M. R. James · 1904
M. R. James was a Cambridge scholar of medieval manuscripts who began telling ghost stories aloud to friends at Christmas gatherings in his college rooms. This first collection, published in 1904, gathers eight of them and set the pattern for the modern English ghost story. His method is quiet and exact: an unsuspecting scholar, a curious object, and a dread that builds through suggestion rather than shock.
Old books, church towers, country houses and seaside hotels supply the settings. The stories are wry and learned, and they often leave the worst thing unseen. Each one can be read in a single sitting, ideally late in the evening.
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Obscura EditionCarmillaJoseph Sheridan Le Fanu