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Curious Warnings: The Great Ghost Stories of M.R. James
A lavishly illustrated collector's edition containing all the supernatural tales ever written by M.R. James, the undisputed father of the modern ghost story.
'James is clearly the best that's ever been' MARK GATISS
M.R. James is one of the finest authors of supernatural fiction in the English language and revered as the father of the modern English ghost story. Many of his stories were originally written as Christmas entertainments and were read aloud by the author to selected gatherings of friends.
'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
Authorised by the writer's estate, Curious Warnings: The Complete Ghost Stories is the only volume that collects together all of James' much-loved supernatural tales - including the classics, 'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad', 'A Warning to the Curious' and 'Canon Alberic's Scrapbook' - together with his novel The Five Jars, story fragments, essays and poetry. Illustrated by award-winning artist Les Edwards and featuring an extensive historical Afterword by editor Stephen Jones, this is the ultimate collection for fans of M.R. James and the classic British ghost story.
734 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2012
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181 people want to read
About the author
M.R. James
1,385 books907 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 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 24, 2012
“M R James was a wonderful storyteller but he was not much of a stylist.” claims Stephen Jones in the first sentence of his Introduction to this new collection of Montague Rhodes James’ ghost stories.
Although Stephen then qualifies this further by saying, “Well, he was a stylist – but he wrote in a unique style that was very much all his own.” the point is perhaps a fair one.
I must admit that, for me, it is that uniqueness that makes MR one of my favourite ghost story writers. Nothing works quite as well for me at Halloween as I dip into my collections of his original published stories. Originally written as rough notes for his reading aloud to choristers at King’s College, Cambridge, they were evidently a highlight of the Christmas festivities.
There are many editions out there, including the recent Collected Ghost Stories by the Oxford University Press in October 2011. I have five of my own. So why look at another new collection?
Stephen has, some would say controversially, taken a brave step with this particular collection, in that he has re-punctuated some of the tales herein.
There are no doubt some who will be very upset by this. Stephen himself points out that there will be some readers ‘who might accuse me of vandalising the sacred text’. Thoughts of previous revisions, such as those with Robert E Howard’s Conan manuscripts or HP Lovecraft’s eldritch tales may be troubling.
This however is different, in that the original text has not been cut at all. Instead, Stephen has taken the pages of ‘unbroken print, complicated sentences and protracted paragraphs’ and reset them for a modern audience, with the intention of making the stories more accessible. ‘Letters, manuscripts and inscriptions are now clearly delineated within the body of the narrative and are presented here in a manner that simply clarifies the complex structure and manifold narratives employed within many of these stories.’
So: they’ve been given a tidy-up and a spring clean, as may be befitting stories about 150 years old. The variety of type fonts does work, and does make the different elements – references and documents within stories, footnotes and so on - clearer to follow and thus easier to read. The stories benefit from this. It’s clearly something that has been long overdue.
With that out of the way, let’s look at the book itself.
Though I am admittedly a fan, the stories are still marvellous. Atmospherically creepy, disturbing, and wonderfully English in their understated nature and simple statements of supernatural happenings, they may be too mannered for some readers tastes, but for many, like me, their inherent creepiness is eminently readable. They evoke thoughts of old Norman churches and graveyards, dark country lanes at night, of something watching you from the shadows, perhaps reading over your shoulder. Re-reading does not diminish the power of these stories. There’s little I can add to that, other than all the stories you would expect to be in such a collection are here. The book contains all thirty of the stories from the original four James collections.
More excitingly, this edition includes Living Night, a two page poem, and more than a dozen other rarer story fragments, including James’s only novel, The Five Jars (1920) a tale written possibly for, but felt to be too scary for, children in 1920. Some of the other extras here – Speaker Lenthall’s Tomb, Merfield House for example - are the only remaining fragments of the writing, a tantalising glimpse of some of James’ unfinished material. To be frank, the additions are interesting but not essential and Five Jars is a slim novel, but they are worth a read and do give the reader a better idea of James’ canon.
Lastly, at the back of the book is the fifty-page Afterword ‘The Stony Grin of Unearthly Malice’ by Stephen, a thorough biography of James and a summary of the publication history of James’s work, in text, audio and cinema, as well as a fairly balanced commentary by Jones on both the importance of MR James in the Horror genre and his legacy to other writers. To cap it off, there’s some lovely pictures throughout the Afterword (admittedly only in black and white) of some of the original publications and film posters of James’ work.
If you want a book containing more of James’ writing on other authors, then the Ash Tree Press book A Pleasing Terror (2001) may be more your thing. However, this edition covers pretty much the same material – I would say the essentials – for a much more reasonable price. (Stephen Jones says in the Afterword that copies of the out-of-print Pleasing Terror are going for about £300/$450 today, although a quick search on the Internet shows prices nearer £500/$750.)
Curious Warnings is a collection very much akin to those books of the Gollancz Black Library series, much beloved by SFFWorld members. Not only is it like the GBL editions in a faux leather cover (although this time it is dark brown, not black) and with the same editor, it also has some sublime black and white drawings to illustrate from GBL artist Les Edwards. These drawings complement the tales enormously (and are something not in the Kindle edition.) To me, rarely has an author’s sense of unease been echoed with such care, if not relish, by an artist. The small title headings and the little motifs at the end of each tale, mainly of hooded figures, churches and bats, not to mention the creepy full page illustrations when they appear, make this edition book worth buying, if the tales themselves were not enough.
