Product Description
This title is part of an inexpensive range of classics in the "Penguin Popular Classics" series. It contains a collection of ghost stories. ... Read more

Product Description
Th : I humbly ask pardon, my lord, but so it was. And I took upon me, thinking no harm, to ask Squire Martin to lend me his knife to cut my tobacco. And he felt first of one pocket and then of another and it was not there at all. And says I, 'What! have you lost your knife, Squire?' And up he gets and feels again and he sat down, and such a groan as he gave. 'Good God!' he says, 'I must have left it there.' ... Read more

Product Description
This collection offers some of the best stories from authors who influenced James, such as Sheridan Le Fanu and Augustus Jessopp, stories from his contemporaries, such as T.G. Jackson and "D.N.J.", and tales from more recent practitioners, including Fritz Leiber and Terry Lamsley. The collection also includes a checklist of writers in the Jamesian tradition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

16 stories in the tradition of M. R. James
The sixteen stories in this collection easily satisfy the criterion, "stories in the tradition of M. R. James (MRJ)" and who should know this better than the writer who selected and introduced them, Ramsey Campbell?Some of the stories such as "The Upper Berth" (1886) by F. Marion Crawford can be found in other anthologies, but others were completely new to me, e.g. "Petey" (1979) by T. E. D. Klein.Campbell also includes one of his own best stories, "The Guide" (1989) that actually uses a book by MRJ as a plot device.

This book also contains a bibliography of "writers in the M. R. James tradition" compiled by notable Jamesian scholar and editor of the journal "Ghosts & Scholars," Rosemary Pardoe.

These are the stories in "Meddling with Ghosts":

"The Familiar" (1872) by J. Sheridan Le Fanu--This Irish author was MRJ's favorite source of ghost stories.Sir James Barton returns to Dublin after a distinguished career in the navy and is pursued by a ghastly apparition that calls itself `the Watcher.'

"The Upper Berth" (1886) by Marion F. Crawford--A transatlantic voyager is disappointed to learn that he will have to share his cramped state-room with another passenger. Then on the first night of the crossing, his room-mate runs topside and throws himself into the ocean. This is the fourth time an inhabitant of that particular state-room has flung himself overboard. Furthermore, it seems as though one of the drowned men is trying to climb back inside through the state-room's porthole.

"Let Loose" (1890) by Mary Cholmondeley--A vampire is unwittingly let loose on a Yorkshire village where a young architect has come to study an old church fresco.

"An Antiquary's Ghost Story" (1896) by Augustus Jessopp--Conventional story of a man who sees a ghost in his friend's library.

"Glámr (1904) by Sabine Baring-Gould--The retelling of an episode from an Icelandic saga in which a hero battles with the undead.Gruesome surprise at story's end.

"Thurnley Abbey" (1908) by Perceval Landon--The new owners of Thurnley Abbey invite one of their friends to stay overnight, without telling him that he will be sleeping in the haunted bedroom. Believing the creature that appears at his bedfoot to be a hoax, the angry guest tears it apart bone by bone.

"The Red House" (1919) by T. G. Jackson--During the reign of George III, a young man turns to robbery on the King's highway to support his dissolute lifestyle.A friend of his uncle recognizes him and tries to reform young man.

"The Death Mask" (1920) by Mrs. H. D. Everett--A widower tries to remarry, but the death mask of his first wife keeps insinuating itself between himself and his fiancée.

"The Moon-Gazer" (1920) by D.N.J.--The dreams and temptations of a Cambridge University mathematician who is seduced by pagan magic.Lots of curious Latin formulae.

"Smoke Ghost" (1941) by Fritz Leiber--And now for something completely different.A ghost "with the soot of factories on its face and the pounding of machinery in its soul."

"The Mine" (1948) by L. T. C. Rolt--A disused lead mine called "Hell's Mouth" is the grim setting of this story of vanished miners, and a thing that came up out of the mine on top of the miners' cage elevator.

"The White Sack" by A. N. L. Munby--Some great horror stories are narrated by Alpinists and rock climbers.This one takes place on the island of Skye, where a young man is separated from his more experienced companion, then trapped by a sudden fog.

