Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
'Ghost Stories of an Antiquary' Summary
An English tourist in a small, rural town in the South of France discovers an ancient manuscript with a strange illustration on the last page. A young orphan is sent to live with his elderly cousin, a secretive man who is obsessed with immortality. A picture that tells stories that change according to who is viewing it.
These and other delicious, goose bump evoking tales are part of Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by Montague R James. A master of his craft, MR James was an academic and administrator of King's College, Cambridge and later of Eton. His eerie tales are unique in their subtlety and the sheer horror they evoke long after you've finished reading them. He also gave a new perspective to the clichéd ghost story of the Victorian Gothic genre and used more realistic and believable plots and settings. Most of his stories are based on things that he himself was interested in: old books and manuscripts, ancient houses and medieval history.
James was also a talented actor who produced and acted in several plays. He was also a classical scholar and his stories are often full of references to ancient writers and books. Apart from his work in the realm of the supernatural, James was a true academician with hundreds of scholarly works to his credit.
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary was the first volume of chilling tales that he wrote. Published in 1904, the book was a compilation of tales that were written to be read aloud round a fireside on Christmas Eve. James has a very light touch with the horror and bizarre elements while he describes the ordinary and mundane aspects in great detail. It is this which allows the real horror underlying everyday events to work their way into the reader's consciousness and create an atmosphere of evil and foreboding. His ghosts are truly evil, and he meant them to be “malevolent and odious” as he didn't believe in amiable specters!
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1904Author
Montague R. James
England
Montague Rhodes James was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the Univer...
More on Montague R. JamesDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
"The Gift of the Magi" is a short story by O. Henry first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the ch...
Red Shadows by Robert Ervin Howard
Red Shadows is the first of a series of stories featuring Howard’s puritan avenger, Solomon Kane. Kane tracks his prey over land and sea, enters the j...
Widdershins by Oliver Onions
Onions wrote several collections of ghost stories, of which the best known is Widdershins (1911). It includes the novella The Beckoning Fair One, wide...
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” tells the story of Ichabod Crane, sent to investigate the mystery of the headless horseman. The story is set in 1790 in...
Eve's Diary by Mark Twain
"Eve's Diary" is a comic short story by Mark Twain. It was first published in the 1905 Christmas issue of the magazine Harper's Bazaar, in book format...
The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
A young gambler is found shot dead in a closed room. Dr. Watson, who still mourns the disappearance of his famous friend is intrigued enough to step o...
St Andrews Ghost Stories by William Thomas Linskill
In the shadowed corridors of Scotland's oldest university, whispers of the past echo through time, and chilling tales emerge to haunt the curious soul...
The Sandman: His Farm Stories by William John Hopkins
This is a delightful collection of heartwarming tales set against the backdrop of a charming farm. Written with a touch of whimsy and a deep understan...
The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield
"The Garden Party" is a 1922 short story by Katherine Mansfield. It was first published (as "The Garden-Party") in three parts in the Saturday Westmin...
The Ghost: A Modern Fantasy by Arnold Bennett
The novel opens with Carl Foster, a recently qualified doctor, coming to London to try and make his fortune. He meets a famous tenor, Signor Alresca,...
Reviews for Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
No reviews posted or approved, yet...