A Thin Ghost and Others

Five tales from the understated master of ghastliness.THE RESIDENCE AT WHITMINSTER THE DIARY OF MR. POYNTER AN EPISODE OF CATHEDRAL HISTORY THE STORY OF A DISAPPEARANCE AND AN APPEARANCE TWO DOCTORS"Montague Rhodes James has, it is clear, an intelligent and scientific knowledge of human nerves and feelings; and knows just how to apportion statement, imagery, and subtle suggestions in order to secure the best results with his readers. He is an artist in incident and arrangement." -H P Lovecraft“M. R. James is…unsurpassed for applying the very highest caliber of jolt. We find ourselves, at once, in the presence of a writer who bows, as much by instinct as by training, to the governing rule of his genre: that a heavy horror is most amply conveyed by a lightness of touch…He knew the sensation of evil rubbing itself against us, like a cat.” -The New Yorker, February 13, 2012“Two of these stories, the third and fourth, have appeared in print in the Cambridge Review, and I wish to thank the proprietor for permitting me to republish them here. I have had my doubts about the wisdom of publishing a third set of tales; sequels are, not only proverbially but actually, very hazardous things. However, the tales make no pretense but to amuse, and my friends have not seldom asked for the publication. So not a great deal is risked, perhaps, and perhaps also some one's Christmas may be the cheerfuller for a storybook which, I think, only once mentions the war.” -M. R. James

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