Though the contents cannot be complained about, some aspects of the physical books production stop this from being my definitive edition. On the slightly negative side, like an Everyman’s Library or an Easton Press Edition, for such a large, and some might say expensive edition, a bookmark ribbon would have been useful. More disappointingly, where in an Everyman’s or Easton edition there would have been red or gold gilt edging around the pages, in this edition we have black: a colour that marks easily and rubs annoyingly. The black dye also has the irritating effect of bleeding onto the edges of the page, and staining the reader’s fingers, which gives the pages a rather cheap look. Despite being handled very carefully, my copy was marked from the offset, and I believe that repeated readings of this one will not bode well. It’s rather a shame for such an otherwise quality book. However, to each their own - a deckled edge would have also caused concern on my part – but it would, in my opinion, have been better if the page edges had been a lighter colour or just left pristine white.
However, in summary, for any horror fan not aware of James’ writing, this is a superb introduction. It’s a book I will keep picking off the shelf late at night, dusting down and reading from – if not reading aloud from. It’s about time such an important and entertaining body of work was given the care and attention it deserves.
Recommended.
Although Stephen then qualifies this further by saying, “Well, he was a stylist – but he wrote in a unique style that was very much all his own.” the point is perhaps a fair one.
I must admit that, for me, it is that uniqueness that makes MR one of my favourite ghost story writers. Nothing works quite as well for me at Halloween as I dip into my collections of his original published stories. Originally written as rough notes for his reading aloud to choristers at King’s College, Cambridge, they were evidently a highlight of the Christmas festivities.
There are many editions out there, including the recent Collected Ghost Stories by the Oxford University Press in October 2011. I have five of my own. So why look at another new collection?
Stephen has, some would say controversially, taken a brave step with this particular collection, in that he has re-punctuated some of the tales herein.
There are no doubt some who will be very upset by this. Stephen himself points out that there will be some readers ‘who might accuse me of vandalising the sacred text’. Thoughts of previous revisions, such as those with Robert E Howard’s Conan manuscripts or HP Lovecraft’s eldritch tales may be troubling.
This however is different, in that the original text has not been cut at all. Instead, Stephen has taken the pages of ‘unbroken print, complicated sentences and protracted paragraphs’ and reset them for a modern audience, with the intention of making the stories more accessible. ‘Letters, manuscripts and inscriptions are now clearly delineated within the body of the narrative and are presented here in a manner that simply clarifies the complex structure and manifold narratives employed within many of these stories.’
So: they’ve been given a tidy-up and a spring clean, as may be befitting stories about 150 years old. The variety of type fonts does work, and does make the different elements – references and documents within stories, footnotes and so on - clearer to follow and thus easier to read. The stories benefit from this. It’s clearly something that has been long overdue.
With that out of the way, let’s look at the book itself.
Though I am admittedly a fan, the stories are still marvellous. Atmospherically creepy, disturbing, and wonderfully English in their understated nature and simple statements of supernatural happenings, they may be too mannered for some readers tastes, but for many, like me, their inherent creepiness is eminently readable. They evoke thoughts of old Norman churches and graveyards, dark country lanes at night, of something watching you from the shadows, perhaps reading over your shoulder. Re-reading does not diminish the power of these stories. There’s little I can add to that, other than all the stories you would expect to be in such a collection are here. The book contains all thirty of the stories from the original four James collections.
More excitingly, this edition includes Living Night, a two page poem, and more than a dozen other rarer story fragments, including James’s only novel, The Five Jars (1920) a tale written possibly for, but felt to be too scary for, children in 1920. Some of the other extras here – Speaker Lenthall’s Tomb, Merfield House for example - are the only remaining fragments of the writing, a tantalising glimpse of some of James’ unfinished material. To be frank, the additions are interesting but not essential and Five Jars is a slim novel, but they are worth a read and do give the reader a better idea of James’ canon.
Lastly, at the back of the book is the fifty-page Afterword ‘The Stony Grin of Unearthly Malice’ by Stephen, a thorough biography of James and a summary of the publication history of James’s work, in text, audio and cinema, as well as a fairly balanced commentary by Jones on both the importance of MR James in the Horror genre and his legacy to other writers. To cap it off, there’s some lovely pictures throughout the Afterword (admittedly only in black and white) of some of the original publications and film posters of James’ work.
If you want a book containing more of James’ writing on other authors, then the Ash Tree Press book A Pleasing Terror (2001) may be more your thing. However, this edition covers pretty much the same material – I would say the essentials – for a much more reasonable price. (Stephen Jones says in the Afterword that copies of the out-of-print Pleasing Terror are going for about £300/$450 today, although a quick search on the Internet shows prices nearer £500/$750.)