"Petey" (1979) by T. E. D. Klein--A house-warming party gone bad.Lots of creepy foreshadowing in this long story as we learn how the new owner came by his house in the woods.The climax is signaled, but still horrible.

"Echoes from the Abbey (1987) by Sheila Hodgson--This story began as a radio play, written as though M. R. James were the narrator.Our favorite antiquarian visits an acquaintance, who is headmaster of the failing Medborough Academy For Young Gentlemen, near the ruins of Medborough Abbey.One of the students who is staying with the headmaster over the Christmas holidays keeps seeing the ghost of a monk.

"The Guide" (1989) by Ramsey Campbell--Old Mr. Kew is on holiday with his children and grand-children but is made to feel like a nuisance. He buys a guide-book of the area and decides to visit a deserted Norfolk church by himself--one that supposedly had suggested a ghost story to M. R. James..."'James nearly saw, but he didn't believe,' said the figure by the altar, and stepped into the light that seeped through a pinched grimy window. 'But you will,' it said out of the hole that was most of its face."

"Two Returns" (1993) by Terry Lamsley--An old man out Christmas shopping is followed home from the railway station by a shadowy figure in a cape.He returns to his Victorian-era apartment, only to find the cape hanging on his coat peg.

Hours of boredom---minutes of shrill Terror. Worth it.
Ghost tale anthologies are always a mixed bag: a few tasty, grisly chillers to spike an otherwise tepid punch bowl of lackluster stories included to plump up the book and appease the publisher. "Meddling with Ghosts" provides no exception to the rule, but British horror grandmaster Ramsey Campbell keeps an exceptionally tight focus to his collection and consequently serves up the a few rare, ghoulish treasures amidst the fodder.

Campbell ("Alone with the Horrors", "The Hungry Moon") is a horror-fiction giant in a landscape ridden with dwarves, and the best of his own writing has always drawn on the stylistic and thematic qualities of fellow English ghost-writer Montague Rhodes James, provost of Cambridge and Eton and a genius at crafting the true tale of the unsettling and bizarre.

James has no equal in English letters when it comes to brewing up a terrifying tale, and : a common theme is the scholarly bachelor loner who, drawn to some remote locale, or forgotten tome, or garden folly found in his newly inheireted country home, stumbles on some ancient, reticent, mouldering secret thing and unleashes something unpleasant. Unpleasant for the bachelor-scholar-hero, that is---but gloriously fun for you, tucked under the bedclothes with the cat in the wee hours of the morning. With that in mind, "Meddling with Ghosts" assumes the reader has ample affection for James; if you haven't gotten a taste of M.R. James yet, then at the very least go read "Count Magnus", "Oh Whistle and I'll come to you, My Lad" and "Casting the Runes" to get a taste for the Old Master before you fork over lucre for this worshipful collection.

Campbell sets up a few ground rules, all of them Jamesian: the stories in "Meddling" must involve malignant spirits, true horror, and an attention to historical detail. And James, more than any other horror writer, was a master when it came to conjuring up the truly unsettling, the brain-rattlingly wrong, with a minimum of prose. Stephen King has written "whenever possibly, I try to terrify---but when I can't terrify, I go for the gross-out." James never had to settle for the gross-out, for his writing never fails to terrify.

Campbell opens up with a puzzlingly brief introduction, which is terse but tastily creepy and appropriately sets the mood. "The Familiar", the first tale in the collection, is a rare piece by J. Sheridan LeFanu, but a few spooky bits aside was too dry to get my blood flowing. F. Marion Crawford's "The Upper Berth" is a rousing tale of spectral nastiness, but it really isn't very Jamesian, has been anthologized a million times, and you've probably read it by now. "Let Loose", "Death Mask", "The Red House", and "The Moon Gazer" are grindingly dull, and "Thurnley Abbey", while fleetingly spooky, is the ghost-tale equivalent of going out for Japanese food: 15 minutes later and you'll be hungry again.

