Showing results by author "James R." in All Categories

Crystal Moore's good friend Ron Drake is a shoo-in for governor of Texas. Two members of the opposition camp believe their candidate's only chance is a political dirty trick that will sink Drake's backing. They execute an elaborate hoax. But something goes terribly wrong and a man is killed. And things only get worse from there as the perpetrators try to eliminate loose ends.

M. R. James (1862-1936) was provost of King's College, Cambridge, and Eton College. He was a highly regarded scholar and academic in his time but today is remembered for his ghost stories, which are considered among the finest in the genre. Here is one of them: "Casting the Runes".

Just weeks after his arrival, the area's wealthiest woman, 84-year-old Clara Silverman, mysteriously vanishes from her gated estate, and Archie is asked to take on the case. Sixteen hundred miles away, in Michigan's remote Upper Peninsula, John Barrington gets a mysterious call asking him about an aunt he thought had passed away years before.

Things are about to get hairy between the two twin bear kings and their fleshy human lover....

This collection of short stories contains several gothic tales featuring the macabre and chilling voices of writers as diverse as Edgar Allan Poe, Rudyard Kipling, Edith Nesbit, and MR James. These tales are designed to unsettle you, just a little, as you sit back and take in their words as they lead you on a walk to places you’d perhaps rather not visit on your own.

Sir Richard, having inherited his family estate, looks forward to beginning a new life amidst the peaceful English countryside. His pastoral dreams of contentment soon turn to nightmares as the old ash tree outside his window reveals a terrible curse upon his family - a curse of unrelenting hatred that is thirsting for revenge.

Eerie old houses, wretched smiles, mausoleums, and banshees. Stories from masters of the horror genre, M.R. James, F. Marion Craword, Edgar Allan Poe, W.W. Jacobs, Amelia Edwards, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, and H.P. Loveraft, stories to make your body tingle and your mind play tricks.

It’s not the 1930s you were taught. Trench fighting of "The Great War" has raged on for decades. During the carnage of a German/Russian counter-offensive, Pvt. Pepper witnessed the slaughter of his comrades. When death presses in on him, he is saved by a mysterious Knight with a magical shield.

When Jim Pierrot dropped out of high school and joined the navy at 17, it did not look to outsiders like he could possibly be destined to succeed. He quickly learned to make the most of his situation, though. He faced a range of exciting and dangerous situations. Whether he was delivering the governor and his entourage ashore during a nighttime squall or preventing a destroyer from running aground during a high-wind torrential downpour, Jim always pushed himself to do his best.

Virtually overnight Jonathon Wilson’s carefree bachelor world has been turned upside down. His sister is dead from a drug overdose that may or may not have been accidental, and he’s suddenly the guardian of a niece and nephew - who’ve been sexually and emotionally abused. Fighting a Government Bureaucracy to keep the children out of the foster care system is only the beginning of his problems. His sister’s former drug dealer wants to ask the children some questions, and they aren’t likely to survive the interrogation.

A British antiquary named Somerton and his protégé follow a coded message about a huge treasure said to have been buried within a monastery by a disgraced abbot. Much to their peril they ignore ominous warnings of a supernatural guardian protecting the treasure. They are led to a place in Germany where the treasure is discovered. When he takes the treasure, Somerton finds that an entity will torment him until he returns the treasure to its hiding place.

Thirty little gems by some of the world's great classic short story writers, including: 'The Flying Man' by H. G. Wells, 'Between Rounds' by O. Henry, 'A School Story' by M. R. James, 'A Pair of Silk Stockings' by Kate Chopin, 'A Deal in Ostriches' by H. G. Wells, 'The Piano Next Door' by Elia W. Peattie, 'Royal Visitors' by E. F. Benson, 'The Stolen Bacillus' by H. G. Wells, 'The Story of Chugoro' by Lafcadio Hearn, 'One Law for the Rich' by Stacy Aumonier, 'My Enemy and Myself' by Vincent O'Sullivan and more.

The best of M R James' ghost stories. Includes the classics "The Mezzotint", "Whistle and I'll Come for You My Lad", "Lost Hearts", "The Tractate Middoth", and "The Casting of the Runes". Narrated by Michael Ward for the Huntingdon Community Radio station HCR104fm.

Best remembered for his ghost stories, this is a collection of M. R. James' finest.

M R James is widely regarded as THE master of the ghost story. His stories abound with spectres skulking in the shrubbery, in shadowy corners and dark recesses. 'The Mezzotint' is a whimsical and apparently supernatural tale of art on the move; a dying man devises a gruesome plan for testing his heirs in 'The Tractate Middoth', and something is lurking under the bedclothes in 'Rats'.

Here's a chilling ghost story about a young student taking up temporary residence at an out-of-the-way inn. The inn is well-tended by its elderly owners, all except for one room which stands unoccupied and securely locked. What is the mysterious secret of the room? The student, much to his horrified dismay, soon finds out.

Reader Stephen Critchelow has spent a lifetime collecting and reading works like these and, with carefully chosen music, brings a strong sense of atmosphere to this recording. "Rats" provides a great listening experience for dark autumn evenings.

A young antiquary and archaeologist named Paxton is on vacation in the south-east coast of England when he hears the legend of the three holy crowns. According to the legend, England was kept safe from being invaded when three crowns were buried long ago at sites near the coast. One of the crowns was later dug up, one is now beneath the sea but one still remains buried in the earth and keeps England safe from invasion. Members of a family named Ager long guarded the site where the crown was buried.

In one of M.R. James’ creepiest short stories, night of terror plays out with every glimpse at a static picture and the viewer is powerless to prevent a dark figure’s progress. 'The Mezzotint' is taken from the second volume of the Victorian Anthologies Horror series, featuring short stories by classic writers of the spooky, the scary and the supernatural. Guaranteed to give you the shivers, each collection includes familiar and loved creepy tales as well as those less well-known. With music by Benedict Edwards.

It is the 1920s in the Trinidadian capital, and Haynes' world has been upended. His mother has passed away, and his carefully mapped-out future of gleaming opportunity has disappeared with her. Unable to afford his former life, he finds himself moving into Minty Alley - a bustling barrack yard teeming with energy and a spectacular cast of characters. In this sliver of West Indian working-class society, outrageous love affairs and passionate arguments are a daily fixture and Haynes begins to slip from curious observer to the heart of the action.