'oo-aaa' shepherd who warns of dire things and the dead emerging from clumps of trees. It passes the time.
July 14, 2019
What starts as a satire of school life, students and the Boy Scotts turns into terrifying story of rural horror.
December 5, 2025
Great setup of the characters, but, ends up showing a little bit too much of the action. Not very haunting at all!
October 10, 2023
[Mill House Press] (1928). HB. 54/150. 20 Pages. Purchased from Litera Scripta Ltd.
Sparse, enchanting and dark - with a few unexpected mirthful touches.
Sparse, enchanting and dark - with a few unexpected mirthful touches.
June 21, 2025
Wailing Well by M.R. James, or you could choose Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/08/...
8 out of 10
Ghosts are not my thing, though I do not think I have ever seen one, so they have not done anything to me, if they exist -sounds like that Pascal wager, somehow in reverse – if they do not exist, there is no problem…
If they do, but decided to avoid me, then there is the same happy circumstance -Pascal said something like ‘you should believe in God, if He is not extant, you lose nothing, and if He is waiting up there, you are safe’
For the ghosts, there is little to find similar, and as for Pascal’s wager, surely the Almighty, omniscient Man with the white beard upstairs would be aware of the trick and refuse accession on the basis on that scheme
Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis called Him ‘the great sculptor and colorist’ https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/12/... at one point, but he was not a believer
On the contrary, he was asked about if he believes and responded along the lines of ‘it is not that I do not believe in him, it is more that I hate him’ and there are others that feel about the same, Nathaniel Branden for one
As it is clear by now, I am not really concentrating on The Wailing Well – how could I, given that I have started by saying I am not crazy about ghosts? – so this should be a spoiler alert, or warning, you should stop reading
When I find some book or short story that I am not fond of, there are a few aspects that I consider, such as the litmus test, the Flow experience – better said, the absence thereof – the quotes from the standard ending of all my notes
The litmus test would be to see if I have changed, I used to be open minded, liberal, but with age, people become conservative, retrograde, if they had not been that all their lives, and there is the perspective on issues
My view of ghosts has not changed, but the religious side could see massive alterations, just like Lord Marchmain https://realini.blogspot.com/2021/11/... in the wondrous Brideshead Revisited, apparently they will or started filming a new adaptation, with Cate Blanchet as Lady Marchmain
A few arguments in favor of an epiphany occurring would be the possibility of a miracle (if remote, or infinitesimally small) the reversal we feel as we approach the great unknown, the fear that this is the very end, and ‘the rest is silence’, which urged lord Marchmain and others to change tack, and the idea that greater minds believe
One of the greatest advocates for faith was CS Lewis https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/09/... albeit we can take some of what he said and choose the other side, ‘if you do not take Christ to be the son of God, then he was the greatest charlatan’, that achievement belongs to Orange Jesus aka Trump
There is the notion of Flow, Being in the Zone, joie de vivre, vivre a fond, Maximum Experience, as analyzed and described in Flow https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/10/...
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was the co-founder of positive psychology, together with Martin Seligman, and he established the conditions for Being in The Zone, you are in control, nothing else matters, it is autotelic
There are clear and meaningful goals, time is relative, explained by Albert Einstein ‘Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute’
You have constant and instant feedback, and skills match challenges, on a chart, you have one line and on one side there is boredom, while on the other there is burnout, and you have to be on the line, not bored or overstretched
Then there is the wonderful description offered by Malcolm Bradbury https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/09/... in To The Hermitage
the author explains the difference between the characters in a very good novel and reality, the former would enchant, the fictional beings are smart, interesting, impressive, much more so than what we meet in reality
as so often (always actually) the best example is Orange Jesus, the most awful, lamentable crook we can find, and yet, a favorite to win the lections in November, seeing as he is ahead in the polls, and furthermore, the members of his cult are aware of the satin, and many avoid stating their affiliation, there is also their belief in conspiracy theories, space lasers and the like, and the conviction that the media is the evil
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
Flow, and other
8 out of 10
Ghosts are not my thing, though I do not think I have ever seen one, so they have not done anything to me, if they exist -sounds like that Pascal wager, somehow in reverse – if they do not exist, there is no problem…
If they do, but decided to avoid me, then there is the same happy circumstance -Pascal said something like ‘you should believe in God, if He is not extant, you lose nothing, and if He is waiting up there, you are safe’
For the ghosts, there is little to find similar, and as for Pascal’s wager, surely the Almighty, omniscient Man with the white beard upstairs would be aware of the trick and refuse accession on the basis on that scheme
Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis called Him ‘the great sculptor and colorist’ https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/12/... at one point, but he was not a believer
