Collected Ghost Stories (Oxford World's Classics) - Softcover

James, M. R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199674892 ISBN 13: 9780199674893

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2013

Synopsis

'I was conscious of a most horrible smell of mould, and of a cold kind of face pressed against my own...'

Considered by many to be the most terrifying writer in English, M. R. James was an eminent scholar who spent his entire adult life in the academic surroundings of Eton and Cambridge. His classic supernatural tales draw on the terrors of the everyday, in which documents and objects unleash terrible forces, often in closed rooms and night-time settings where imagination runs riot. Lonely country houses, remote inns, ancient churches or the manuscript collections of great libraries provide settings for unbearable menace, from creatures seeking retribution and harm. These stories have lost none of their power to unsettle and disturb.

This edition presents all of James's published ghost stories, including the unforgettable 'Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad' and 'Casting the Runes', and an appendix of James's writings on the ghost story. Darryl Jones's introduction and notes provide a fascinating insight into James's background and his mastery of the genre he made his own.
ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

About this title

Review:

In his introduction to the 2013 Oxford World Classics edition of MR James's Collected Ghost Stories, Darryl Jones cites the story Casting The Runes, in which a Mr Dunning, lying in bed in the dark, gropes for matches under his pillow. (Teddy Jamieson, Sunday Herald (Glasgow))

They are classics of the genre. He had a brilliant skill for unsettling you and you wake up panting in the night (Reverand Richard Coles, Daily Express)

About the Author:

Darryl Jones's other publications include Horror: A Thematic History in Fiction and Film (London: Arnold; New York: OUP, 2002).

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0199674892
• ISBN 13: 9780199674893
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 512
• Editor: Jones Darryl