M.R. James: The Complete Ghost Stories Collection

De: M. R. James

Narrado por: Jonathan Keeble

The ghost stories of M.R. James are a masterclass in crafting suspense and psychological horror and are justly celebrated for their eerie atmosphere and chilling supernatural encounters. James redefined the genre by replacing many of the formal Gothic trappings of his predecessors with more realistic contemporary settings, and pioneered the "antiquarian ghost story," where ancient manuscripts, relics, or artifacts unleash malevolent forces (Casting the Runes, The Mezzotint). This full and unabridged collection contains the five volumes of ghost stories James published in his lifetime, superbly read by award-winning narrator Jonathan Keeble.

The titles included in this collection, in order of appearance, are:

• 'Canon Alberics Scrap-Book'
• 'Lost Hearts'
• 'The Mezzotint'
• 'The Ash-Tree'
• 'Number 13'
• 'Count Magnus'
• 'Oh Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad'
• 'The Treasure of Abbot Thomas'
• 'A School Story'
• 'The Rose Garden'
• 'The Tractate Middoth'
• 'Casting the Runes'
• 'The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral'
• 'Martin's Close'
• 'Mr Humphrys and His Inheritance'
• 'The Residence at Whitminister'
• 'The Diary of Mr Poynter'
• 'An Episode of Cathedral History'
• 'The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance'
• 'Two Doctors'
• 'An Evening's Entertainment'
• 'A Warning to the Curious'
• 'A View from a Hill'
• 'A Neighbour's Landmark'
• 'The Uncommon Prayer-Book'
• 'The Haunted Dolls' House'
• 'Wailing Well'
• 'There Was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard'
• 'Rats'
• 'After Dark in the Playing Fields'
• 'The Experiment'
• 'The Malice of Inanimate Objects'
• 'A Vignette'
• 'The Fenstanton Witch'
• 'Appendix'

Montague Rhodes James (1862–1936) was a distinguished English medievalist scholar and academic, serving as Provost of King's College, Cambridge, and later Eton College. His ghost stories, widely regarded as the finest in the English language, have been widely influential on modern horror and many - including Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come For You, My Lad, The Tractate Middoth, A View from a Hill and Casting the Runes (aka Night of the Demon) - have been adapted for the screen.

This audiobook is fully indexed. Once downloaded, each book and chapter will be listed so you can easily navigate to the individual sections.

Public Domain (P)2021 SNR Audio

Classic Ghost Stories without the Gore

Classic ghost stories that are told by an excellent narrator. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys such things without all the gore and sadism that contemporary authors may go into.

Great stores read by the BEST narrator in the biz

I have listened to MANY audiobooks in several genres. The narrator of this book is hands down, beyond doubt, absolutely THE BEST narrator I’ve ever heard! I wasn’t familiar with his name before buying this book. Clearly this man is theater trained. An absolute professional. The stories themselves are excellently written. Yes, the stories are a bit dated being from the Victorian Era. That said, they are interesting and quite a few are rather disturbing. One story, that spoke of giant spiders, was well written and very well read and it creeped me out quite a bit. If you enjoy mysterious ghost stories and tales of unknown terrors, you’ll like this book a lot. The old language used will stimulate and feed your intelligence. This whole book is such a treat! They could not have found a better narrator if they’d tried.

Master Storyteller

M.R. James has the perfect formula of plausibility, discretion, erudition, suspense, and climactic endings. After delving into many classic horror authors, I have found very few as consistent in quality as James. It is nice to have the option of listening to one story at a time or binging through it. Narration was excellent.

The master

As Henry James to the novel so M.R. James to the ghost story. Strong reader, too.

Fantastic Ghost stories

The narrator could read a grocery list and I would listen with rapture. He has excellent timber and variations for multiple characters. I may be buying books just to hear him speak.

Since this is a complete collection of the author's stories, some of them are not as interesting for me as the rest, but certainly a 9.5 out of 10.

I did not know of this author, until I was listening to a podcast of "Shadows at the Door", who gushed about this person's writing. They have adapted quite a few of his stories, this one being Season 1, episode 7.

The author's ability to talk to the reader, as the writer, about the goings on in the story is excellent, and witty.

The appendix, at the end, is especially interesting, on his theories of a good ghost story, and gave many examples of other authors that he admired.

I binged the book in 2 days and have gone back to some of my favourites. 18 hours of listening for 1 credit can't be beat.

Best complete reading of M.R James stories

This is an incredible performance.
Only Sir Michael Horden's reading could equal them.
Truly Outstanding!!

No greater author of the classic ghost story

it's not fluff or coziness that gives M.R.James his reputation for greatness. Rather, it is his skill and imagination. The first stories are doubtless his best, but even fingernail clippings like 'the haunted dollhouse' can chill the blood.

Fabulous narrator. Classic stories.

M. R. James was an excellent writer. This narrator brings everything to life Brilliant.
I re-listen to stories often. This narrator is one of the best

Perfect stories beautifully rendered!

I have read these stories many times, and love them all. But this narrator does a truly wonderful job and makes hearing them as though hearing them for the very first time. One of the best narration jobs I’ve ever heard!

Wonderful and Wonderfully Well-Read

Both elements of this collection were very pleasant. M.R. James's stories are among the best of the classic ghost stories ever written. The narrator here more than does them justice. His pacing was phenominal, hitting just the right marks at just the right times. The audio quality was consistent, with nothing to break the immersion. The appendix, several articles James wrote about either how ghost stories should be written, and the history of the gemre with positive and negative examples, was also a real treat.

Despite having many of these stories in my library in other collections, this is one of my better-spent credits, and I can't praise it enough!