A Podcast to the Curious - The M.R. James Podcast

Excitement abounds in the podcast house as Big Santy C leaves us a new BBC Ghost Story for Christmas, courtesy of BBC4 and Mr Mark Gatiss!  Will and Mike offer their humble thoughts on this festive treat. Show notes: A clutch of reviews of Martin’s Close, from the Radio Times , i , Metro , Telegraph and Warwick University Student newspaper . Our thoughts on the story back in 2012 , including...

This episode Mike and Will indulge in murder, moralising and supernatural goat-based mayhem in A.C. Benson’s ‘Out of the Sea’. Big thanks to our reader for this episode Debbie Wedge, and don’t forget to check out her M.R. James-themed t-shirt designs, ‘ No diggin’ ere ‘ and ‘ Barchestering ‘! Notes: A.C. Benson (Wikipedia) A.C. Benson was one o...

Like a prodigal and slightly deranged friend, Will and Mike return to explore another author inspired by MR James.  This week we look at the story By One, By Two and By Three , by Adrian Ross. Show notes By One, By Two and By Three is widely published in ghost story anthologies, but you can also find it online . Adrian Ross was the pen-name of Arthur Reed Ropes, an accomplished academic and lyrici...

This episode Mike & Will kick off Season 3 with ‘An Antiquary’s Ghost Story’ by Augustus Jessopp! Scroll down for a full list of the ‘James Gang’ authors we will be covering over the next 15 episodes. Big thanks to our reader for this episode, Debbie Wedge!   Show notes: Collected writings of Augustus Jessopp (gothictexts.wordpress.com) The ghostly writing of...

This episode Mike and Will grab their guidebook, pack their bucket and spade and head off for a terrifying trip to sunny Cornwall in E.F. Benson’s ‘Negotium Perambulans’ . Big thanks to Richard Crowest of the ‘Ghost Stories of E.F. Benson’ podcast for giving us permission to use extracts from his reading of this story in the episode. You can find out more about Richar...

Seasons greetings listeners! For this special festive episode Mike and Will turn off the lights and dive into the wardrobe for a game of hide-and-shriek, courtesy of A.M. Burrage’s Christmas classic ‘Smee’ ! Big thanks go to our reader this week Kirsty Woodfield. Also mentioned in this episode were ‘ The Dead Room ’, the new Mark Gatiss ghost story due to air at 10pm on BBC4 this Christmas Eve. Al...

Textaphobes beware!  This month Will and Mike tackle Henrietta Dorothy Everett’s “The Death Mask”, a supernatural farce about termagant wives, gold diggin’ husbands and menacing fabrics. Story notes: Monty writes,“Going back a few years I light on Mrs Everett’s The Death Mask, of a rather quieter tone on the whole, but with some excellently conceived stories.” ( Some Remarks on Ghost Stories...

This episode it’s conference report time! We’ve just returned from Through a Glass Darkly , an M.R. James conference which brought together authors, academics and fans in ghost-haunted York for a 2-day Jamesfest of epic proportions! The episode features interviews with: Conference organisers Paul M. Chapman, Theresa Dudley and Mark Jones , who told us about how the chance discovery that M.R. James...

This month Mike and Will throw caution to the wind and make an ill-fated wish on “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs.  Best known in his own time for gentle tales of the sea and other comic stories, Jacobs is now perhaps most famous for this classic cautionary tale of cursed taxidermy, family tragedy and pant-wetting zombie horror.  And following the show there’s a bonus fanb...

This episode Mike and Will return to the realms of the ‘psychic detective’ in this tale from mother-son writing team Kate and Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard . Expect terror on the moors with malevolent earth spirits, coughing ghosts, ominous otters and even a bicycle chase scene! A big thanks to Rob Douglas, who provided the readings for this episode. Head over to Friends of Count Magnus to...

Have you ever had a hankering for upping sticks and moving overseas, where one’s limited means might stretch a little further and the wine flow more freely? This week Will and Mike head for the north coast of France in Featherston’s Story , where Mrs Henry Wood shows us that expat life is not always baguettes, brie and “la bonne vie”… Show notes: MR James wrote in &#8...

Ho ho ho! We have a festive cracker of an episode for you this month (literally), as Mike and Will explore Sir Andrew Caldecott’s M.R. James-inspired tale, ‘ Christmas Re-union ‘. A big thank you to Tony Mears, who provided the readings for this episode. Check out his bands new track ‘ A Hypothermia Banquet ‘ on Bandcamp! Story notes: ‘Christmas Re-union’...