Curious Warnings is a collection very much akin to those books of the Gollancz Black Library series, much beloved by SFFWorld members. Not only is it like the GBL editions in a faux leather cover (although this time it is dark brown, not black) and with the same editor, it also has some sublime black and white drawings to illustrate from GBL artist Les Edwards. These drawings complement the tales enormously (and are something not in the Kindle edition.) To me, rarely has an author’s sense of unease been echoed with such care, if not relish, by an artist. The small title headings and the little motifs at the end of each tale, mainly of hooded figures, churches and bats, not to mention the creepy full page illustrations when they appear, make this edition book worth buying, if the tales themselves were not enough.
Though the contents cannot be complained about, some aspects of the physical books production stop this from being my definitive edition. On the slightly negative side, like an Everyman’s Library or an Easton Press Edition, for such a large, and some might say expensive edition, a bookmark ribbon would have been useful. More disappointingly, where in an Everyman’s or Easton edition there would have been red or gold gilt edging around the pages, in this edition we have black: a colour that marks easily and rubs annoyingly. The black dye also has the irritating effect of bleeding onto the edges of the page, and staining the reader’s fingers, which gives the pages a rather cheap look. Despite being handled very carefully, my copy was marked from the offset, and I believe that repeated readings of this one will not bode well. It’s rather a shame for such an otherwise quality book. However, to each their own - a deckled edge would have also caused concern on my part – but it would, in my opinion, have been better if the page edges had been a lighter colour or just left pristine white.
However, in summary, for any horror fan not aware of James’ writing, this is a superb introduction. It’s a book I will keep picking off the shelf late at night, dusting down and reading from – if not reading aloud from. It’s about time such an important and entertaining body of work was given the care and attention it deserves.
Recommended.
October 21, 2024
M.R. James’s The Complete Ghost Stories is a masterclass in atmospheric horror, filled with chilling tales that are as subtle as they are terrifying. James is a master of the ghost story genre, and his work excels in creating a sense of creeping dread rather than relying on overt shocks. His scholarly characters often stumble upon ancient secrets or cursed objects that unleash slow-burning terror, making the ordinary feel unnervingly sinister. With richly detailed settings and a talent for leaving just enough to the imagination, this collection is essential reading for any fan of classic supernatural fiction.
November 9, 2020
CURIOUS WARNINGS:
THE COMPLETE GHOST STORIES OF M.R. JAMES (Jo Fletcher Books, edited by Stephen Jones, cover and interior artwork by Les Edwards)
Review by Trevor Kennedy.
IT IS RATHER difficult, and frankly quite unfair, to compare the works of Montague Rhodes James to other very well known names in the field of literary horror, such as H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, and even the more contemporary masters of the macabre like Stephen King and Ramsey Campbell. All very different writers with their own styles, branching out (or slithering perhaps?) their worded tentacles into differing aspects of the collective genre, ensuring a twisted and dark variety of life for us grateful readers - the way it should be really!
Of course, everyone will have their own personal favourite author (or authors) and if someone had have asked me just a few months ago who my own was then I have to be honest here and admit that I may very well have said Lovecraft. M.R. James would have been up there on my list too, for sure, but I hadn’t actually read the entirety of his works in detail. Many, but not all.
Curious Warnings from Jo Fletcher Books, edited by Stephen Jones, and with accompanying stunning artworks by Les Edwards is, for me anyway, the ultimate go to collection of the complete fictional works of M.R. James (and quite possibly the only one), a stunning and weighty tome in terms of size, content and presentation. I had previously relied on my copy of an older collection of the author’s tales but that one doesn’t contain all of them, nor is it as beautifully designed and well put together.
Over the years I have regularly visited and revisited many of the works of James in their various mediums of the printed word and their numerous adaptations. He’s always been lurking around somewhere in back of my mind, phantom-like, and his name is one I always associate with ghost stories told beside a warm crackling fire at Christmas or Halloween. But now that I have read this complete collection (studied it perhaps - more on that later!), I feel I now have a bit more of a right to discuss my feelings on the writer’s tales as a whole, and even a little bit on the man himself.
First up, James’ use of the English language (and sometimes Latin!) is of the very highest standard that most fiction readers, myself included, are ever likely to experience in their lifetime. This is no surprise, as James was an extremely well educated man, Provost of King’s College, Cambridge and Eton College, Biblical and medieval scholar, first and foremost. His penning of ghost stories was more of a hobby to him, that in itself a major clue to the intellectual integrity of the man.
His overly elaborate, descriptive and quite archaic style of prose is both a blessing and a curse, however. Many casual readers will indeed be put off by this, similar in a way to the works of Lovecraft, although both wrote in very different “sub-divisions” of horror (Lovecraft with his somewhat nihilistic “cosmic” horror, and James with his more classic British ghost stories), hence the aforementioned comparison being unfair. I honestly believe that the best way to get as much as possible from these guys’ stories, especially James’, is to not actually just read them, but in fact to study them. But that is, indeed, not casual mainstream reading, although I would argue that this is the best and most rewarding way to approach what can be quite challenging, even daunting, reads.