But there are supple, scary treasures here. "Petey", by the inimitable T.E.D. Klein, is intensely Jamesian and frankly terrifying, and will have you making sure the curtains are pulled tight. Sabine Baring-Gould's "Glamr" is only scantly Jamesian, and yet is, in my opinion, not Jamesian at all, but I confess a weakness for terror tales from the Scandinavian mountains, and besides---once you read it you'll understand---as bad a troll as the awful Glamr is, how much more nasty is the unnamed dead thing that killed him out in the frozen wastes beneath the mountain?

The two best tales in "Meddling" are worth the price of admission alone: Campbell apprentice Terry Lamsley's "Two Returns" accomplished the twofold task of freezing my blood cold (his story is a masterwork of icy grue) and introducing me to his work, and Campbell's own "The Guide", omitted from his larger collection "Alone with the Horrors", is archetypically Jamesian, and centers on the all-too-curious author himself and---well, an *admirer*.

Campbell finishes off the collection with Rose Pardoe's scrupulously detailed bibliography of ghost-tale writers who have incorporated Jamesian elements, all tasty stuff to be sure and thoroughly researched.

So if you're still wrestling with yourself as to whether you should buy it, wrestle no further and give in. Settle in beneath the covers, turn down the lamp, listen to the wind howl and the tree branches fumble and claw at your bedroom window, and settle in to "Petey" or "The Guide". What's a few pence compared to a night of pleasant terror, anyway? You'll be glad you meddled.

Indispensable for those who love ghost stories
This book is well worth the purchase price, both for the first-rate stories it contains and for the extensive, annotated bibliography it includes. The stories give a comprehensive overview of the "Jamesian" ghost story, and Campbell's brief notes before each are interesting and will be helpful to those who wish to read more by the authors. The bibliography that concludes "Meddling With Ghosts" would justify the book's purchase all by itself: it includes enough authors (many not well-known), and enough explanatory notes about the works of each, to keep the ghost story aficianado busy for years. Not a book for those whose main interest is explicit, gory horror, but anyone who enjoys classic ghost stories whose terror is more subtle and disturbing will love this book and return to it again and again.

A spiritually transcendent literary journey
Knowledgeably compiled and ably edited by Ramsey Campbell, Meddling With Ghosts is an outstanding anthology of memorable short stories by a variety of talented authors, all of whom deliberately offer sumptuous and bone-chilling tales of supernatural horror in the literary tradition of M. R. James. From J. Sheridan Le Fanu's "The Familiar" (1872) to Terry Lamsley's "Two Returns" (1993), this compendium of spooky tales set in bygone decades ranges from the 1870's to the 1990's and make Meddling With Ghosts a spiritually transcendent literary journey through time as well as through the occult planes of the mind-chilling, spine-tingling unknown.

Big on literary history, small on horror
Campbell's collection is unique.He attempts to -- and does -- capture the the aura of M.R. James' horror work.He has collected pieces from before James, contemporary to James, and since James.Most of them are entertaining and well-written, but they do inspire terror in the reader.If you are looking for a collection of quaint ghost stories, you have found it.If you are looking for horror, look elsewhere. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Oh whistle and I'll come to you.....
These quiet, strange, antique little stories from the age of the Edwardian gentleman have always seemed too good to be true. How can we be so lucky to share the same universe with M.R James. They are everything we desire in a ghost story : a curious, ancient setting,a cast of elite eccentric scholars from England's best schools in England's best time, and strange, plausible perfectly terrifying creatures representing the accummlation of sometimes centuries of nastiness. James knew something about what makes us so uneasy and it is a delight to accompany him there. Number 13 was the first story I read when I was thirteen myself and still a great favorite. Oh Whistle and I'll come to You My Lad has long been a favorite of many as well asAn Episode In Cathedral History. They are all of them excellent, every one. Happy happy reading for this and many Halloweens and beyond.

Unpleasant dreams, everybody.
I second most of what "hugh dignon" said below; he hit it on the head.I enjoy few authors more than James.I'm a full-grown, mostly rational, non-squeamish, non-superstitious adult, and these stories make myskin crawl, even on repeat readings.

