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Ghost Stories of an Antiquary Audiobook
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(3.99) - 744 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
“Ghost Stories of an Antiquary” is a collection of mysterious and atmospheric tales by renowned writer M.R. James. Transporting us into the realm of supernatural fiction, James weaves intriguing narratives that evoke feelings of unease and mystery. ????????
This collection contains the following short stories:
- Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book
- Lost Hearts
- The Mezzotint
- The Ash-tree
- Number 13
- Count Magnus
- "Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad"
- The Treasure of Abbot Thomas
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"I'm a horror story fan. I also love the language of the classics. MR James gave me both of these loves in Ghost Stories. His subtle hintings of horror to come mixed with his "so very human" and everyday foundational set-up serve delicious feasts of language, delivering ghost stories that certainly satisfy. I want to read it again!"
— Deb (5 out of 5 stars)
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary Listener Reviews
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" Loved this. A nice surprise since the books you usually find for kindle for free are a little lame. However, this was an absorbing read and sent shivers up my spine. Reminds me very much of a good Lovecraft story :) "
— Caeseria, 2/17/2014 -
" Pretty good ghost stories... It's great. "
— Caroline, 2/8/2014 -
" OMG!!!!!i waz feaked out:-s.........dat 2 totally...my advice if u ever come across this, read it in daylight coz in d night it sends shivers down ur spine....but it waz interesting.....kinda u can say but i wud definitely lyk 2 keep away frm dis book...): "
— Jia, 1/31/2014 -
" Okay horror stories with a couple of good ones but just average. "
— Linda, 1/18/2014 -
" 12 of the least scary "ghost" stories you will ever read. "
— bup, 1/16/2014 -
" Fantastic old Ghost Stories! "
— Michelle, 12/28/2013 -
" M.R. James just writes the best ghost stories. Great historical details, great foreshadowing, fussy narrators, and his ghosts are so physical, threatening, and unexplained. "
— Adam, 12/22/2013 -
" Okay. Ghost stories are nice, but these are a bit dry and sometimes ridiculous. I was disappointed, but it's fairly good. "
— Michael, 12/19/2013 -
" Master of the genre. Probably the best-known "classic English" ghost stories written. Includes such gems as "The Mezzotint." While I greatly admire James, none of these particular tales make my list of all-time favorite ghost stories. "
— Kay, 12/18/2013 -
" I LOVED ''number 13'' the most it is the scariest story I've ever read.. "
— Shiny, 12/8/2013 -
" Included many of my favourite James ghost stories. It's impossible to pick an overall favourite, but I'm very into Lost Hearts at the moment, having recently discussed it in our podcast. "
— MRJamesPodcast, 11/14/2013 -
" These were delightful. Creepy, yes, but also witty. I chortled several times at his descriptions of boring conversations (usually golf related). Just be prepared to encounter a myriad of archaic words, though these tales do hold up well otherwise. "
— Erin, 9/26/2013 -
" If not the most important book of ghost stories in the English language, certainly one of the most important. "
— Alex, 8/29/2013 -
" Best ghost stories in history, in my book. Do yourself a favor and read it. "
— Amanda, 8/23/2013 -
" One of the great classic collections of gothic literature. Still with the ability to chill. "
— Charles, 8/10/2013 -
" M.R. James is the best storyteller of all times. Even better than Oscar, I must say! "
— Lola, 5/30/2013 -
" I followed each story with a listen to the associated episode of A Podcast To The Curious. A most enjoyable experience. "
— Simon, 10/22/2012 -
" Story structures are a little weak. Machen and Lovecraft are much better at telling a compelling story. There were several gimmicks to maintain suspense by withholding information from the reader that were bush-league. "
— Greg, 4/12/2012 -
" These stories probably feel a bit naive to the modern reader who's been exposed to several generations of their successors, but here we're looking at the very seed of this genre. Definitely more unsettling than scary, but still very much worth the read. "
— Gian, 2/29/2012 -
" I love M.R.James's ghost stories. They have a terrific sense of place and chill the spine by playing on your imagination rather than by bombarding you with gruesome detail "
— Louise, 11/27/2011 -
" Amazing.Excellent short stories. "
— Katelis, 11/16/2011 -
" Classic ghost stories. In the public domain, with a free electronic copy here. "
— arg/machine, 7/15/2011 -
" Only listened to a few chapters, but it was so boring! It could have been the person that was reading it, though. No inflection in their voice. "
— Barbara, 6/30/2011 -
" I decided to read this because of the story "Casting the Runes." It's the basis for one of my favorite horror movies, Curse of the Demon. This story and the others were a pleasant surprise--shivery ghost stories with overtones of Lovecraft and Poe. "
— Lisa, 5/18/2011 -
" I've always loved ghost stories. I'm enjoying this book so far.<br/><br/>I really enjoyed this book. I think the fact that is was short stories helped "
— JenC, 1/11/2011 -
" 1.5 stars. <br/> <br/>The title looked promising but the prose quality was disappointing or light. The antiquarian themes and silly humor will keep me coming back for more though. "
— Holly, 11/25/2010 -
" Only listened to a few chapters, but it was so boring! It could have been the person that was reading it, though. No inflection in their voice. "
— Barbara, 10/13/2010 -
" M.R. James was known to me as the editor and translator of the Oxford editon of the Apocryphal New Testament. Finding ghost stories by such a scholar was intriguing and the reading of them was quite pleasant. "
— Erik, 7/27/2009 -
" First read when I was ten years old. Re-read many times. if you want to read the best of ghost stories, read this collection. "
— Amanda, 7/13/2009 -
" One of the great classic collections of gothic literature. Still with the ability to chill. "
— Charles, 12/26/2008 -
" I have a paperback, Penguin Short stories, version of this and it's very very good. Definitely a continuation of "Ghost Stories of an Antiquary," but not any less chilling. "
— Charles, 12/26/2008 -
" A friend turned me on to M.R. James. These are great. I love when a ghost story can actually give you chills and/or plant imagery in your mind. These tales are truly classic and M.R. James is a find! "
— Mark, 11/24/2008 -
" M.R. James just writes the best ghost stories. Great historical details, great foreshadowing, fussy narrators, and his ghosts are so physical, threatening, and unexplained. "
— Adam, 11/4/2008 -
" It's October. Shouldn't everyone be reading M.R. James, one of the all-time Masters of ghost-story telling? <br/> <br/>Update: just kept being reminded how much I love James. "
— Emily, 10/26/2008 -
" These are actually rather scary. And several of them concern medieval things, as is proper from a great medievalist. "
— Anders, 6/6/2008 -
" This book taught me to always -- I mean never -- pick up a strange whistle when I find it in a Templar ruin by the sea. "
— Ghislaine, 3/11/2008 -
" 12 of the least scary "ghost" stories you will ever read. "
— bup, 2/19/2008
About M. R. James
M. R. James (1862–1936) was an English medieval scholar and provost of King’s 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.”