On the contrary, he was asked about if he believes and responded along the lines of ‘it is not that I do not believe in him, it is more that I hate him’ and there are others that feel about the same, Nathaniel Branden for one
As it is clear by now, I am not really concentrating on The Wailing Well – how could I, given that I have started by saying I am not crazy about ghosts? – so this should be a spoiler alert, or warning, you should stop reading
When I find some book or short story that I am not fond of, there are a few aspects that I consider, such as the litmus test, the Flow experience – better said, the absence thereof – the quotes from the standard ending of all my notes
The litmus test would be to see if I have changed, I used to be open minded, liberal, but with age, people become conservative, retrograde, if they had not been that all their lives, and there is the perspective on issues
My view of ghosts has not changed, but the religious side could see massive alterations, just like Lord Marchmain https://realini.blogspot.com/2021/11/... in the wondrous Brideshead Revisited, apparently they will or started filming a new adaptation, with Cate Blanchet as Lady Marchmain
A few arguments in favor of an epiphany occurring would be the possibility of a miracle (if remote, or infinitesimally small) the reversal we feel as we approach the great unknown, the fear that this is the very end, and ‘the rest is silence’, which urged lord Marchmain and others to change tack, and the idea that greater minds believe
One of the greatest advocates for faith was CS Lewis https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/09/... albeit we can take some of what he said and choose the other side, ‘if you do not take Christ to be the son of God, then he was the greatest charlatan’, that achievement belongs to Orange Jesus aka Trump
There is the notion of Flow, Being in the Zone, joie de vivre, vivre a fond, Maximum Experience, as analyzed and described in Flow https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/10/...
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was the co-founder of positive psychology, together with Martin Seligman, and he established the conditions for Being in The Zone, you are in control, nothing else matters, it is autotelic
There are clear and meaningful goals, time is relative, explained by Albert Einstein ‘Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute’
You have constant and instant feedback, and skills match challenges, on a chart, you have one line and on one side there is boredom, while on the other there is burnout, and you have to be on the line, not bored or overstretched
Then there is the wonderful description offered by Malcolm Bradbury https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/09/... in To The Hermitage
the author explains the difference between the characters in a very good novel and reality, the former would enchant, the fictional beings are smart, interesting, impressive, much more so than what we meet in reality
as so often (always actually) the best example is Orange Jesus, the most awful, lamentable crook we can find, and yet, a favorite to win the lections in November, seeing as he is ahead in the polls, and furthermore, the members of his cult are aware of the satin, and many avoid stating their affiliation, there is also their belief in conspiracy theories, space lasers and the like, and the conviction that the media is the evil
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
Flow, and other
March 23, 2021
"Curiosity Killed the Cat."
This one line sums the story up completely. A naughty young boy disobeys frequent requests for him not to go visit the Wailing Well and therefore dies. This boy is contrasted with a more righteous young man with the surname of Wilcox, and throughout we clearly see that James was writing his work with a clear moral in mind: he wishes, more-or-less, to convey that we should be obedient to authority. This theme becomes interesting when we realize he originally wrote this for a group of Eton Boy Scouts (he even read it to them), and thus it might be thought he wished to convey to them a moral through his scary story about the nature of the institution.*
One thing I found odd is that the story seemed to imply that the Scout leader, Mr. Hope Jones, was a worthy opponent of 4 vampire-ghosts. Like, it is only after Jones is described as coming to his senses and going to save the kid that we get this: "more: the boys [two Scouts watching the scene] glanced behind them" and saw a shepherd and several from the camp coming along. That "more" is striking, right? Like, of course Hope Jones is enough! Some back up is coming, that's all! Maybe it was intended to say that Hope Jones helping was a very good thing, even if he failed, and that it was better for more to come along, but, still, I like the way I think of it :)
Anyway, M. R. James has a really good writing style and this story was a blast to read. I'd recommend it.
*I get this information from the collection of story stories: Dracula's Brood. Another cool thing to note is that some of his audience were very afraid of the story -- especially because the story was based on a location nearby their camp!
May 5, 2023
4.25⭐
M. R. James wrote this tale for the Eton College Troop of Boy Scouts and was read to them at their campfire in July 1927. The scouts in the story are on an outing and are warned not to approach Wailing Well, located in a small clump of trees in the middle of the field. Stanley Judkins, the school's ne'er-do-well who has no respect for authority, deliberately ignores this warning and walks over to the clump of trees to draw water from the well. The other students and masters see him being stalked by four living skeletons, but space warps prevent them from helping him. The tale is told with grisly humor poking fun at English public-school life.
