Book Review: The Haunted Dolls' House and Other Ghost Stories by M. R. James

The Haunted Dolls' House and Other Ghost Stories by M. R. James

This book contains a second set of ghost stories by M. R. James after Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories. This collection of creepy tales follows the same format that makes James so successful: a mundane setting is interrupted or offset by an uncanny event or unseen force that causes terror and problems for the characters in the story. My favorites are "A View from a Hill," "There Was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard," and "Wailing Well." All the stories are interesting and give a little chill. The final tale is in fact a dozen medieval ghost stories from a medieval text (with the original Latin and James's translation). 

As with the previous volume, an appendix has writings by James about ghost stories, both his and others'. He provides a lot of leads for further reading. In one essay, he reveals the heart of his idea of an excellent ghost story: "...here you have a story written with the sole object of inspiring a pleasing terror in the reader; and as I think, that is the true aim of the ghost story." [p. 254] If you don't know what a "pleasing terror" is or find it intolerable, then ghost stories aren't for you. I do have a good sense of it and share James's idea, which is why I enjoy certain ghost and, more broadly, horror stories. This is another excellent collection.

Recommended, highly if you like a pleasing terror now and then.

Book Review: Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories by M. R. James

Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories by M. R. James

M. R. James was an academic at King's College, Cambridge, over the turn of the twentieth century. While he was a serious scholar, one of his hobbies was telling ghost stories at Christmas time. He's an acknowledge master of the genre and his stories have been adapted for both movies and television. This collection of fifteen stories includes a few short pieces by James in the appendix.

The stories are delightfully spooky. James's down-to-earth writing style helps to ground the uneasy situation in which the characters find themselves. A bit of humor goes a long way in heightening the contrast between the mundane realities of life and the supernatural intrusions that disrupt those realities. A lot of these people stumble into their problems or inherit something that on the surface seems desirable but has a lot of cost attached to it. My favorite stories here were "Number 13," "Casting the Runes," and "'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad.'"

The appendix has a short essay on the stock elements of a ghost stories with some humorous asides. There's also an early comic tale of being trapped in King's College Chapel with the stained glass windows coming to life and introductions to some of the collected volumes of his works.

Highly recommended--these make great Halloween reading or Christmas Eve telling, if you have that British-style Christmas eve.

TV Review: A Ghost Story For Christmas (2013-2022)

A Ghost Story For Christmas (2013-2022) directed by Mark Gatiss

These BBC show are five separate spooky stories by the guy who plays Sherlock's smarter brother in the Sherlock series, Mark Gatiss. The second one is an original tale by Gatiss, the others are adaptations of stories by the classic British ghost story writer M. R. James. They were broadcast on Christmas Eve on the BBC following a tradition dating back to the 1970s. Here's the episode by episode breakdown...

The Tractate Middoth--A librarian has an episode when he looks up a book requested by a strange patron. He goes on a short holiday to get some air and a change of scenery. His bed and breakfast is the home of a mother and daughter who have a problem related to a book. The mother's uncle was a wicked and manipulative man who had a nephew and a niece. Originally his estate was to be divided equally, but just before he died he wrote a will giving everything to the nephew. He told his niece that he made a will giving everything to her but it was hidden in a book. He gave her some clues which she passes on to the librarian. He goes back to his library only to discover the volume in question is the very volume the strange patron wanted. The story has a lot of atmosphere and thrives more on that than on a suspenseful plot. I enjoyed it but it felt very familiar.

The Dead Room--An aging voice actor (Simon Cowell) is recording a horror story in the original studio where he started narrating tales for "The Dead Room." It's a radio show he has been doing for decades. His return brings up some old ghosts (or are they just memories?) that makes the recording a difficult process. He's a bit condescending to the young producer (Anjli Mohindra), describing all the classical elements of a creepy story. Unfortunately, the rest of the story follows that exact same pattern, making the experience feel more mechanical than unnerving. There's some special effects with lighting, camera angles, and make up that are more serviceable than scary. This show depends entirely on style and there isn't enough to overcome the self-awareness.

Martin's Close--A member of the 17th century gentry is accused of killing a simple-minded woman with whom he had been having an affair. The story is told through both a modern-day gentry relating the strange case from a transcript he had bought and also through the period courtroom drama, where the story is mostly told through the prosecutor's words (the prosecutor being played by Peter Capaldi). The case is strange because the woman appeared after her death a few times according to the testimony of witnesses. The tale is a bit creepy but the double levels of narrative take the viewer a little too far away from the action to be truly effective horror.

The Mezzotint--A university museum art dealer (Rory Kinnear) is offered a mezzotint, a black and white print. This particular mezzotint is of an English countryside house. The merchant wants a lot more than its seeming worth but the dealer takes it anyway. The label on the back is torn, leaving insufficient evidence to identify the house easily. The dealer is also doing research on his family history. Things become unsettling as the picture changes from day to day, with a sinister figure coming out of the woods and entering the house. Of course it is impossible. His small group of university friends also see the changes which tell an unsettling story. The whole show is unsettling, with a minimalist style that builds a lot more tension than seems possible. I was genuinely unnerved by it, especially the ending.

Count Magnus--Englishman Mister Wraxhall (Jason Watkins) travels to Scandinavia to research a family's history. The family's founder, Count Magnus, built a great estate and was a merciless lord to the locals. He was so bad, he went on a "black pilgrimage" to the Holy Land, coming back with something or someone unsavory. Local legends are vague and pessimistic. Wraxhall's investigations lead to even more unpleasant discoveries. This is another good chiller like the previous story. Both were based on M. R. James stories and make for some fine half-hours of horror. 

The series is available to stream on Kanopy as this is published (October 2024), though it is just called "Ghost Stories." "The Mezzotint" was easily my favorite of the bunch.