Ghost Stories (Audible) - M. R. James

Written by M. R. James
Read by David Suchet
Format: M4B
Bitrate: Mixed

Montague Rhodes James was a noted British mediaeval scholar and provost of King’s College, Cambridge (1905–1918) and of Eton College (1918–1936). He is best remembered for his ghost stories which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature.

One of James’s most important achievements was to redefine the ghost story for the new century by dispensing with many of the formal Gothic trappings of his predecessors, and replacing them with more realistic contemporary settings.

The Ash-Tree: The tale of a man who unwittingly angers a sorcerer, who is assumed by some Monty scholars to be based on the self-styled ‘Great Beast,’ occultist Aleister Crowley. (34 mins)

A Warning to the Curious: The story of Paxton, an antiquarian and archaeologist who holidays in “Seaburgh” and inadvertently stumbles across one of the lost crowns of Anglia, which legendarily protect the country from invasion. (45 mins)

The Tractate Middoth: A young librarian receives a request for an obscure Hebrew book from a sinister gentleman, unaware of its contents. (42 mins)

Casting the Runes: The tale of a man who unwittingly angers a sorcerer, who is assumed by some Monty scholars to be based on the self-styled ‘Great Beast,’ occultist Aleister Crowley. (57 mins)

‘Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’: The story tells the tale of an introverted academic who happens upon a strange whistle while exploring a cemetery on the East Anglian coast. When blown, the whistle unleashes a supernatural force that terrorises its discoverer. (50 mins)

December 2013

Actor David Suchet is best known for his definitive portrayal of Hercule Poirot in a number of international television productions.