One small caveat: It might be hardto resist devouring all the stories in a short period of time.Resist andration them out.First, because these are (nearly?) all the ghost storieshe wrote.Second, they're formulaic enough in structure that as you nearthe end of the book, they start to lose some impact if read all atonce.

I've read "The Story of a Disappearance and anAppearance" four or five times.I still can't follow the plot.Itstill keeps me awake at night. (Maybe this is because Punch & Judypuppets creep me out).Does anyone else get it?

The Lurking Belief That The Story's The Truth
M.R.James was a master of the British ghost story. In the Victorian and Edwardian eras the ghost story was a very popular genre with some wonderful writers contributing to it. Writers such as Algernon Blackwood,J.S. Le Fanu, H.R. Wakefield, Oliver Onions, Marion Crawford, Henry Jamesand Edith Warton (who both dabbled successfully in the genre), W.W.Jacobs,E.F.Benson, R.H.Malden and E.G.Swain (who were both influenced by James),and William Hope Hodgsonproduced many ghost stories of merit, but at thetop of such an illustrious list should be placed the name of MontagueRhodes James. He wrote short, exquisite stories of ordinary human beings'encounters with the supernatural; all of whichexhibit such adisquietingly high level of verisimilitude that hevery nearly succeeds inmaking us believe that the strange events in his stories have actuallyhappened. Because he was a scholar and spent all of his adult life inacademia, at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, James was naturally ableto inject his stories with an integral element of scholarly detail. Theyare told in a matter- of-fact, rather dry style and, like an historicaltext, are peppered with latin phrases and footnotes with bibliographicalreferences. In "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" he even audaciouslybegins the story with a first paragraph entirely written in latin which,thank God, he translates; though not before his protagonist slyly sighs,"I suppose I shall have to translate this." His protagonists areusually antiquarians; rigid, late-Victorian academics who are not in anyway given to flights of fancy. When the type of unimaginative men such asthese come across an old etching like "The Mezzotint", or anancient book like "The Tractate Middoth" or "Canon Alberic'sScrapbook", objects which turn out to be haunted, the reader believesthat they indeed are because such protagonists surely lack the imaginationto make up suchfantastical occurances. James is also a master ofsubtlety. Unlike horror writers of today who are all too willing to try toshock the reader with sadistic, nauseating, gore-drenched descriptions,James knows how to describe just enough and let the reader's imaginationsupply the rest. He also lulls the reader into a false sense of security byat first evoking a kind of even-handed normalcy about his characters andsettings; so that when the ghost finally makes its appearance it comes as ashock. M.R.James' ghosts are never good. They do not appear to the livingto warn them about some impending disaster. At best, they are indifferentto human beings as in "The Mezzotint", "The Haunted Doll'sHouse", or "Number 13" in which the spirits act as if theywere in a neverending tape loop. But, for the most part, they are utterlymalevolent creatures which actively seek to do harm to the unsuspectinghuman beings who unknowingly happen to awaken them. Unlike many other ghoststory writers of his time, in most of his tales James provides nosatisfactory explanation for the ghost's malevolence. He knows that a tidy,pat answer weakens the impact of the anarchic idea that there are unseenforces,usually remaining dormant, which at any time could awaken toinflict harm upon the living. The implications of this idea are trulyfrightening. Upon finishing one of his stories, the reader is left with anagging, unnerving suspicion that the events of the story, no matter howstrange or "unreal", have actually happened and that James' storyis really only a factual accounting of them.

a very good read, but not at all scary
I will definitely admit that I enjoyed reading this book.Undeniably, Mr. James was an extraordinary writer for his day and age.And I am sure that back then these stories would have been the "bone-chilling terror" that the back of the book promised, but I found that most ofthe stories in here were not even remotely terrifying.They all had a goodbuild up.A terrific story line and some really interesting ideas, but itwas at just that point when you start getting really interested, that thestory is suddenly over, and you are left with a somewhat empty feeling,knowing that it could have been better. I would still recommend this bookto those who would read it purely for literary enjoyment.However, ifyou're looking for a good scare, as I was, look elsewhere.