So what of James’ stories themselves contained within Curious Warnings? There’s definitely running themes within them (troubled antiquarian academics, paying the price of greed, unsavoury discoveries at old churches, cursed artefacts, owls, written letters used as plot devices, the use of narrators, “very British” settings, etc), which I know have been discussed in much more detailed and eloquent terms that I could hope to fathom, but James always pulls it off due to his impeccable and practically flawless structure and execution (subtle, less is more etc). For example, ‘“Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’”, his most well-known tale, is arguably one of the greatest short stories ever penned, due to its absolutely perfect structure and delivery, in every respect.
All the other James classics are featured as well, naturally, some of my favourites being the opener ‘Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book’ (I’ve always loved this one and the “creature” is indeed a startling image!), ‘Number 13’ (disorientating, somewhat “trippy” and a story that has always heightened my strange curiosity of hotel rooms), ‘A Warning to the Curious’ (powerful and shocking in parts) and ‘Casting the Runes’ (what a nasty piece of work that Karswell is, and all over a negative book review too - take heed Amazon and Goodreads!). ‘The Treasure of Abbot Thomas’ and ‘The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral’ are rightly considered iconic “Jamesian” tales also, alongside several others contained.
Other favourites of mine, less well known than the above, would have to be the very haunting ‘The Mezzotint’ and ‘The Rose Garden’, a generally “lighter” tale from James until that utterly shocking glimpsed at face near the end, just as terrifying for me as the horrific discovery of the contents of ‘The Ash-tree’, or that unforgettably nightmarish Punch and Judy show in ‘The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance’.
On the subject of ‘The Rose Garden’, it is also worth noting that I really love the sly humour that runs throughout many of the author’s stories like this one and ‘Martin’s Close’, along with the written colloquialisms regularly used and James’ apparent dislike of golf, something which I share with him, incidentally.
It goes without saying though that one of the great and unique things about Curious Warnings, that sets it apart from other James collections, along with the mesmerizing paintings by Les Edwards, is the inclusion of the rarer and lesser known “drafts” of James’ tales (the clue’s in the subtitle!), and quite a few of his stories which I personally hadn’t read before, including ‘An Episode of Cathedral History’, ‘Two Doctors’, ‘The Bulbul and the Cuckoo: An Indian Folk Tale’, ‘Marcilly-le-Hayer’, ‘Speaker Lenthall’s Tomb’, the beautiful children’s fantasy novel The Five Jars (written for the daughter of James’ artist friend James McBryde after he tragically passed away in his twenties), and more.
Additional to all of this, Curious Warnings also opens with an Editor’s Note by Stephen Jones and the essays by James, ‘Ghosts - Treat Them Gently!’ and ‘Ghost Stories’. Things are wrapped up at the end with a fascinating Afterword by Stephen Jones, ‘The Stony Grin of Unearthly Malice’, on the life and legacy of James.
So do I now consider M.R. James my favourite writer of fiction of them all after reading his complete works here in Curious Warnings? Well, despite stating at the top of this review that it is unfair to compare writers to each other as they are all uniquely different (and then hypocritically making a comparison or two throughout it!), what I will say is this:
Montague Rhodes James is in all likelihood the best and most skilled writer I have ever read and one in which I feel that all self-respecting readers and would-be authors (both within the genre and outside of it) should most definitely take a look at, and not a casual look either, I must add. There is so much you can learn from his works, while at the same time being entertained and enlightened.
The perfect place to begin on this pilgrimage of forbidden knowledge, just like one of James’ characters themselves, would be, of course, by purchasing a copy of Curious Warnings today. Then, like me, you’ll be able to boast about having now read the complete works of the master of literature that was M.R. James (and trust me, I will boast about it!). Overall, a very pleasing terror indeed.
Curious Warnings: The Complete Ghost Stories of M.R. James is published by Jo Fletcher Books and is available to purchase in print and on Kindle from Amazon and other outlets.
THE COMPLETE GHOST STORIES OF M.R. JAMES (Jo Fletcher Books, edited by Stephen Jones, cover and interior artwork by Les Edwards)
Review by Trevor Kennedy.
IT IS RATHER difficult, and frankly quite unfair, to compare the works of Montague Rhodes James to other very well known names in the field of literary horror, such as H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, and even the more contemporary masters of the macabre like Stephen King and Ramsey Campbell. All very different writers with their own styles, branching out (or slithering perhaps?) their worded tentacles into differing aspects of the collective genre, ensuring a twisted and dark variety of life for us grateful readers - the way it should be really!
Of course, everyone will have their own personal favourite author (or authors) and if someone had have asked me just a few months ago who my own was then I have to be honest here and admit that I may very well have said Lovecraft. M.R. James would have been up there on my list too, for sure, but I hadn’t actually read the entirety of his works in detail. Many, but not all.
Curious Warnings from Jo Fletcher Books, edited by Stephen Jones, and with accompanying stunning artworks by Les Edwards is, for me anyway, the ultimate go to collection of the complete fictional works of M.R. James (and quite possibly the only one), a stunning and weighty tome in terms of size, content and presentation. I had previously relied on my copy of an older collection of the author’s tales but that one doesn’t contain all of them, nor is it as beautifully designed and well put together.
Over the years I have regularly visited and revisited many of the works of James in their various mediums of the printed word and their numerous adaptations. He’s always been lurking around somewhere in back of my mind, phantom-like, and his name is one I always associate with ghost stories told beside a warm crackling fire at Christmas or Halloween. But now that I have read this complete collection (studied it perhaps - more on that later!), I feel I now have a bit more of a right to discuss my feelings on the writer’s tales as a whole, and even a little bit on the man himself.
First up, James’ use of the English language (and sometimes Latin!) is of the very highest standard that most fiction readers, myself included, are ever likely to experience in their lifetime. This is no surprise, as James was an extremely well educated man, Provost of King’s College, Cambridge and Eton College, Biblical and medieval scholar, first and foremost. His penning of ghost stories was more of a hobby to him, that in itself a major clue to the intellectual integrity of the man.
His overly elaborate, descriptive and quite archaic style of prose is both a blessing and a curse, however. Many casual readers will indeed be put off by this, similar in a way to the works of Lovecraft, although both wrote in very different “sub-divisions” of horror (Lovecraft with his somewhat nihilistic “cosmic” horror, and James with his more classic British ghost stories), hence the aforementioned comparison being unfair. I honestly believe that the best way to get as much as possible from these guys’ stories, especially James’, is to not actually just read them, but in fact to study them. But that is, indeed, not casual mainstream reading, although I would argue that this is the best and most rewarding way to approach what can be quite challenging, even daunting, reads.
So what of James’ stories themselves contained within Curious Warnings? There’s definitely running themes within them (troubled antiquarian academics, paying the price of greed, unsavoury discoveries at old churches, cursed artefacts, owls, written letters used as plot devices, the use of narrators, “very British” settings, etc), which I know have been discussed in much more detailed and eloquent terms that I could hope to fathom, but James always pulls it off due to his impeccable and practically flawless structure and execution (subtle, less is more etc). For example, ‘“Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’”, his most well-known tale, is arguably one of the greatest short stories ever penned, due to its absolutely perfect structure and delivery, in every respect.
All the other James classics are featured as well, naturally, some of my favourites being the opener ‘Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book’ (I’ve always loved this one and the “creature” is indeed a startling image!), ‘Number 13’ (disorientating, somewhat “trippy” and a story that has always heightened my strange curiosity of hotel rooms), ‘A Warning to the Curious’ (powerful and shocking in parts) and ‘Casting the Runes’ (what a nasty piece of work that Karswell is, and all over a negative book review too - take heed Amazon and Goodreads!). ‘The Treasure of Abbot Thomas’ and ‘The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral’ are rightly considered iconic “Jamesian” tales also, alongside several others contained.
Other favourites of mine, less well known than the above, would have to be the very haunting ‘The Mezzotint’ and ‘The Rose Garden’, a generally “lighter” tale from James until that utterly shocking glimpsed at face near the end, just as terrifying for me as the horrific discovery of the contents of ‘The Ash-tree’, or that unforgettably nightmarish Punch and Judy show in ‘The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance’.
On the subject of ‘The Rose Garden’, it is also worth noting that I really love the sly humour that runs throughout many of the author’s stories like this one and ‘Martin’s Close’, along with the written colloquialisms regularly used and James’ apparent dislike of golf, something which I share with him, incidentally.
It goes without saying though that one of the great and unique things about Curious Warnings, that sets it apart from other James collections, along with the mesmerizing paintings by Les Edwards, is the inclusion of the rarer and lesser known “drafts” of James’ tales (the clue’s in the subtitle!), and quite a few of his stories which I personally hadn’t read before, including ‘An Episode of Cathedral History’, ‘Two Doctors’, ‘The Bulbul and the Cuckoo: An Indian Folk Tale’, ‘Marcilly-le-Hayer’, ‘Speaker Lenthall’s Tomb’, the beautiful children’s fantasy novel The Five Jars (written for the daughter of James’ artist friend James McBryde after he tragically passed away in his twenties), and more.
Additional to all of this, Curious Warnings also opens with an Editor’s Note by Stephen Jones and the essays by James, ‘Ghosts - Treat Them Gently!’ and ‘Ghost Stories’. Things are wrapped up at the end with a fascinating Afterword by Stephen Jones, ‘The Stony Grin of Unearthly Malice’, on the life and legacy of James.
So do I now consider M.R. James my favourite writer of fiction of them all after reading his complete works here in Curious Warnings? Well, despite stating at the top of this review that it is unfair to compare writers to each other as they are all uniquely different (and then hypocritically making a comparison or two throughout it!), what I will say is this:
Montague Rhodes James is in all likelihood the best and most skilled writer I have ever read and one in which I feel that all self-respecting readers and would-be authors (both within the genre and outside of it) should most definitely take a look at, and not a casual look either, I must add. There is so much you can learn from his works, while at the same time being entertained and enlightened.
The perfect place to begin on this pilgrimage of forbidden knowledge, just like one of James’ characters themselves, would be, of course, by purchasing a copy of Curious Warnings today. Then, like me, you’ll be able to boast about having now read the complete works of the master of literature that was M.R. James (and trust me, I will boast about it!). Overall, a very pleasing terror indeed.
Curious Warnings: The Complete Ghost Stories of M.R. James is published by Jo Fletcher Books and is available to purchase in print and on Kindle from Amazon and other outlets.
January 2, 2015
There is no real way to dislike a book of M.R. James tales. The stories are as good as ever. But this edition is NOT the one to read. I do NOT like (and do NOT see the point of) the editorial changes to the punctuation.
As an example, this is the first paragraph of “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad”
Original:
‘I suppose you will be getting away pretty soon, now Full Term is over, Professor,’ said a person not in the story to the Professor of Ontography, soon after they had sat down next to each other at a feast in the hospitable hall of St James’s College.
Changed version:
“I suppose you will be getting away pretty soon, now . Full term is over, Professor,” said a person not in the story to the Professor of Ontography, soon after they had sat down next to each other at a feast in the hospitable hall of St. James’s College.
Only a small change, an extra full stop, but it seems daft. Is the speaker telling the Professor that the term is over? Does he think that the Professor has not noticed that the term is over? There are many more of these useless changes.
As an example, this is the first paragraph of “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad”
Original:
‘I suppose you will be getting away pretty soon, now Full Term is over, Professor,’ said a person not in the story to the Professor of Ontography, soon after they had sat down next to each other at a feast in the hospitable hall of St James’s College.
Changed version:
“I suppose you will be getting away pretty soon, now . Full term is over, Professor,” said a person not in the story to the Professor of Ontography, soon after they had sat down next to each other at a feast in the hospitable hall of St. James’s College.
Only a small change, an extra full stop, but it seems daft. Is the speaker telling the Professor that the term is over? Does he think that the Professor has not noticed that the term is over? There are many more of these useless changes.
June 24, 2017
Never have I been so chilled to the core whilst reading, as I was - several times - by the tales conjured up in this book by the true master of the classic ghost story, M. R. James. Another stunning leather-bound volume that has pride of place on my shelf, it's hefty and will fill many quality hours of your reading time.
I have so many favourites that there are just too many to name, so I'll just mention a few that REALLY freaked me out and turned my blood cold, on several dark nights. If you have a fairly strong disposition then be sure to check these five out, if you read nothing more of this masterful author's work:
1. O, Whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad
2. The Ash Tree
3. A Warning to the Curious
4. Lost Hearts
5. Wailing Well
Have fun sleeping!
I have so many favourites that there are just too many to name, so I'll just mention a few that REALLY freaked me out and turned my blood cold, on several dark nights. If you have a fairly strong disposition then be sure to check these five out, if you read nothing more of this masterful author's work:
1. O, Whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad
2. The Ash Tree
3. A Warning to the Curious
4. Lost Hearts
5. Wailing Well
Have fun sleeping!
May 13, 2015
SPOILERS-ISH
The first thing I need to say about this edition is that, physically, it's beautiful; the kind of book that can't be replaced digitally. (I also have a well worn pocket edition that has traveled with me a fair distance.) The cracked red leather effect makes it seem like something one of James' protagonists might stumble across on an ancient bookshelf. Les Edwards' illustrations are a wonderful addition, and are finished so that they almost feel still damp to the touch, which is perfect for a tactile reader.
The edition contains all James short stories, as well as the novella 'The Five Jars', poems and shorts essays by James. The Afterward by Stephen Jones is a biopic of James and analysis of his through its many incarnations, well known T.V adaptations, various editions of his original volumes. Jones continues into the realm of modern horror, and the well known works that owe something of their creation to James' stories. The most touching of these, is the inclusion of James McBryde's four illustrated plates.
So the stories themselves; I could probably write a review for each, but my favorites include:
Lost Hearts. This story hints of vampirism, examines greed and corruption of adults at the expense of the young, and illustrates how completely vulnerable children are, almost irrespective of class. I say almost since Stephen, an upper class child, despite being without a guardian to protect him, survived to relate his story whereas the two gypsy children do not. Also, the use of the hurdy-gurdy, it's such an evocative instrument for what the children represent, and the sound is so strange and otherworldly.
The Ash Tree. I like the references to witchcraft and old religion, and that it captures the spirit of the English countryside. It pits the elemental existence of the ordinary country folk against the material one of the squire.
Martin's close. It was unusual story for James in its execution, and a little more lighthearted.
The Rose Garden. It's a story within a story, to do with place and memory.
A School Story. It taps into the mystery that exists for children about their teachers, especially in a boarding school environment. M.R. James spent most of his life in various, strictly male, educational institutes and was where he was most at home, both in his fiction and in life.
The Tractate Middoth. For the sheer fact that it's set in a library.
The Residence at Whitminster. This reminded me very much of modern supernatural horror film. It was slightly longer than most of James short stories, and again it's about children, their innocence and malevolence, and it places the adults in the story in a position of weakness.
An Evening's Entertainment. I like the spirit of the fireside tale, word of mouth, passing from one generation to the next. Also the morbidity of the story itself.
A Warning To The Curious. This tale really deserves a whole review of its own. The last of James' short stories, it's the darkest, bleakest and the most vivid. It leaves an overwhelming sense of sadness and loss, more so even than of horror. By this point James' world had been irrevocably changed as his former pupils were sacrificed to the horror of the first world war. In most of his earlier work there's a sense of balance, a safety within the fear that can always be retrieved. In A.W.T.T.C this safety is gone, as though it's no longer possible to return to.
