The M. R. James BBC Radio Collection

by M.R. James, Mark Gatiss (Narrator), James D'Arcy (Narrator)

Spine-tingling stories by M. R. James, plus a chilling original drama and two bonus programmes about his life and work

M. R. James was the master of the uncanny. His classic supernatural stories have haunted readers for over a century, and been adapted countless times for radio, TV and film.

This collection features dramatisations of twelve of his most popular stories – The Mezzotint; Casting the Runes; The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral; A Warning to the Curious; Rats; Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come To You, My Lad; The Tractate Middoth; Lost Hearts; The Rose Garden; Number 13; Martin’s Close and Count Magnus. Among the star-studded casts are Mark Gatiss, Derek Jacobi, James D’Arcy, Anton Lesser, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Donald Wolfit.

Also included are a trio of readings by Benjamin Whitrow: Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook; A School Story and The Haunted Dolls’ House.

Neil Brand’s disturbing drama The Haunting of M. R. James, starring Mark Gatiss and Fenella Woolgar, sees horrific events from James’s own stories echoed in reality.

The life of M. R. James is discussed by Muriel Gray and Christopher Frayling in an episode of biography series Great Lives, presented by Humphrey Carpenter. Finally, in a fascinating documentary – The Ghosts of M.R. James – Michell Raper examines the author’s life and work, with readings from several of his stories.

Running
The Mezzotint
Casting the Runes
The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral
A Warning to the Curious
Rats
Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come To You, My Lad
The Tractate Middoth
Lost Hearts
The Rose Garden
Number 13
Canon Alberic's Scrapbook
A School Story
The Haunted Doll's House
Martin's Close
Count Magnus
The Haunting of M. R. James
Great M. R. James
The Ghosts of M. R. James

Audible Audio

Published March 5, 2020

About the author

Montague 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.

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