MR James: The Complete Ghost Stories Collection

by M.R. James, Jonathan Keeble (Narrator)

This audiobook is an unabridged collection of all M.R. James' ghost stories, including stories from Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, More Ghost Stories, A Thin Ghost and Others, and A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories. It is expertly read by award-winning narrator, Jonathan Keeble.

The collection includes:

Track 2: Canon Alberics Scrap-Book
Track 3: Lost Hearts
Track 4: The Mezzotint
Track 5: The Ash-tree
Track 6: Number 13
Track 7: Count Magnus
Track 8: Oh Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad
Track 9: The Treasure of Abbot Thomas
Track 10: A School Story
Track 11: The Rose Garden
Track 12: The Tractate Middoth
Track 13: Casting the Runes
Track 14: The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral
Track 15: Martin's Close
Track 16: Mr Humphrys and His Inheritance
Track 17: The Residence at Whitminister
Track 18: The Diary of Mr Poynter
Track 19: An Episode of Cathedral History
Track 20: The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance
Track 21: Two Doctors
Track 22: An Evening's Entertainment
Track 23: A Warning to the Curious
Track 24: A View From a Hill
Track 25: A Neighbour's Landmark
Track 26: The Uncommon Prayer-Book
Track 27: The Haunted Dolls' House
Track 28: Wailing Well
Track 29: There Was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard
Track 30: Rats
Track 31: After Dark in the Playing Fields
Track 32: The Experiment
Track 33: The Malice of Inanimate Objects
Track 34: A Vignette
Track 35: The Fenstanton Witch
Track 36: Appendix

Genres: Horror, Audiobook, Short Stories, Classics, Paranormal, Gothic, Fiction

Audiobook

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.

M.R.^James

Reviews

[Hannah Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh. I love an old-timey ghost story. Highly recommend the audiobook, because it is read well, for one, and it gives you more of a sense of creepiness, like you are gathered near a fire in a dark parlor in 1900 telling scary stories, a snowstorm raging outside, and it’s Christmas Eve. I will definitely re-listen eventually. I also recommend listening/reading the appendix. M. R. James read a lot of ghost stories and literature of his predecessors and contemporaries, and provides interesting insight into what he believes are effective ghost stories and why. Extra points because he mentions several female authors that have probably been lost to time now. I wish we had learned about him in addition to Edgar Allen Poe in grade school.

[Sunchaser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a short review of this to make a few remarks: I don't have a lot to say about the material, M.R. James' ghost stories have been endlessly reviewed and I'm in the camp that consider them deserving of all the positive things said about them, so I'll just touch on the fact that they're ALL here in this collection, including a few drafts with author's notes.
The other thing is the high quality of Johnathan Keeble's narration, which sets this apart from the other audio format collections of the same works. You have to pay a premium for this one, but I think it's worth it.

[ChrisBook · Rating 4 out of 5]

M R James wrote the old time ghost stories that you tell around the campfire. They all feel somewhat familiar, since many of them were adapted and retold over and over in the years since. Think Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. They are so familiar, they often feel like tropes, because he invented the tropes. James was an academic, which shows in his work. The stories often involve scholars and students, antiques, old books, and creepy buildings. If you want a Demon Book story, you'll find several here.

The most interesting part of the collection is the Appendix which is a view into James's mind. In it he gives his opinions on what makes a good ghost story and includes his favorites. He LOVED LeFanu. Not a big fan of Dickens and was meh on Bram Stoker's Dracula. He really disliked American authors. (He, to paraphrase, says 'Before anyone asks, I read The Turning of the Screw...Anyway.') His biggest beef with them, he says twice, is there is "too much sex." Huh. How much sex is in a late 19th, early 20th century ghost story? Hand holding and kissing? Maybe it was just too many girls. His own stories are bereft of women. If they do appear, they are at best landladies and innkeepers' wives, at worst witches and elderly murderesses. The stories are peopled by men. It's a reverse Bechdel Test; men have conversations without mentioning a single human female.

Like any collection there are hits and misses. You can't please everyone all the time. Some of the stories are similar in theme to others, then there are complete departures, like the one with a cranky, talking owl (After Dark in the Playing Fields). If you like Scary Stories to Listen to in the Dark, you'll find a few favourites.

The narration by Jonathan Keeble was a lot of fun. It was very entertaining.

[Katrine Engelhardt Thomsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was amazing and perfect for Christmas!
Cannot recommend this audio book enough.

My favourite stories:

The Mezzotint
- first story of M.R’s I ever read.

The Ash-Tree
- one of the best spooky witchy stories of all time.

Number 13
- takes place in my home country!

Count Magnus
- Excellent Vampire story taking place in Sweden.

Oh Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad.
- M.R.James makes some delighfully catty comments about the boredom of golf.

The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance.
- the scariest story of them all in my
book. Closely followed by the story Wailing Well,
which is a hidden gem of a Vampire story.

There Was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard
- for all us who were pissed off by this story remaining unfinished in “The Winter’s Tale”.

The Malice of Inanimate Objects.
- yes, objects are trying to kill us. Pixar lied to us.

Don’t skip the Appendix if you like literary history and snipy academic comments about other horror writers.
M.R. James’ comments on Stoker are gold.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read every single story in this collection before. I love the style and tone of M. R. James writing. But so help me, hearing it read on Audible by this British actor took it up to an 11. It was so creepy! I would listen to it out on walks around my Texas neighborhood. Yeah, warm Texas, but in the fall, so nice and overcast. I was transported to grey, English archives, narrow, deserted streets, and dense shadowy woods. It was awesome!

Hopefully, no one was watching me too closely as I was walking. They might have thought I was a total brain case when I would sometimes start or gasp at something I was listening to.

[Maarten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this collection of short stories, which came to me through an audio book I read on the bike to and from work. Set mostly in the 18th century, each and every story is packed with atmosphere and suspense. I loved the way that the characters and story were always carefully presented and depicted, and set in a colorfully drawn landscape.
However, the experience wouldn't have been the same if I had read them myself, since the narrator (mr. Jonathan Keeble) was so excellent in every way that he lifted this work to its full potential. Just perfect for me!

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

M.R. James is the master of old-school spooky stories. This is the first complete collection I've encountered, and the reader was excellent. I particularly appreciated the afterward in which James discusses classic and contemporary (to him) writers of horror. I don't agree with all of his opinions, but I was fascinating to hear them.

[Kaitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to stick with this book for a long time, but have decided to call it quits. Fundamentally, these are all stories of their time, written in about the 1920s, so they are noticeably stilted, unscary, and slow.

[William Sayers · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of the MR James ghost stories here, a nice compendium. Jonathan Keeble gives a good reading of each (if you're listening to the Audiobook version). Nice essay at the end from the author himself on ghost stories which is also of interest.

[Lorna Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me, I had to spread it out over several months, a short story at a time.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought for my hubby who likes ghost stories. Kept him quiet for days. Well narrated so win win.

[Ace McGee · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories are all enjoyable but follow the exact same outline. Read one or two, forget the book for a month, then read some more. They are entertaining but very similar.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories are fine one or two at a time but overall appear redundant.

[Rebecca Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love M.R. James! His stories are always engaging, and I am never disappointed when I read through his works. One of the best short story authors out there!

[Alyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of MR James. The stories are fascinating.

[Peter Kalnin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic ghost stories that are told by an excellent narrator. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys such things without all the gore and sadism that contemporary authors may go into.

[Mirhanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Gothic horror. This is the book if you want creepy ghost stories!