M. R. James wrote this tale for the Eton College Troop of Boy Scouts and was read to them at their campfire in July 1927. The scouts in the story are on an outing and are warned not to approach Wailing Well, located in a small clump of trees in the middle of the field. Stanley Judkins, the school's ne'er-do-well who has no respect for authority, deliberately ignores this warning and walks over to the clump of trees to draw water from the well. The other students and masters see him being stalked by four living skeletons, but space warps prevent them from helping him. The tale is told with grisly humor poking fun at English public-school life.
December 5, 2025
M.R. James can without a doubt write a ghost story, but I'm still not convinced with his vampire-horror chops. This tale is framed around the idea that it's a ghost story told around the camp fire to a bunch of scout-troops and just happens to be about a group of scouts as well. As a tale of dread it's pretty dull, but he does have some great imagery when describing the happenings and doings of his horrors. I was just rather bored with our protagonists and didn't see much point to the good-boy/bad-boy set up he had. It seems to me like he couldn't decide if he wanted to write a ghost story, a fable, or a weird tale, and so wrote something that was just so-so in every genera.
Still it's a decent idea and good enough to enjoy in parts.
Still it's a decent idea and good enough to enjoy in parts.
November 2, 2020
Reading these as part of the October horror story a day series. A school boys world where one of the boys is depicted as being especially naughty. A little unnecessarily unpleasant when it comes to children's well being at school and boy scout camp; a sign of changing times from the early 20th century..
A constructive approach to child raising would have been more appropriate given the disciplinary mismanagement in British schools.
A constructive approach to child raising would have been more appropriate given the disciplinary mismanagement in British schools.
October 11, 2019
31 Classic Horror Stories Every Fan Should Read in October: A Literary Advent Calender for Halloween: Day 10:
https://www.oldstyletales.com/single-...
https://www.oldstyletales.com/single-...
October 29, 2025
I'm really liking MR James. His stuff is spooky and classy.
This short tells the story of a badly behaved Boy Scout who never, ever listens to his elders. Well. He is about to discover a horror beyond his imaginations.
Lovely. Loved it. Spooky and fun.
Dumb humans being dumb. Gotta love it.
The narrator brought this story to life.
5 stars
This short tells the story of a badly behaved Boy Scout who never, ever listens to his elders. Well. He is about to discover a horror beyond his imaginations.
Lovely. Loved it. Spooky and fun.
Dumb humans being dumb. Gotta love it.
The narrator brought this story to life.
5 stars
July 14, 2019
These are some of the works which prove that even the Master would have benefitted from editorial ministrations. The story is a deft and nuanced tale of escalating menace, but gets bogged down by extraneous stuff, as usual.
January 9, 2020
This was an excellent tale of a haunted wailing well and of two boys from a scouting camp who were polar opposites. I will leave it to the listener to discover what happens next. A new favorite tale. Thrilling ending.
May 12, 2018
A pretty underwhelming ghost story, especially for M.R. James.
May 6, 2020
Expensive for one short story but the story is good
Expensive for one short story but the story is good. You should buy it but it will be over in 20 minutes
Expensive for one short story but the story is good. You should buy it but it will be over in 20 minutes
August 28, 2020
Dark stuff.
January 8, 2021
A very good horror short story: dreadful but laced with gallows humour.
January 26, 2022
One of the finest of James’ tales; moving from sharply-observed humour to sudden breathtaking horror.
March 17, 2022
When an old shepherd warns you to stay away from an abandoned well you might want to listen.
A story written in the 30's
A story written in the 30's
June 13, 2022
⭐️3.5⭐️
January 14, 2023
One of my favorite M.R. James stories. His descriptions gave me the ultimate creeps.
June 1, 2024
Along with Poe James is my favorite horror authors. This is a story of the disobedient boy scout leading to a gruesome death. Not one of M.R. James better short stories.
November 27, 2024
Didactic! Maybe it's okay if you're wanting to read a campfire tale or ghost story to a child
November 29, 2024
Four stars for the amusing and satirical flair with which James opens this playful story. Three stars for the really quite formulaic, horror-tropey ending.
Read
November 30, 2014listened on Forgotten Classics
July 4, 2023
An ok ghost short story about a bratty schoolboy. Nothing Special here. Available in 'HorrorBabble's Ultimate Weird Tales Collection: Volume 2'; Audible edition narrated by Ian Gordon. (1928)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews