The World of Myth Magazine

This is the opening of ‘Lost Hearts’ by the ghost story, or horror story writer Montague Rhodes James 1862 – 1936 (from here on referred to as M.R. James, as he is more popularly known). He has been criminally neglected by modern horror audiences, never becoming a household name like Edgar Allan Poe or H.P. Lovecraft have. But, he has never been ignored or forgotten either – here in Britain you will see an adaptation of one of his short stories pretty much every year at Christmas. A production of the story ‘O Whistle and I’ll Come to you my lad’, starring John Hurt shortly before his death, was extremely well received, and made a big impact on Twitter.

Ghost stories being shown on TV at Christmas might sound strange, but during the Victorian era it was something of a yuletide tradition - to warm yourself with fear against the bitter cold of the dark wintery nights. Fittingly, M.R. James was very Victorian in his personality and opinions. His stories were often debuted at Christmas, most commonly at get-togethers with friends and colleagues at Cambridge University (where he lived and worked for most of his life as a medieval scholar). Once he had written enough short stories they would then come out in a book. This might at first have been for just his friends and students, but they soon attracted a wider audience.

These days it is typical to find all of James’ short stories in a single volume, often with a few extra unfinished pieces and one or two essays on writing ghost stories. Looking at these all these stories together, M.R. James was easily as good as any other big name horror writer. For example: Lovecraft is so enjoyable because of his ability to build a thick, gloomy atmosphere; M.R. James can do that just as well with his isolated country mansions and lonely windswept beaches, but he is also a lot more versatile than Lovecraft. James can be funny while able to still keep a mysterious and unsettled tone - building to an ending that can be genuinely nasty. These stories are often intelligently multi layered too, meaning rereading them is almost always more than worthwhile. There is also thick core of occult and the arcane secrets here too – James’ settings and monsters come from little known or forbidden medieval or ecclesiastical knowledge and mysteries. It is much different from the cosmic or the gothic horror of other writers.

James was a medieval scholar, and a lot of his heroes have an in-depth knowledge of, and love for, the past – which is often to their detriment. Any reader who has an interest in history would probably sympathize with the protagonist of the first story ‘Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook’ – a story about a scholar who is touring France when he finds a scrapbook filled with strange and otherwise unknown medieval writing. He buys the scrapbook from someone who is weirdly desperate to sell it – and is followed back to his hotel room by a strange and unknown force.

An obsession with the past and antiquarianism is found throughout this collection, and it can bleed into the actual writing itself. In the story ‘Martin’s Close’ we are shown the records of a court case from the 1600s and quirks of the English language from around that time is recreated in such a convincing way, alongside a clearly in-depth knowledge of the period, the story feels authentic. James is also able to develop characters with small touches. This section from ‘Martin’s Close’ shows James’ characterization abilities, even with historical people like the ‘Witch Finder General’ Judge Jeffries - we see his famously cruel sense of humor:

L. C. J. - Ay, I remember it in my own country, in Shropshire. It (a song) runs somehow thus, doth it not? (Here his lordship whistled a part of a tune, which was very observable, and seemed below the dignity of the court. And it appears he felt it so himself, for he said: ) But this is by the mark, and I doubt it is the first time we have had dance-tunes in this court. The most part of the dancing we give occasion for is done at Tyburn.

This bit is talking about a song that plays an important role in the court case and story. The reference to Tyburn is made because at the time the story takes place it was where criminals were often hung. This is a bleak joke at the defendant-murderer’s expense, but also authentic to the time period and to the historical Judge Jeffries’ personality – he was a notorious bully. This sort of attention to historical detail is typical of James, who not only was an expert in medieval history but was also a keen antiquarian and lifelong learner.

Many modern editions of James’ stories come with notes explaining these references, but there is still a lot that is mysterious or aspects of the story that are only vaguely alluded to. If you read these stories a second time you tend to notice a lot more detail, and the stories do become richer. But saying this, James is not really that difficult a writer either. If you know more about the eras and subjects he refers to, you will take more away from the story, but such knowledge is not strictly necessary. The way James is able to combine genuine historical knowledge with his own inventions, and make it all believable, is something anyone who likes horror stories should see for themselves. He is a criminally underappreciated writer.