Mike and Will take a cruise across the pond in the good ship Kamchatka – but who’s hiding in The Upper Berth?  Joining us to narrate F. Marion Crawford’s classic tale is reader Rupert Simons, who tells us that he’s found a cheap cabin for his trip from The Hook to Harwich next week… Show notes: F. Marion Crawford was a very successful writer who penned comparatively f...

This episode join Mike and Will as they don their kilts and sporrans and head north of Hadrian’s wall for some Scottish horror (no, not the midges) as we explore ‘The Open Door’ by Margaret Oliphant! Big thanks to Kirsty for chilling us to the bone with her readings for this episode. Show notes: Margaret Oliphant (Wikipedia) Margaret Oliphant (1828 – 1897) was a prolific and very...

We’re back! This week Mike and Will descend gingerly into a gloomy railway cutting to investigate Charles Dickens’ The Signal-Man.  Dickens dissects the harsh realities of life in industrial Britain, but can he also deliver a pleasing terror and a locomotive-sized Jamesian Wallop? (spoiler: yes, in spades) Show notes: Higham Station was the closest to Dickens’ home at Gads Hill P...

This episode Mike and Will cover ‘ The Haunted and the Haunters ‘ by Charles Dickens’s BFF, Edward Bulwer-Lytton . M.R. James considered this story essential reading, saying “ Nobody is permitted to write about ghost stories without mentioning ‘The Haunted and the Haunters’. ” (Some Remarks on Ghost Stories). Will it live up to our expectations? Our reader for this episode is tal...

Illustration by M. Grant Kellermeyer In this bumper episode we examine M.R. James’s favourite story by his favourite author, ‘The Familiar’ by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu! Praise doesn’t get much higher than that, but is it all it is cracked up to be? If you are a fan of owls, diminutive, angry men in fur caps and incredibly long sentences, then you are in for a treat. This epi...

Émile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian This episode Mike and Will pop across the channel for some booze-heavy French/German shinanigans in ‘The White and the Black’ by Erckmann-Chartrian. M.R. James says this writing partnership “produced some quite first-class romances”, but this tale of murder and mayhem is no love story! Show notes: Erckmann-Chatrian (Wikipedia) About the...

Happy Halloween listeners! In this bumper-bonus episode we talk about our first non-M.R. James ghost story, ‘ A Relation of the Apparition of Mrs Veal ‘, a fascinating early ghost story attributed to Daniel Defoe. We also interview Leah Moore and John Reppion about their recently-published graphic novel of ‘ Ghost stories of an Antiquary ‘. Finally, we are delighted to anno...

Nearly five years to the day that we released Episode 1, we are pleased to bring you ‘A Vignette’, M.R. James’s very last story! The episode also features readings from Robert Lloyd Parry and an exciting announcement about the future of the podcast! Show notes: A Vignette by M.R. James (adelaide.edu.au) A Vignette, read by Scott Wichmann (Soundcloud) The Rectory, Great Livermere...

In this epic feature-length James-fest, Mike and Will conclude their coverage of ‘Eton and King’s’, M.R. James’s memoir of a life spent in two of the UK’s most celebrated educational institutions. This part covers M.R. James’s time as an undergraduate, Fellow, Dean and Provost at King’s College, his somewhat unhappy stint as Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, a...

This episode Mike and Will interview folklorist Jacqueline Simpson about the influence of Scandinavian and English folklore on M.R. James’s ghost stories, as well as Jacqueline’s collaboration with Terry Pratchett on ‘Folklore of the Discworld’. Many thanks to Jacqueline for her hospitality! More about Jacqueline: Jacqueline Simpson on Wikipedia Dictionary of English Folklo...

It’s back to school this week as Mike and Will pack their tuckboxes and top hats and join Monty for the first part of his memoir “Eton and King’s: recollections, mostly trivial”.  How will James deal with the traditions and quirks of Eton?  Will he avoid a midnight wedgy?  And who exactly is the mysterious Goat Sucker? Links: Eton and King’s is readily available from...

This episode Mike and Will report on the the M.R. James conference, aka ‘Haunted Studies: The Ghost Stories of M.R. James’ and bring you interviews with a range of Jamesian luminaries present at the event. For more information on the conference, visit the conference website . People we interview in this episode: Dewi Evans (Acedemia.edu) Dewi, along with Jane Mainley-Piddock, organised...

This episode Mike and Will pack their sleeping bags and bed down for ‘A Night in King’s College Chapel’ by M.R. James. The episode also features an exclusive interview with James Drewett and Richard Svensson, creators of ‘Monsters and Miscreants’ a new M.R. James-themed card game available to order now. You can also watch an unboxing video of the same game featuring y...