the consummate writer of victorian ghost stories
Among authors of this genre, James stands out as the master of subtle, creeping horror. He knows better than anyone that "there are more things in heaven and earth..." ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.
Medical theory and practice of the 1700s developed rapidly, as is evidenced by the extensive collection, which includes descriptions of diseases, their conditions, and treatments. Books on science and technology, agriculture, military technology, natural philosophy, even cookbooks, are all contained here.
++++
The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification:
++++
Cambridge University Library

T186961



Dublin : printed for Thomas Bacon, 1741. 47,[1]p. ; 8° ... Read more

Product Description
Dr. John Dee was an alchemist and spiritualist, as well as a very learned man. He did his best by petitions and otherwise to stimulate interest in the rescuing of manuscripts from the dissolved monastic libraries and to induce the sovereign to establish a central national collection of them. This work contains a catalog of Dr. Dee's library of manuscripts, with notes by James on the books. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Weird Tale.
_The Weird Tale:Arthur Machen, Lord Dunsany, Algernon Blackwood, M. R. James, Ambrose Bierce, and H. P. Lovecraft_ is an account of various writers of the weird tale by S. T. Joshi.These authors wrote stories which may be regarded as "weird tales", a phrase used by Lovecraft especially in his famous essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature".The weird tale may be distinguished from the ghost story, science fiction, and psychological horror.This book consists of an introduction followed by accounts of each of the various writers and ending with important bibliographical information.Joshi's viewpoint is clearly sympathetic to scientific rationalism and atheism, which is problematic, though he does provide a good if somewhat biased overview of each of these major writers.

The first chapter of this book is "Arthur Machen:The Mystery of the Universe".Machen, born in Wales, was an antiquarian who developed a unique worldview opposed to Protestantism, rationalism, materialism, progress, and puritanism which emphasized his Anglo-Catholicism.Though Joshi chooses to regard this as a fault, I believe Machen's worldview remains particularly interesting.Machen wrote several weird stories which were based in his worldview including such tales as "The White People" and "The Great God Pan".

The second chapter of this book is "Lord Dunsany:The Career of a Fantaisiste".Dunsany was an Irish writer and fantaisiste who wrote plays and later stories.Dunsany's writings emphasized outer gods, though he himself may have been an atheist.Indeed, Joshi describes Dunsany's writings as "Nietzsche in a fairy tale".Dunsany's famous works include _The Gods of Pegana_ and _The King of Elfland's Daughter_.

The third chapter of this book is "Algernon Blackwood:The Expansion of Consciousness".Algernon Blackwood was a mystical writer who rebelled against an Evangelical upbringing to embrace the wisdom of the East including the _Bhagavad Gita_ and the doctrines of Buddhism.Blackwood's writings reveal a love for nature and an enthrallment with mysticism and the expansion of consciousness.Blackwood was also involved to some extent in the secret mystical society, the Golden Dawn.Joshi traces out the development of Blackwood's philosophy and his stories in terms of "awe", "horror", and "childhood".Blackwood's famous tales include "The Wendigo", "The Willows", and _The Centaur_.

The fourth chapter of this book is "M. R. James:The Limitations of the Ghost Story".M. R. James was the son of an Anglican priest who wrote ghost stories in the genre of the weird tale.While James never developed fully a worldview, something which Joshi believes to be problematic, his stories nevertheless provide an encounter with the supernatural.

The fifth chapter of this book is "Ambrose Bierce:Horror and Satire".Ambrose Bierce was a caustic wit, a cynic, and an atheist who served in the Union army during the Civil War and later was to disappear heading south towards Mexico (presumably having been caught up in the Mexican Civil War).Bierce's stories feature elements of his extreme cynicism and misanthropy.Bierce also wrote ghost stories featuring encounters involving the Civil War.In addition, Bierce compiled the infamous _Devil's Dictionary_ revealing his cynicism about politics and religion.