The negatives of M.R. James' stories are that they're very limited in terms of it's portrayal of class and gender. He tends to stick to his own environment, his protagonist are fussy academic types, and wherever they're not they tend to be children, specifically boys. Any lower class characters to feature, where they are not connected to the object of fear, are invariable servile.
Despite these restrictions there is plenty of scope for theme, the church and churchman crop up often, as well as the danger of temptation, abuses and greed. Also, the folly of youth, human blindness, and of the uneasy meeting of old and new. It's been remarked that despite James' own very repressed sexuality his stories are filled with sensual, tactile descriptions.
A.W.T.T.C is really the culmination of all these ideas, and it almost hints towards what was to follow in terms of the genre. When you examine James in light of subsequent horror it becomes apparent how he laid the foundation from which many recognizable conventions grew. What a modern audience may find lacking in them is what was we've added, and expanded on.
What's really striking, and pioneering about this writer (for whom ghost stories were supposed to be a mere diversion) is his sense of imaginative playfulness. M.R. James understood that fear should enjoyed as much as it must be endured.
The first thing I need to say about this edition is that, physically, it's beautiful; the kind of book that can't be replaced digitally. (I also have a well worn pocket edition that has traveled with me a fair distance.) The cracked red leather effect makes it seem like something one of James' protagonists might stumble across on an ancient bookshelf. Les Edwards' illustrations are a wonderful addition, and are finished so that they almost feel still damp to the touch, which is perfect for a tactile reader.
The edition contains all James short stories, as well as the novella 'The Five Jars', poems and shorts essays by James. The Afterward by Stephen Jones is a biopic of James and analysis of his through its many incarnations, well known T.V adaptations, various editions of his original volumes. Jones continues into the realm of modern horror, and the well known works that owe something of their creation to James' stories. The most touching of these, is the inclusion of James McBryde's four illustrated plates.
So the stories themselves; I could probably write a review for each, but my favorites include:
Lost Hearts. This story hints of vampirism, examines greed and corruption of adults at the expense of the young, and illustrates how completely vulnerable children are, almost irrespective of class. I say almost since Stephen, an upper class child, despite being without a guardian to protect him, survived to relate his story whereas the two gypsy children do not. Also, the use of the hurdy-gurdy, it's such an evocative instrument for what the children represent, and the sound is so strange and otherworldly.
The Ash Tree. I like the references to witchcraft and old religion, and that it captures the spirit of the English countryside. It pits the elemental existence of the ordinary country folk against the material one of the squire.
Martin's close. It was unusual story for James in its execution, and a little more lighthearted.
The Rose Garden. It's a story within a story, to do with place and memory.
A School Story. It taps into the mystery that exists for children about their teachers, especially in a boarding school environment. M.R. James spent most of his life in various, strictly male, educational institutes and was where he was most at home, both in his fiction and in life.
The Tractate Middoth. For the sheer fact that it's set in a library.
The Residence at Whitminster. This reminded me very much of modern supernatural horror film. It was slightly longer than most of James short stories, and again it's about children, their innocence and malevolence, and it places the adults in the story in a position of weakness.
An Evening's Entertainment. I like the spirit of the fireside tale, word of mouth, passing from one generation to the next. Also the morbidity of the story itself.
A Warning To The Curious. This tale really deserves a whole review of its own. The last of James' short stories, it's the darkest, bleakest and the most vivid. It leaves an overwhelming sense of sadness and loss, more so even than of horror. By this point James' world had been irrevocably changed as his former pupils were sacrificed to the horror of the first world war. In most of his earlier work there's a sense of balance, a safety within the fear that can always be retrieved. In A.W.T.T.C this safety is gone, as though it's no longer possible to return to.
The negatives of M.R. James' stories are that they're very limited in terms of it's portrayal of class and gender. He tends to stick to his own environment, his protagonist are fussy academic types, and wherever they're not they tend to be children, specifically boys. Any lower class characters to feature, where they are not connected to the object of fear, are invariable servile.
Despite these restrictions there is plenty of scope for theme, the church and churchman crop up often, as well as the danger of temptation, abuses and greed. Also, the folly of youth, human blindness, and of the uneasy meeting of old and new. It's been remarked that despite James' own very repressed sexuality his stories are filled with sensual, tactile descriptions.
A.W.T.T.C is really the culmination of all these ideas, and it almost hints towards what was to follow in terms of the genre. When you examine James in light of subsequent horror it becomes apparent how he laid the foundation from which many recognizable conventions grew. What a modern audience may find lacking in them is what was we've added, and expanded on.
What's really striking, and pioneering about this writer (for whom ghost stories were supposed to be a mere diversion) is his sense of imaginative playfulness. M.R. James understood that fear should enjoyed as much as it must be endured.
March 22, 2017
Probably the best ghost stories ever written.
February 9, 2013
This book was one of those happy accidents readers love: I'd just read James' 'The Ash-Tree' in an old issue of Twilight Zone magazine, and had been thinking I really should seek out more of him to read. After one unsuccessful browse at the library, during a later visit there was this mighty tome staring me in the face when I walked in.
