Catalog Search Results
1) Lost Hearts
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The tale tells the story of Stephen, a young orphan boy, who is sent to stay with his much older cousin at a remote country mansion. His cousin is a reclusive alchemist obsessed with making himself immortal. Stephen is repeatedly troubled by visions of a young gypsy girl and a traveling Italian boy, who are missing their hearts.
2) Count Magnus
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A traveler in Sweden stumbles upon the history of a mysterious and ominous figure, Count Magnus.
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The tale tells the story of Paxton, an antiquarian and archaeologist who holidays in 'Seaburgh' and inadvertently stumbles across one of the three lost crowns of Anglia, which legendarily protect the country from invasion. On digging the crown up, Paxton is stalked by its supernatural guardian. Written a few years after the end of The First World War, 'A Warning to the Curious' ranks as one of M. R. James's bleakest stories.
4) The Ash-Tree
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The tale documents the tale of Sir Richard Castringham, who has just inherited a country seat with an unfortunate history. The house has been cursed since the day his ancestor, Sir Matthew, condemned a woman to death for witchcraft. It is soon discovered that the ancient ash tree outside his bedroom window is the root of the problem.
5) Number 13
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While researching church history in Viborg, Denmark, the narrator's cousin stays in a Danish inn. While staying in Number 12, he notices that his room seems to grow smaller and his furniture sometimes vanishes. After hearing dancing next door, he assumes it comes from Number 13; however, upon discussing the matter with the inn-keep, he learns that there is no Number 13. He asks the inn-keep to visit his room at night. While talking, the protagonist...
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M. R. James was a prolific and hugely successful author, now credited with redefining the ghost story form. By abandoning many of the formal gothic clichés of his predecessors and using more contemporary settings, James set the stage for future generations of writers. Originally published in 1904, "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" is the story of a man who digs up a bronze whistle, which, after blowing it, leads to unexpected consequences....
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This vintage book contains Montague Rhodes James's chilling supernatural short story "An Episode of Cathedral History". First published as part of "The collected ghost stories of M.R. James" (1931), it is a hair-raising ghost story highly recommended for all lovers of the genre. Montague Rhodes James (1862–1936) was an English author who often published under the name M. R. James. He was a seminal medievalist scholar, but today is most famous for...
16) Wailing Well
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A shepherd tells of well near which dwell three women and a man, who were 'bad 'uns' when they were alive, now reduced to 'flutterin' rags and whity bones', who 'hadn't much to call faces'.
19) Two Doctors
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An antique journal is purchased and found to contain extraneous sheets, one of which is labeled by a lawyer as 'The strangest case I have yet met.'