The sixth chapter of this book is "H. P. Lovecraft:The Decline of the West".Lovecraft was a unique writer of the weird tale, who wrote for pulp magazines and engaged in amateur journalism.Lovecraft's writings reveal his worldview which is materialistic and rationalist (though he would later come to reject his earlier dogmatic materialism under the influence of developments in theoretical physics including relativity theory and quantum mechanics).In addition, Lovecraft's political beliefs prove enigmatic, though he began as an aristocratic ultra-conservative and a racialist who expressed abhorrence at immigrants and other races in his stories, he came to embrace a form of "fascistic socialism" and to marry a Jew.Lovecraft was particularly influenced by the philosophy of Nietzsche and Spengler and his stories reveal his belief in the decline of the West thesis.Lovecraft's stories emphasize cosmicism in which man is shown to be utterly without hope in a cosmos empty of meaning and in which both science and religion fail him.Lovecraft was influenced by Dunsany's outer gods and wrote much on elder beings from other dimensions, though he was later to "demythologize" his gods making them into extraterrestrials.Lovecraft also was influenced by the folklore of New England.Lovecraft's famous works include "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" and _At the Mountains of Madness_.

This book offers an excellent introduction to various writers who composed weird fiction.Joshi's biases are apparent, but his extensive research into the writings of these individuals is tremendous.In particular, it is interesting to note how each of these writers formed a unique philosophical worldview which came to influence their stories to such a great extent.

A real critic for real readers
In The Weird Tale, Joshi analyses the work of half a dozen writers whose influence on the modern supernatural horror story is either incalculable (Lovecraft, James and possibly Bierce) or else not nearly large enough (Blackwood, Machen, Dunsany). Joshi's central theoretical tenet is that weird fiction is an inherently philosophical mode, since it offers writers the chance to remake the world according to their own rules. H P Lovecraft is the prime example, possessing a coherent and thoroughly worked out philosophy which colours and powers all his best work. Much the same applies to Blackwood, though his mystical and sometimes sentimental author's personality was the polar opposite of Lovecraft's. Similarly, Machen's mysticism (whenever he could keep off his Anglo-Catholic hobbyhorse for long enough), Bierce's misanthropy and Dunsany's unique and complex blend of anti-modernism and ultra-Olympian cynicism all provide Joshi with a lens through which to see their work in its most rewarding light. The only writer for whom Joshi displays little enthusiasm is M R James, primarily because his work never goes beyond the ghastly-revenant plot - however inventively James may manage it at times. Joshi is miraculously well-read, has a sharp eye for the best among frequently voluminous works, and is even honest enough to say when he's talking from prejudice rather than analysis. The Weird Tale brings genuine literary criticism to bear on a genre where literary and critical standards have been debased to a condition rather worse than that of science fiction, and is of vast help in pointing out the works to whose quality writers (and readers) of supernatural fiction could aspire. ... Read more

Product Description
When we think of ghost stories, we tend to think of cub scouts cringing by a fire, s'mores at the ready, as some aging camp counselor tries to scare them witless with yet another tale from the crypt. But as Michael Chabon's marvelous introduction reminds us, the ghost story was once integral to the genre of the short story. Indeed, as he points out, it can be argued that the ghost story was the genre. Dickens's "A Christmas Carol," Henry James's "The Turn of the Screw"--most of the early short story writers wrote ghost stories as a matter of course. And the best writer of ghost stories, the acknowledged master, was M.R. James.In Casting the Runes, we have twenty-one tales that, in Chabon's words, "venture to the limits of the human capacity for terror and revulsion...armed only with an umbrella and a very dry wit." The stories here represent the best of James's work. They are set in the leisurely, late-Victorian, middle-class world of country houses, seaside inns, out-of-the-way railway stations, and cathedral closes, where gentlemen of independent means and antiquarian tastes suddenly find themselves confronted by terrifying agents of supernatural malice. But what these tales are really about, writes Chabon, "is ultimately the breathtaking fragility of life, of 'reality,' of all the structures that we have erected to defend ourselves from our constant nagging suspicion that underlying everything is chaos, brutal and unreasoning." The tales in Casting the Runes are both chilling fun and, as Chabon concludes, "unmistakably works of art." Anyone who loves short fiction or who enjoys a good scare will find these stories an irresistible delight. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great stories---bargain basement , shoddy Edition. AVOID
Oxford University Press has committed an outrage---a violation!---and the publishers should be ashamed of themselves. Montague Rhodes James (1865-1936) is, for me, the Grand Master of the Terrifying Tale, and for those not acquainted with his works---well, I envy you the chilling delight of meeting up with James's menacing, atmospheric prose for the first time. Read the tales and relish their keen sense of terror, which belies the avuncular, scholarly style and antiquarian sensibilities in which James was so well-versed.

