I am not a great fan of supernatural per se, I have to say, and my favourite horror stories have generally a scientific explanation for what happens, even when they scare me silly. What I enjoy in ghost stories, on the other hand, is their eerie and dark atmosphere that, when beautifully crafted, it’s a wonder in itself. This is the case of one of the masters of the genre, M.R. James, which I have decided to read again after so many years – last time I was in high school, and I used to look at those books with a youthful contempt. Not any longer.
M.R. James (have a look at this for a bio) is what you can call a scholar – a medievalist and an academic. He’s credited with having defined what will become the canon of ghost stories, taking them from their gothic origins to something more psychological and sophisticated.
The most famous of his collections, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, published in 1904, and its sequels, are the best example of this genre, and if you don’t know them yet, you’re in for a pleasant surprise.
You will find in it all the classical paraphernalia, like the settings – a manor, an abbey or an old town somewhere in Europe, often in the English countryside – and the plot – often, it is a mysterious object that wreaks havoc in the life of its misfortunate handler. But some of them portrait dark characters, blinded by greed or other evil purposes. This is for example the case of my favourite tale, Lost Hearts, that genuinely gave me shivers last night when reading it.
His protagonist is Stephen, a boy that lives with a weird and reclusive alchemist that happens to be his cousin and that’s obsessed with the pursuit of immortality. Guess what? People around him keep telling Stephen about tales of children his age that mysteriously disappeared after being admitted in that same house. On top of that, he starts getting scaring, ghastly visions.
I won’t disclose anything else on this one, but it certainly could make a great movie horror even now. Proving me once more, in case I had any need of a reminder, that what scares more in a story is not the gore, or the sheer display of gruesome acts, but the feeling of dread. Under this aspects, as in many others, M.R. James is a real master and dark fiction writers could still learn a lot from his tales.
(In case you want to have a taste, M.R. James’ most famous books are free on Amazon Kindle, and ready for download. Enjoy!)
Being a huge horror fan, I’m surprised at myself that I haven’t read any M.R. James! Although I feel like I do have a copy of one of his books in my library. I will try to find that right away!
Hello Tammy, it’s worth a reading -and being short stories it’s also easy to read one or two before sleeping, but careful with nightmares 😀
Sounds creepy and intriquing! In general, I don’t read horror, but I must admit I went through a spell of reading all of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child series. So creepy!
Hello, thanks for that -haven’t heard of the Lincoln Child series (I’m a SF lover first and foremost) but I will definitively check it out.
They are awesome! Great settings!