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110th out of 191 books
—
258 voters
Casting the Runes and Other Ghost Stories
by
M.R. James ,
Michael Cox
This selection of twenty-one short stories by M.R. James--a first-class writer of supernatural fiction--represents his best work, including "Count Magnus," "The Rose Garden," "The Uncommon Prayer-book," "Rats," "The Malice of Inanimate Objects," and "A Vignette," as well as the title story.
Paperback, 400 pages
Published
June 3rd 1999
by Oxford University Press, USA
(first published 1911)
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M.R. James had a great, and simple, formula for writing ghost stories. Establish the mundane and everyday detail (which is heightened by the Victorian academic settings), and then introduce, briefly, the supernatural, which cracks the surface of everything normal that has been so carefully established. And what is suggested by the supernatural intrusion is usually horrifying. Lovecraftian spheres (or worse) are opened up to the reader. The human mind must retreat before the suggestion of the “ot...more
Nov 10, 2010
Stephen
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
short-fiction,
horror
3.5 stars. This review is only for the story "Casting the Runes" as I purchased this as a stand alone book. I am also reading a collection of M.R. James' work called Casting the Runes and Other Ghost Stories and will review that collection separately.
Casting the Runes is a good story, very well-written by M.R. James (as I think James was a superb writer and his stories well crafted). While I liked the story, as a horror story it does not completely succeed. My biggest grip with the story is tha...more
Casting the Runes is a good story, very well-written by M.R. James (as I think James was a superb writer and his stories well crafted). While I liked the story, as a horror story it does not completely succeed. My biggest grip with the story is tha...more
I am still rather huffy that they didn't include one of my all-time favorite M R James' stories, "Lost Hearts," in this collection. I know it wasn't a favorite of his, but he wasn't all that fond of the far inferior "A Vignette" either, and that somehow worked its way into this anthology.
That said, this is a good collection of supernaturally-tinged stories that tell you more about the time (Victorian England) than truly give you a fright. I did find these stories much scarier upon adulthood than...more
That said, this is a good collection of supernaturally-tinged stories that tell you more about the time (Victorian England) than truly give you a fright. I did find these stories much scarier upon adulthood than...more
Apr 17, 2011
David Rush
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to David by:
http://www.goodreads.com/charlesdee
I checked out the Oxford World's Classics edition from the local library which has an introduction by Michael Chabon. Chabon says horror stories are ALL psychology, and from what I've read so far that is the case for M.R. James.
Of course stuff does happen, but perhaps my modern perspective wants a better ratio of psychology to action (heavier on the action).
Chabon compares James to Lovecraft and of course his observations are well thought out and you must agree with them, mostly. James is obviou...more
Of course stuff does happen, but perhaps my modern perspective wants a better ratio of psychology to action (heavier on the action).
Chabon compares James to Lovecraft and of course his observations are well thought out and you must agree with them, mostly. James is obviou...more
Sep 24, 2010
Mike (the Paladin)
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
horror,
classic-horror
This IS a book of CLASSIC horror stories. They don't depend nor do they need buckets of blood slung against a wall or descriptions of disembowelments or decapitations. James can achieve a creeping sense of horror and/or terror that will slip up your spine and tap on your shoulder when (if) you turn off the lights to go to sleep at night. It is of course possible not get into the stories, these are stories that you think about and if you do...the shivers and subtle looks over your shoulder when y...more
M.R. James' stories are wonderfully scary. He uses suspense and primitive archetypes to induce fear. It is a terrific and more intellectual romp than most books in the Gothic Horror genre.
Is in the middle of a hurricane, with the power out, and Halloween just around the corner, I took out this collection and reread "O, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" by candlelight. God, these stories are eerie. There are a few places where I think James gets it right far better than most scare fiction writers - most notably, he keeps the climactic moment hazy enough that we have our own image of what is tormenting our poor protagonist. And a nice touch in "O, Whistle..." I love how James i...more
All stories follow a similar formula, and are delivered in the same wry, slightly sardonic tone of voice. James gently mocks his protagonists, he doesn't want us to feel sympathy for them. This distance between the author, the reader and the characters creates the space for the various creeping, unsettling, ancient horrors, ghosts and demons which are unleashed. Theirs is a patient menace, which can be temporarily halted, shut in a box or a dusty time, but is rarely permanently extinguished. The...more
M.R. James was the master of the English ghost story. I was drawn to this collection after having recently watched the excellent BFI releases of ‘Oh Whistle, and I’ll come to you my Lad’ and ‘A Warning to the curious’(Highly recommended for fans of ghostly tv adaptations)The stories themselves are steeped in a world of academics and antiquaries,but also have seemingly idyllic and tranquil English countryside settings. There are little laneways leading to old gates, country churches and woods, pe...more
Discovering the classic port-and-leather-armchair ghost stories of M. R. James is like first reading Dune or The Lord of the Rings. The tremendous possibilities of an entire genre suddenly open up to you, and you end up reading dozens of similar books but only rarely find that original thrill--so inevitably you come full circle, content to read (over and over) “Oh Whistle,” “Number 13,” or “A Warning to the Curious.” And the stories never lose their magic and menace.
James is my favorite ghost story author of them all, and this is the book that introduced me to him. It's quite a good introduction: it has most of the stories from Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, volumes 1 and 2, plus a few more that were published elsewhere, plus an appendix with excerpts from various writings by James about the ghost story genre. Even though I now have the Wordsworth Editions collected James, I still can't bear to get rid of my battered old copy of this collection.
Expecting a book of stuffy, boring English ghost stories I was surprised to find them being some of the most frightening stories I've ever read. Don't let the word "ghost" fool you because James's entities are more like demons or some sort of inexplicable fiend. James doesn't make the mistake of trying to over-explain the origins of these things, he merely hints.
