Collected Ghost Stories

This book adds three stories written late in James' life to the previous Collected Ghost Stories of M.R. James, which was his complete volume that he produced during his lifetime and which is available as a modern paperback. The new stories are as follows: The Experiment, The Malice of Inanimate Objects, and A Vignette. Added to these is a new biographical introduction of about 25 pages length, a significant appendix including several essays and pieces that James wrote about the ghost story, notes on stories in the book whose text varies from source and the publication history of the stories where information was available, and a chronology of James' life, and it all just adds up to a great book for any library. The material not included which is most often considered to be in the supernatural line of James' writings would be his novel The Five Jars.

I enjoyed this collection. Some of the stories are stronger than the others. The writing style - yes, it's quite antiquated but after a few stories it becomes enjoyable and easy to adapt to. For classic old creepy stories, M.R. James is the best there is.

M.R. James is singularly responsible for my lifelong interest in ghost stories, and he is a true master of the genre. His antiquarian tastes are reflected in many of his ghost stories with the result that these stories are imbued with a high sense of atmosphere and creepiness.I had worn out my old copy of his collected stories so I decided to splurge and got this handsome 2011 OUP edition. It is a sturdy hardcover edition with a beautiful grey ribbon marker. The cover is suitably Gothic with an angel statue portrayed glaring downwards. This edition features all of James' published ghost stories, as well as an appendix of James' writings on the ghost story. This edition has been edited with an introduction and notes by Darryl Jones and also contains a select bibliography as well as a chronology of M.R. James. There are also some explanatory notes on each of the stories at the end of the book. The select bibliography may not be extensive but has several gems, including  The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England's Legends, from Spring-Heeled Jack to the Witches of Warboys  which I promptly purchased for my reading pleasure.In his Introduction, Darryl Jones wisely advises, "Readers who are unfamiliar with the stories may prefer to treat the Introduction as an Afterword." Indeed, loyal fans of M.R. James will be acquainted with some of the matters brought up in the Introduction, such as James' famed ghost story readings at Christmastime in Cambridge, the basis for TV productions such as BBC's Ghost Stories for Christmas (available at Amazon's UK website) and  Ghost Stories from the BBC: Lost Hearts / The Treasure of Abbot Thomas / The Ash Tree (Brand New & Sealed DVD) . Even the issue of M.R. James' sexuality is briefly touched upon here. The Introduction is predictably brief, and a deeper insight into James' life and influences can perhaps be found in  M.R.James: An Informal Portrait .This volume collects all of MR James' ghost stories except for "A Night In King's College Chapel", and "The Fenstanton Witch", as well as Monty's unfinished ghost stories all of which are found in one complete volume, in  A PLEASING TERROR: The Complete Supernatural Writings . To conclude, this Collected Ghost Stories of M.R. James is a handsome edition which is bound to please loyal fans and readers new to this master of the supernatural tale.

M.R. James represents, for me, the nexus of two of my interests: the literature of England-Between-the-Wars, and ghost/horror fiction. I have read most of James's stories many times, and my enjoyment of them has actually increased with each re-reading. I read with interest of the publication of this book, but wondered if I really needed to buy it, since I already had all of James's stories -- or so I thought! I was delighted to discover that this collection actually contains several stories which I had never seen before! That fact alone made the book well worth my having. In addition, there is superior annotation which clarifies many points concerning the stories I knew. And, on top of all that, this edition is very nicely printed and bound! A real treasure for a number of reasons!

A character on Father Brown was reading this to his grandchildren and his wife was shocked that he would read a scary book like before bed. I looked it up to see if the book was real and bought it. I expected the language to be a bit stilted considering when it was published,and it was, but I didn't like many of the stories. Well written stories would have improved this book a great deal.It is not something I would recommend to anyone.

This is a big improvement over the previous World's Classics volume - still available - entitled CASTING THE RUNES. That volume is about 130 pages shorter in length and lacked the detail in the introduction and specificity in the footnotes that you find in this volume. I originally owned many of these stories in the two volumes long published by Dover Books, GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY and MORE GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY. I upgraded from those to CASTING THE RUNES and then upgraded one last time to this comprehensive edition. There was/is one other edition worth noting. Penguin published all of his stories in a two volume edition. I generally tend to pass on Penguin if i fan another edition. Their paper tends age more quickly than that use in the World's Classics editions.I've often like to compare James's work with the ghost story with that of Arthur Conan Doyle with the detective story. Ultimately I think James much the better writer. The secret Doyle's success stems from the brilliant character of Sherlock Holmes and his narrator Dr. Watson. But for just about every other literary device James is to be preferred. These stories are also quite subtler. They are not terribly explicit and often the terror stems from psychological force rather than descriptions of horror.These are must-read stories. Moreover, they are best read again and again. It is hard to imagine an

If you can get past the somewhat stilted Victorian prose you will discover some of the finest ghost stories ever written.

This book is supplying entertainment, and it is fulfilling its purpose quite well!

I collect the Penguin Clothbound Classics, but they don’t have MR James in that series & it’s getting dangerously close to Christmas! This edition is a clothbound edition, so if, like me, you have a horror of dust jackets, this is a good choice.As to the content: I love these stories & I am looking forward to reading them again as Christmas approaches.

Bought it for my daughter who needed reading material for long flights.As we both have experience with the supernatural, I bought this to entertain my daughter during her flights.Positive feedback came from her.

I am currently 3/4 of the way through this edition & I am thoroughly enjoying it. This is my first reading of M. R. James & have found myself so intrigued I have been reading further into each story after I finish it, there are some excellent illustrations relating to each however there are none printed in this book. Subtle horror which leaves you with an eerie feeling, not the modern over the top cinematic horror. This is a fantastic book & a beautiful edition. I am so pleased I bought it!

Classic tales, which are enjoyable in the extreme. If you liked The Woman in Black by Susan Hill, this is for you. I only learned of MR James after reading The Woman In Black, and I know now why Susan Hill modelled her book on James. If you're going to copy anyone, you may as well copy the master, and I don't mean that in any disrespectful way to Susan Hill. Hers is a tribute of sorts to MR James. And if nothing else, she knew that his style works, and is effective, so she knew that it is a crowd pleaser. Pick up this book, and you'll be pleased too.

I've already read all the stories so I won't comment on them apart from saying that if you like ghost stories then you really should take the time to read some of James best. The book itself is lovely, it feels great in the hand and is filled with a wealth of detail.