Ghost Stories with Christopher Lee: Four Chilling Tales from the BBC TV Series

by M.R. James

Horror maestro Christopher Lee reads this quartet of supernatural tales, adapted from the stories of M. R. James.

More than a century ago, M. R. James was the provost of King's College, Cambridge. He would gather together a select group of students in his rooms every Christmas Eve and give a candlelit performance of one of his superbly unsettling ghost stories. Christopher Lee recreates the spine-chilling atmosphere of those evenings, as he dons James' mantle to read these four fearful tales.

'The Stalls of Barchester': perusing the papers of Archdeacon Haynes, our narrator uncovers a hidden history of intrigue, murder, a sinister cat and some strange ecclesiastical carvings.

'The Ash Tree': when Sir Matthew Fell, squire of Castringham Hall, testifies against suspected witch Mrs Mothersole, she is found guilty and hanged. From that day forward, a series of tragic events afflict the Fell family, all seemingly linked to the old ash tree growing in the Hall grounds....

'Number 13': staying in Room 12 of the Golden Lion in the Danish town of Viborg, historian Mr Anderson is perturbed by the mystery of the room next door. Who, or what, is the inhabitant of number 13?

'A Warning to the Curious': the horrific account of an archaeologist named Paxton, who takes the fateful decision to excavate the last of the legendary East Anglian crowns - and unleashes a terrifying supernatural force....

Cast and credits:

Written by M. R. James.

Adapted by Ronald Frame.

Read by Christopher Lee.

Directed by Eleanor Yule.

Produced by Richard Downes.

Title music: Geoffrey Burgon.

Editors: James Hamilton and Phyllis Ironside.

Production manager: Monica O'Connor.

First broadcast on BBC Two on the following dates:

'The Stalls of Barchester' 23rd December 2000.

'The Ash Tree' 26th December 2000.

'Number 13' 29th December 2000.

'A Warning to the Curious' 31st December 2000.
©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Genres: Horror, Classics, Fantasy, Mystery, Supernatural, Short Stories, Audiobook

90 pages, 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

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s like these stories were written to be read by Christopher Lee (he also does an absolutely splendid Danish accent - who knew??)

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first ever audio book I've fully sat threw. I only put it only purely cause I didn't want to switch on TV, nor doom scroll for a song or two to play and I also had turned off my radio.

So, knowing I like Christoper Lee, gave this a go.

I couldn't tell you a thing about any of these stories but I did like track 4 aka "Door 13" Cause it feels pure thrilling. Especially when your sitting alone in the staff lockers which gives another level of scariness.

Track 5 gave me goosebumps even as I zoned out doing sewing.

What makes this work for me is the soundscape created with orchestra and other foley created sounds including having Christopher Lee who just has the perfect voice.

[Jason Dark · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0

[Rosy Ay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delicious! Utterly delicious! The ghost stories of M R James red by the magnificent Sir Christopher Lee.

The seasons are just turning here in London, autumn is in the air with the promise of Halloween not far behind. The time for Gothic horror and ghost stories so I decided to listen to this little gem, four ghost stories with sound effects and the deep, Distinctive voice of Christopher Lee reading them. Perfect! Christopher Lee played Dracula in 10 films throughout his life and for a whole generation of us, he was the most terrifying Dracula ever, so it’s not hard to feel and hear so much in those pronunciations, you hang on every magical word. Perfect!

[Pietro Rossi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christopher Lee reads four MR James stories. This is an audio version of a programme originally shown on TV. I've always struggled with MR James's stories. As expected, Lee is an excellent narrator as this is a good production.

The Stalls of Barchester. Starts with the death of the archdeacon. Haunted by a large cat. 4/10

The Ash Tree. Good creepy idea. 7/10

Number 13. Room 13 in a hotel. Why not listed, and why is a guest there? 8/10

A Warning to the Curious. Starts creepy but meanders. 6/10.

Overall: 7/10.

Scoring: 0 bad; 1-3 poor; 4-6 average; 7-9 good; 10 excellent.

[Sophie (RedheadReading) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories are perfectly fine with a good amount of classic ghost story tropes (I quite enjoyed the cat haunting one!), but it's Christopher Lee's performance that absolutely shines and makes this worth listening to! He was such a brilliant performer and I liked the framing of delivering these stories as if we're part of the group of students listening.

[Tara T · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried several times to read these - well listen to them. I had to keep restarting them as I kept getting bored and tuning them out and losing the plot. Do it took much longer to ‘read’ than it should have for four short stories.

Apparently they’re ‘classics’ though.
Whatever.
Meh.
Stories 2-3 were the best.

[Ursula Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy M.R. James ghost stories, but this edition was difficult to listen to. Each chapter started with the same eerie singing and narrated opening, which wasn’t needed. Sir Christopher was not at his best on this one. The halting narration with frequent breaks made it hard to follow the stories, even though one of my favorites was included. I much prefer David Suchet’s masterful readings.

[Karen Hackney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly I did enjoy the stories and Christopher Lee's narrative was flawless. Honestly though I will admit some bias as Christopher Lee probably could of gotten away with narrating the cooking instructions off of a pot noodle and I would of given 5 stars.

[Melody Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good first read for the new year! And what better way than with Christopher Lee. I wasn't going to renew my audible- they got me with 99c a month for 3 deal and this was what I used the 1 credit on. Not disappointed!

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

4*** for Christopher Lee. 1* for mediocre, convoluted "horror" tales that could have been so much better with modern writing.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 Stars for the story, 5 stars for the narration, so 4 stars overall.

[Readingtomycats · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the best stories read well

[Vicki Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just awesome - listen or read - just do it !!!

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories are fine, but Christopher Lee's mouth noises hit my misophonia.