That said, it's a shame that so many readers will encounter James for the first time in Oxford's new collection of "Casting the Runes & Other Ghost Stories", which is the cheesiest, shoddiest edition of James's work I have ever encountered. In light of James's dark brilliance, this slipshod edition is the equivalent of serving Kristal Champagne in a plastic coke bottle, or offering Sevruga caviar from a tuna can.

I was initially excited at getting all of my favorite Jamesian tales of terror bound up in a new hardback volume from OUP. Imagine my intial shock when the tiny tome arrived---and I do mean TINY. Check out those book dimensions carefully, folks: this edition is a teensy vanity hardback about the size of the little abridged poetry volumes booksellers stock during the holidays for stocking stuffers, usually kept at the cash register.

Think about that for a second. Think about getting twenty-three James tales, 293 pages in total, into a teeny-tiny little book. Think of just how miniscule the print on those stories would have to be, or how absent the book would have to be of anything resembling normal margins.

Well, think about it, and then think hard before wasting your money on this edition, because this is pretty much M.R. James for Lilliputians. I have 20/20 vision and I need a magnifying glass to read the type comfortably. Oh, and remember all the scholarly annotations supplied by James scholar Michael Cox in the previous edition? As one reviewer noted, the asterisks are still there, but the annotations have been gutted.

Even better, apparently to save on paper and space the Oxford editors, in their infinite wisdom, cut out the James essay "Stories I Have Tried to Write" that appeared in the previous edition. Mind you, this is an essay that has graced *every* edition of "Casting the Runes" since the first publishing run, and they just---cut it out.

Oh, it gets better. In place of the erudite Cox, we now have Michael Chabon's witless introduction, in which Chabon appears eager to show how many literary works he is familiar with, but proves unable to get the name of James's protagonist in "Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You, Lad" right. Given that Chabon professes in the first sentence of his review that "Oh Whistle" is one of the finest short stories ever written, one would think M. Chabon would realize the name of the story's hero is Parkins, not Parke.

This edition is so shabby, cheap, and shoddy as to make even the most fervent bibliophile yearn for a good book-burning. James deserves better, and I hope his ghost haunts Oxford University Press.

One of the great voices in horror
First, about M.R. James:

He is excellent!He is one of the best, most underappreciated voices in horror.Lovecraft admired him.His stories, though old, are quite scary.Also, they are very well written.As Chabon points out in his intro, Poe and Lovecraft weren't the best literary stylists.Most people cite "Oh, Whistle..." as James's best story, but I think I'll vote for "Count Magnus."Certainly all of them are good.More than that, they are REQUIRED reading for anyone who wants to have a basic understanding of horror literature.It is also a hell of a good read.

Second, this edition:

I was greatful to a previous reviewer for explaining the asterisks.There are asterisks without footnotes all over this book, as well as other Oxford University Press books (The Monk).Now we know that these are residue from a previous edition that HAD footnotes.Perhaps you might want to get that version.

However, I take great issue with the disparaging of Michael Chabon's essay on M.R. James.If you don't get the edition with his introduction, I recommend going to the bookstore and reading through it anyway.His comments are very illuminating on James and ghost stories in general.

