Fantastical Listicles: 15 of The Best of M.R. James

Almost every winter since the early 1970s I've treated myself to some nocturnal chills, nightmares and shivers down my spine at the midnight hour, by reading the ghost stories of M. R. (Montague Rhodes) James. He is one of the greatest exponents of the genre (and, I confess, a big influence on my own writing – see Tomorrow's Ghosts)  with his slow builds, combined with often intricate scholarly research – in effect supernatural detective stories – that culminate in encounters with "malevolent or odious" (to use James' own description) supernatural manifestations, be they shrieking ghosts, gibbering skeletons, demons, monstrous guardians or other things that go bump in the night.

In my earliest encounters with the works of M. R. James, I was undoubtedly influenced by the BBC (and also ITV) television adaptations of some of his stories, particularly the classic BBC A Ghost Story for Christmas series which featured M. R. James stories every year from 1971 to 1975. 

Later, from the mid-1980s onwards, when Team Christian moved to East Anglia, I was fascinated by the fact the countryside and seashore, around which James set his stories, is still, over a century later, redolent with an arcane, other-worldly atmosphere. 

And then of course there are the houses, churches and cathedrals James so meticulously describes. They are still here and still give the impression that there are things lurking within their wells and fishponds, or else walking through their cloisters and neighbouring woods that you would never want to encounter even in broad daylight.

I've put together my list of what are my favourite and what I also believe are the best of the many ghost (actually many of these would fall into the category of supernatural horror or dark fantasy today) stories M. R. James wrote during a 35 year period running from 1894 to 1929. There are 15 in all, listed in chronological order. Probably no surprises except for the non-appearance of The Tractate Middoth. I know this story has its fans and has been adapted for television on two occasions, most recently by Mark Gatiss in 2013, but I find it distinctly underwhelming, hence its deliberate omission from the list. 

1. Canon Alberic's Scrapbook - his first story and one of his best - "it was drawn from life."

2. Lost Hearts - the first of many dabblers in the Dark Arts who comes to a sticky end in a James tale

3. The Mezzotint - one of my favourites - and clearly popular with James too as he revisits the concept in The Haunted Dolls' House

4. The Ash Tree - a tale of Eastern Counties witchcraft, revenge and some unpleasant familiars

5. Number 13 - one two stories by James set in Denmark - an intriguing tale involving shifting dimensions, both temporal and physical

6. Count Magnus - another of my favourites with a demonic creature that seems to be a precursor for H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos - as well as a being warning to the inquisitive


7. "Oh, Whistle, And I'll Come to You, My Lad" - a classic, if not the classic in the James canon "a face of crumpled linen"

8. The Treasure of Abbot Thomas - half treasure hunting and biblical research - half horror story

9. Casting the Runes - Black Magic at its best, with a remarkable twist that sees the villain of the piece carried off by his own invocation - and try not to be upset by the SFX in the 1957 movie adaptation Night of the Demon.

10. The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral - a beautiful story, with a growing sense of unease - the BBC version in the 1970s is one of the most effective adaptations of any James tall, perhaps with the exception of Oh, Whistle.

11. An Episode of Cathedral History - another of James' ecclesiastical settings - well he did also write a guidebook on abbeys for the Great Western Railways although none of them featured a vampire's tomb

12. A View From a Hill - "Do you want to look through a dead man's eyes?"

13. A Warning to the Curious - as well as a warning to treasure hunters everywhere! 

14. Wailing Well - this was the first James story I ever read - it was in the long defunct Boys Own Magazine and was graphically illustrated - it gave me nightmares for weeks - until then I'd never imagined decaying "deaders" could chase you in broad daylight.

15. Rats - one of the last stories James wrote, an often overlooked tale, once more dwelling on the perils of being too inquisitive for your own good.