The title kind of underplays the relevance of this collection: this is a collection of pretty much ALL of James' superb supernatural writings. Not all of them are strictly Ghost Stories, but all of them are thoroughly entertaining, wonderfully atmospheric and occasionally chilling. Strangely, my favourite piece in here is not even a 'dark fiction' one: the novella 'The Five Jars' was James' one attempt at longer fiction, and it is basically a modern fairy story, in the vein of later encounters-with-faery books like The Spiderwick Chronicles. The other stories are, for the most part, intended to unsettle and they tend to succeed.
Editor Stephen Jones was decent enough to arrange the book chronologically, so we're given a pretty accurate picture of James' development through the years he wrote these stories. The only items not in order of publication are toward the end, where we're given some late-discovered tales, as well as some unfinished items and a couple relevant essays. Jones contributes a thorough (if dry) overview of James' life, career and influence, with profuse illustrations of dustjackets and film imagery. He has also gone to great lengths to edit the stories themselves (mostly originally written for public reading) into a more modern reading form, excising no text but possibly quite a few commas. The volume is filled with excellent line-art and less-than-great occasional full-page paintings (regrettably in black-and-white, though they appear to have been painted in colour) by Les Edwards.
This is a more-than-complete collection, and probably better for a pick-up-and-read-sometimes than a read-it-through. For the price, though, this can't be beat, and it is an incredibly handsome hardcover volume. But for completion and academic thoroughness, it seems A Pleasing Terror is the only other edition to do better.
The title kind of underplays the relevance of this collection: this is a collection of pretty much ALL of James' superb supernatural writings. Not all of them are strictly Ghost Stories, but all of them are thoroughly entertaining, wonderfully atmospheric and occasionally chilling. Strangely, my favourite piece in here is not even a 'dark fiction' one: the novella 'The Five Jars' was James' one attempt at longer fiction, and it is basically a modern fairy story, in the vein of later encounters-with-faery books like The Spiderwick Chronicles. The other stories are, for the most part, intended to unsettle and they tend to succeed.
Editor Stephen Jones was decent enough to arrange the book chronologically, so we're given a pretty accurate picture of James' development through the years he wrote these stories. The only items not in order of publication are toward the end, where we're given some late-discovered tales, as well as some unfinished items and a couple relevant essays. Jones contributes a thorough (if dry) overview of James' life, career and influence, with profuse illustrations of dustjackets and film imagery. He has also gone to great lengths to edit the stories themselves (mostly originally written for public reading) into a more modern reading form, excising no text but possibly quite a few commas. The volume is filled with excellent line-art and less-than-great occasional full-page paintings (regrettably in black-and-white, though they appear to have been painted in colour) by Les Edwards.
This is a more-than-complete collection, and probably better for a pick-up-and-read-sometimes than a read-it-through. For the price, though, this can't be beat, and it is an incredibly handsome hardcover volume. But for completion and academic thoroughness, it seems A Pleasing Terror is the only other edition to do better.
October 31, 2019
I’ve had this book for a few years now and at first I loved it. I still think it’s a five star package but I thought I might note a few niggling annoyances I have been unable to ignore.
1) I understand the editor was trying to update the prose for modern eyes but in my estimation he got a little slap happy.
And overzealous.
There are too many paragraph breaks!
If raw James was too blocky then this is the opposite yet equally unsightly end of the spectrum. You’ll be reading along.
When all of a sudden you’re in a new paragraph. Annoying, no?
2) I also get why the editor wanted to break up the texts-within-texts, of course, but the font chosen for the italicized portions (letters and diary entries) are very hard on the eyes. And sometimes, bizarrely, given my first complaint, there are missing line breaks!
3) How hard would it have been to include the dates for each of the stories? Not hard at all. Was there a very good reason the editor chose not to date each story? Possibly. But I don’t like it. The tales appear more or less chronological (why they don’t appear exactly so compared to other sources, I couldn’t guess), but I for one like having handy the year the story was written.
However! The book design is beautiful. As are the illustrations. You can’t beat the content. The more I read it I can’t help think “alas, this isn’t the perfect M. R. James collection I thought it was and maybe I’ll have to get another one someday.” Oh, well.
1) I understand the editor was trying to update the prose for modern eyes but in my estimation he got a little slap happy.
And overzealous.
There are too many paragraph breaks!
If raw James was too blocky then this is the opposite yet equally unsightly end of the spectrum. You’ll be reading along.
When all of a sudden you’re in a new paragraph. Annoying, no?
2) I also get why the editor wanted to break up the texts-within-texts, of course, but the font chosen for the italicized portions (letters and diary entries) are very hard on the eyes. And sometimes, bizarrely, given my first complaint, there are missing line breaks!
3) How hard would it have been to include the dates for each of the stories? Not hard at all. Was there a very good reason the editor chose not to date each story? Possibly. But I don’t like it. The tales appear more or less chronological (why they don’t appear exactly so compared to other sources, I couldn’t guess), but I for one like having handy the year the story was written.
However! The book design is beautiful. As are the illustrations. You can’t beat the content. The more I read it I can’t help think “alas, this isn’t the perfect M. R. James collection I thought it was and maybe I’ll have to get another one someday.” Oh, well.
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