Casting the Runes (Fantasy and Horror Classics)

M. R. James was a prolific and hugely successful author, now credited with having redefined the ghost story for the 20th century by abandoning many of the formal Gothic clichés of his predecessors and using more realistic contemporary settings. 'Casting the Runes' is one of his most famous tales, and was adapted into a film in 1958. Many of the earliest occult stories, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

About the Author

M. R. James (18621936) was an English medieval scholar and provost of Kings College, Cambridge and Eton College. He is best remembered for his ghost stories, which redefined the genre. He abandoned the many gothic clichés of his predecessors and opted for more realistic, contemporary settings. His characters and plots, however, reflected his own antiquarian interests. Accordingly, he is known as the originator of the antiquarian ghost story.W. W. Jacobs (18631943) is considered a master of the macabre tale, mostly for his work The Monkeys Paw, a classic horror short story. He was a master at weaving terror and suspense into scenes of everyday life. Nevertheless, his popularity in his own lifetime arose mostly due to his amusing maritime tales of life along the London docks.Francis Marion Crawford (18541909) was an American writer famed for his classic weird and fantastic stories.

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