M. R James
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Sometimes the greatest horrors lurk in the most mundane places This collection features some of M. R. James's greatest tales of the supernatural world crossing over into our own. In "Number 13," an inn that previously belonged to an alchemist changes dimensions in the night. "The Mezzotint" features a painting of a house reenacting a gruesome scene from the house's history. In "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas," an antiquary who has discovered the location...
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Are you the type who loves nothing more than curling up with a book of ghost stories? If so, be sure to add A Thin Ghost and Others to your must-read list. A gem from the golden age of Gothic horror, these spine-tingling tales will satisfy your craving for ghoulishly top-notch fiction. As part of our mission to publish great works of literary fiction and nonfiction, Sheba Blake Publishing Corp. is extremely dedicated to bringing to the forefront the...
3) 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.
4) 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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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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M. R. James was born in Kent, England in 1862. James came to writing fiction relatively late, not publishing his first collection of short stories – Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904) – until the age of 42. Modern scholars now see James as having redefined the ghost story for the 20th century and he is seen as the founder of the 'antiquarian ghost story'. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions with...
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Mr. Williams, the curator of a university art museum, purchases a mezzotint from an art dealer. The painting changes each time Mr. Williams his colleagues look at it. In the end, it is suggested that the painting depicts a poacher named Gawdy (who had been hanged) kidnapping the heir of a Mr. Arthur Francis, who hanged Gawdy for poaching on his land.
8) 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.
9) 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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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.
11) 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'.
12) 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.'
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Mr. Dillet buys a large doll's house, six feet long, a veritable musuem piece, complete with a Chapel, furniture, crockery, and glass. But he realizes it may be more than a meticulous piece of craft when he is awoken in the middle of the night by a peal from the house.
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Dr. Rant leaves directions that it is to be buried by being 'put, sitting at a table in his ordinary clothes, in a brick room that he'd had made underground in a field near his house. Of course the country people say he's been seen about there in his old black cloak.'