M.R. James
Birth : 1862-08-01, Dover, Kent, England
Death : 1936-06-12
History
Montague Rhodes James OM FBA was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (1913–15). James is best remembered for his ghost stories, which some consider among the best in the genre. He redefined the ghost story for the new century by abandoning many of the formal Gothic clichés of his predecessors and using more realistic contemporary settings. However, his protagonists and plots tend to reflect his own antiquarian interests. Accordingly, he is known as the originator of the "antiquarian ghost story".
Short Story
The inquisitive Mr Wraxhall discovers that a long-dead Swedish nobleman does not lie easy in his tomb.
Short Story
1923. In the heart of an old English college, Edward Williams receives an engraving of of an unknown country house with an imposing facade, a sweeping lawn - and, just perhaps, something else.
Writer
A young squire accused of murdering a young girl that did not return his feelings of love reveals a supernatural secret at his trial.
Writer
The chilling story of Dr Rant, whose wicked streak continues from beyond the grave. Based on the festive ghost story by MR James. When a relative comes to find a particular book at the university library, young student Garrett is drawn into a family feud over a will and its legacy - with terrifying consequences.
Writer
After placing his ailing wife Alice in a care home, elderly academic James Parkin goes to stay at a wintry out-of-season hotel which they used to visit together. But at night he seemingly becomes the victim of a ghostly revenge - but who is the avenger?
Writer
In order to authenticate some historical papers in a cathedral town, Oxbridge academic Anderson stays at a local hotel in room 12, initially disregarding the lack of a number 13 as provincial superstition. During the night, noise conspires to keep him awake and the historian is astonished to come face to face with door number 13. Continuing his work, a history of a reformation era witchcraft scandal emerges. The nocturnal disturbances escalate, leading Anderson with no choice but to open the door to room number 13...
Writer
A modern working of the 1893 M.R James ghost story Lost Hearts. An orphaned boy come to live with his reclusive relative, but there are strange manifestations in the house. The ghost children want vengeance - and they want it now.
Writer
On holiday, a young man borrows a pair of binoculars when his own are broken. But they seem somehow bewitched, showing things that could only be seen with dead men's eyes... visions from the past. And using them could lead to a sinister rendezvous on Gallow's Hill.
Writer
Like NIGHT OF THE DEMON, this adaptation is based only very loosely on the original ghost story by M.R. James. However, it does feature eerie scenic views and is directed by Lawrence 'Ghost Story for Christmas' Gordon Clark.
Short Story
Like NIGHT OF THE DEMON, this adaptation is based only very loosely on the original ghost story by M.R. James. However, it does feature eerie scenic views and is directed by Lawrence 'Ghost Story for Christmas' Gordon Clark.
Story
Man of leisure Sir Richard receives notification that his Uncle has died, bequeathing him his stately country manor and all its lands. On his return to England he immediately sets about taking stock of all legal matters concerning his new property, but during these dealings Sir Richard seems to be more than a little distracted, he hears strange noises from the ash tree outside his bedroom window.
Writer
Pride comes before a fall in John Bowen' adaptation of MR James' tale of a treasure hunt with a sticky end. Michael Bryant plays The Reverend Somerton whose self-assured intellectual arrogance masks a naked greed.
Short Story
Pride comes before a fall in John Bowen' adaptation of MR James' tale of a treasure hunt with a sticky end. Michael Bryant plays The Reverend Somerton whose self-assured intellectual arrogance masks a naked greed.
Writer
A young orphan, Stephen, is sent to go and live with his strange, much older cousin at his remote country house. Once there, Stephen experiences terrible dreams in which he sees a young girl and boy who are missing their hearts.
Story
Paxton, an amateur archeologist, travels to the town of Seaburgh and inadvertently stumbles across one of the lost crowns of Anglia, which, according to legend, protect the county from invasion. On digging the crown up, Paxton is stalked by its supernatural guardian.
Story
Scholar Dr. Black's seemingly mundane assignment of sorting through the assets of the Barchester Cathedral library takes an eerie turn when he comes across the papers of the late Archdeacon, who plotted to gain his position through murder. However, he soon comes to discover something truly horrific about the wooden choir stalls in the church, which are tied to a famous local tree and a sinister local legend.
Writer
A university professor, confident that everything which occurs in life has a rational explanation, finds his beliefs severely challenged when, during a vacation to a remote coastal village in Norfolk, he blows through an ancient whistle discovered on a beach, awakening horrors beyond human understanding.
Story
American professor John Holden arrives in London for a conference on parapsychology only to discover that the colleague he was supposed to meet was killed in a freak accident the day before. It turns out that the deceased had been investigating a cult lead by Dr. Julian Karswell. Though a skeptic, Holden is suspicious of the devil-worshiping Karswell. Following a trail of mysterious manuscripts, Holden enters a world that makes him question his faith in science.
Author
A university professor, confident that everything which occurs in life has a rational explanation, finds his beliefs severely challenged when he awakens horrors beyond human understanding. A decade before the BBC's version of MR James' supernatural classic came this chilling version from the North Downs Cinematograph Society.