An inexplicably dreadful edition
Beware! If you love James or desire to discover him, this new edition of OUP's anthology is not the way to go. A previous and superb OUP edition was edited and annotated by Michael Cox. His fascinating comments are cued by asterisks that are liberally sprinkled throughout the text. In the current version, all the annotations are gone--but the asterisks remain! One can imagine how many readers must be scratching their heads over them. In place of Cox's excellent work, there is an innane introduction by the fashionable novelist Michael Chabon, who tells nothing of James's publications and incredibly little of his life (not even his dates), and explores only one of the stories, persistently misidentifying the protagonist, Parkins, as Parkes. You can't make this stuff up. What was OUP thinking? Why fix something that not only wasn't broken, but was something to be admired? I bought this volume as a gift--it's a handsome hardback--but plan on asking for a refund.

find it
The art of Dr. James is by no means haphazard, and in the preface to one of his collections he has formulated three very sound rules for
macabre composition. A ghost story, he believes, should have a familiar setting in the modern period, in order to approach closely the
reader's sphere of experience. Its spectral phenomena, moreover, should be malevolent rather than beneficent; since fear is the emotion
primarily to be excited. And finally, the technical patois of 'occultism' or pseudo-science ought carefully to be avoided; lest the charm of
casual verisimilitude be smothered in unconvincing pedantry.
-H.P. Lovecraft

Though less well remembered today than some other authors of Gothic ghost stories--like J. S. [John Sheridan] LeFanu, whose work he
edited,Bram Stoker, and Henry James (no relation), or their successors H.P. Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, and the like--M. R. James is
one of the great early horror writers.This story, which concerns a mysterious and unpleasant Mr. Karswell, who takes creepy exception to a
negative review of his book, The Truth of Alchemy, shows off James's talents to good effect, combining genuine scares with a droll wit.
But what makes this edition particularly appealing are the 12 splendid black-and-white drawings by Jeff White--an artist with whom I am not
familiar and about whom I could find nearly nothing on the Web--that accompany the text.This slender volume seems certain to get any
reader looking for more stories by Mr. James and more books illustrated by the estimable Mr. White

GRADE : A ... Read more

Product Description
Going beyond mere diagnosis, An Atlas of Gastroenterology covers everything from swallowing difficulties to treatment of jaundiced and immuno-compromised patients. Tables, illustrations, and case histories put the information at your fingertips. Leading experts combine lucid text with extensive illustrations to interpret the concepts needed for a firm grasp of the topic. Coverage includes swallowing difficulties, heartburn, dyspepsia, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, colonic polyps and colon cancer, pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, the jaundiced patient and the immuno-compromised patient. Published principally for family and primary care physicians An Atlas of Gastroenterology describes all aspects of the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal disease. ... Read more

Product Description
Available for the first time as complete and unabridged audio books (in two volumes), this title contains all of the published ghost stories of father of the ghost story. This volume contains 14 stories including such famous tales as: "Canon Alberic's Scrap Book", "The Mezzotint"; "Oh Whistle", "I'll Come to You, My Lad"; "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas"; and, "Casting the Runes". It also comes with original music by Leigh Odlin. ... Read more

Product Description
To continue medical progress, physicians and scientists must openly question traditional models. Valid inquiry demands a willingness to consider all possible solutions without prejudice. Medical politics should not perpetuate unproven assumptions nor curtail reasoned experimentation, unbiased measurement, and well-informed analysis. For thirteen years, MMVR has been an incubator for technologies that create new medical understanding via the simulation, visualization, and extension of reality. Researchers create imaginary patients because they offer a more reliable and controllable experience to the novice surgeon. With imaging tools, reality is purposefully distorted to reveal to the clinician what the eye alone cannot see. Robotics and intelligence networks allow the healer's sight, hearing, touch, and judgment to be extended across distance, as if by magic. The moments when scientific truth is suddenly revealed after lengthy observation, experimentation, and measurement is the real magic. These moments are not miraculous, however. They are human ingenuity in progress and they are documented here in this book.

IOS Press is an international science, technical and medical publisher of high-quality books for academics, scientists, and professionals in all fields.

Some of the areas we publish in:

-Biomedicine
-Oncology
-Artificial intelligence
-Databases and information systems
-Maritime engineering
-Nanotechnology
-Geoengineering
-All aspects of physics
-E-governance
-E-commerce
-The knowledge economy
-Urban studies
-Arms control
-Understanding and responding to terrorism
-Medical informatics
-Computer Sciences ... Read more