I re-read these stories from time to time and still get that chill down the back of my neck - try reading them late at night in a room lightened only by a lamp and with your back to a partly opened cupboard or wardrobe and I defy you not to keep casting nervous glances behind you!
Just a few words for this one.
I do appreciate the author's use of language and the fact that these stories were indeed some early attempts in the horror genre, a genre that has progresses significantly since then.
I have to admit though that it tired me a lot. A few motifs used more often than they should, lack of variety and the fact that such stories are outdated by today's horror standards made the experience of reading this book more tedious than it should have been.
On the plus side a few sto...more
I do appreciate the author's use of language and the fact that these stories were indeed some early attempts in the horror genre, a genre that has progresses significantly since then.
I have to admit though that it tired me a lot. A few motifs used more often than they should, lack of variety and the fact that such stories are outdated by today's horror standards made the experience of reading this book more tedious than it should have been.
On the plus side a few sto...more
James was the master of the ghost story. My favorite is is "Number 13" - one of the earliest and best haunted hotel tales.
Nov 24, 2008
Claudia
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
English majors, ghost story fanciers
Recommended to Claudia by:
Wall Street Journal
If you like very English 19th century story telling, this is for you. I wouldn't even call these "ghost" stories exactly as most feature what I'd consider "demons". Most involve characters who are too curious for their own good and learn the hard way not to tamper with cursed spots or books, etc. Still, they are ripping good yarns, though not everyone's cup of tea.
My October tradition is to read this collection of short ghost stories - thanks to my neighbor who gave me this book a few years back! Written in the early 20th century by a Cambridge medieval scholar, these stories always take place in an academic or foreign setting and the main character is always an unassuming (academic) type of man. Curiosity gets the characters in trouble and that trouble usually involves some antique object (book, picture) or antique house. I love this stuff! The beginning...more
M.R. James is the one and only best writer of ghost stories ever, in my ever-so-humble opinion. "Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" in particular is elegant, smooth, and seriously scary, as well as simply one of the best short stories of any genre I've ever read (hey, folks like Michael Chabon agree with that statement too). While other way old-school writers of weird fiction like Algernon Blackwood, Le Fanu, Lovecraft, etc. were all wonderful in their own, individual ways, there is someth...more
Feb 05, 2010
Wayne
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
if you like being traumatised over and over again
Recommended to Wayne by:
the story titles
Shelves:
short-stories,
english-classic-lit
This gives me goosebumps, real chills whose progress I can almost map.
And then I START as the house gives some creeeak that would normally pass entirely unheard...all occurrences when I'm reading ghost stories but especially these ones of M.R.James (Montague Rhodes!!!no less), stories which are masterpieces of unsettlement and disquiet.
All those riches of English culture become suddenly tainted with the sinister.The World of Jane Austen would have to be its complete antithesis.I take a copy of M...more
And then I START as the house gives some creeeak that would normally pass entirely unheard...all occurrences when I'm reading ghost stories but especially these ones of M.R.James (Montague Rhodes!!!no less), stories which are masterpieces of unsettlement and disquiet.
All those riches of English culture become suddenly tainted with the sinister.The World of Jane Austen would have to be its complete antithesis.I take a copy of M...more
Casting the Runes and Other Ghost Stories (World's Classics) by M. R. James (1987)
Fine stories, but the edition I read (c. 2002, with an introdruction by Michael Cahabon) was terrible. What kind of editor takes out the endnotes, but leaves in the asterisks? Someone deserved canning.
excellent. i will be happy to read them again over the years.
To be honest, I only finished about two thirds of this collection, but the stories were similar enough that I didn't think it was necessary to complete the collection. James's stories are always creepy and often funny, though they're rarely genuinely frightening. They're quirky little half-satirical sketches where bed sheets come to life and scraps of paper and coins and shadows are haunted with vengeful specters, most of which insist on pursuing absent-minded scholars. Overall, James's tales ar...more
Eerily wonderful ghost stories...
I'm just coming to the end of these short stories and have found them quite intersting. They are mostly ghost stories and more propbably are based on old folk lore. M R James has a habit of going on a bit and then stopping in his tracking as if realising he is descriping something into much details - several stories have this and it gets quite annoying. If it wasn't for this I would have rated this with 5 stars, as the actual ghost stories are interesting adn managed to hold my attention.
Mar 15, 2008
Elizabeth Tangora
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who likes a good story about haunted curtains
Recommended to Elizabeth by:
Lucky find at a used book-store
Shelves:
favorites
M.R. James is the greatest; his stories are like the 19th century version of the Blair Witch Project. James was an antiquarian at Cambridge and he writes his ghost stories like academic papers or reports, which makes them fantastically weird and creepy. The supernatural events in his stories are rarely explained, and sometimes you can't even figure out what happened, so they stay with you for a long time after you've finished the book-- maybe longer than you'd like them to.
One of my favorite collections of ghost stories, most of which are good and few of which are unremarkable. My favorites within the collection include the namesake "Casting the Runes" as well as the several stories set in Scandinavia and "Mr. Humphreys and His Inheritance."
The best thing ever. Read in conjunction with everything from the "ghosts and scholars" website, including the essay on Count Magnus and his black pilgrimage. Thank you Rosemary Pardoe.
Excellent book. A very Victorian sensibility, but much more interior and psychological than the lush landscapes of Arthur Machen. Creepy enough to stick in your head, too.
Rather mundane ghost stories. I did not read them all because the first few did so little for me. Casting the Runes was a little better but not much.
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Montague Rhodes James, who used the publication name M. R. James, was a noted British mediaeval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918) and of Eton College (1918–1936). He is 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...more
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