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

This episode Mike and Will speak to the author A.N. Donaldson, whose debut novel ‘ Prospero’s Mirror ‘ features M.R. James as the main protagonist! In the novel M.R. James is summoned to Old College, Oxford to examine the inscription on an ancient mirror which may have belonged to the magician John Dee. Soon James finds himself sucked into a tangled web of science, sorcery and th...

This episode Mike & Will put on their golden pince-nez and crack the spine of ‘The Uncommon Prayer-book’ by M.R. James! Big thanks go to our reader for this episode, Debbie Wedge . Questions answered during this episode: Is M.R. James an anti-semite? Is Mr Poschwitz the Germanic Lovejoy? How much snakebite is too much snakebite? Show notes: Michael Cox / Pleasing Terror story notes...

This episode Will and Mike delve into the toy box and pull out something truly horrible in the form of ‘ The Haunted Doll’s House ‘ by M.R. James! Show notes: Queen Mary’s Dolls’s House This story was written for a real dolls’ house, the one created by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens for Queen Mary of Teck between 1921 and 1924. The dolls’ house in current...

Due to illness we haven’t managed to record the next full episode yet, but in the meantime here’s a little something we hope you’ll enjoy, an exclusive reading of ‘Sredni Vashtar’ by M.R. James’s literary contemporary Saki (aka H.H. Munro). This reading was recorded specially for the podcast by Hamish Symington ! Thanks Hamish! If you enjoyed this reading then m...

In this episode Will and Mike travel back in time to the early 18th century to examine some diabolical goings on in rural Cambridgeshire in M.R. James’s ‘ The Fenstanton Witch ‘. Show notes: Story Locations (Monty’s World) This story features many real-world locations, starting in King’s College Cambridge , and following Hardman and Ashe up the Huntindon Road (now the...

This episode Mike & Will put on their thinking caps and puzzle their way through ‘ Two Doctors ‘ by M.R. James. Thanks to Kirsty for the excellent readings, and to Alisdair Wood for the great illustration to the left. Don’t forget to vote on which story you would like to see Stephen Gray and his crew film next, ‘The Malice of Inanimate Objects’ by M.R. James or &#...

It’s Christmas Special time again! This year Will & Mike look at the one and only M.R. James story actually set during the festive season, ‘The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance’. This episode also features a Christmas Bonus in the form of an interview with film director Stephen Gray whose new adaptation of ‘A Haunted Doll’s House’ is available to w...

In this episode Mike and Will head up the road to Burford to take a peek inside Speaker Lenthall’s Tomb by M.R. James! Yes, it is another unpublished M.R. James manuscript fragment this week. The most complete version of this story is available in ‘Curious Warning: The Great Stories of M.R. James’ edited by Stephen Jones. Show notes William Lenthall, 1591 – 1662 (Wikipedia) The r...

This episode Mike & Will examine John Humphreys . No, not the newsreader, the unfinished story draft by M.R. James! The most complete version of the manuscript, as transcribed by Rosemary Pardoe, can be read online at the Ghosts & Scholars Website . Big thanks for the readings goes to Kirsty W… no wait, Kirsty Taylor ! Also thanks to Alisdair Wood to the excellent M.R. James image to...

This episode Will & Mike slip into their cassocks, whip out their prayerbooks and head down to Southminster for ‘An Episode of Cathedral History’ by M.R. James. Questions answered in this episode: – When is a vampire not a vampire? – Do Lamia have hairy legs? – What length of skirt do Mike and Will wear? Big thanks go out to Roger Burton West who provided the read...

This episode Mike and Will recoil in horror from some fearsome home furnishings in ‘The Diary of Mr Poynter’ by M.R. James. Big thanks to our reader for this episode, the mighty Paul Maclean ( @ysdc on Twitter). You may know Paul from the ‘Call of Cthulhu’ RPG hub Yog-Sothoth.com and it’s Lovecraftian publishing wing InnsmouthHouse.com . He is also one of the presente...

Mike is off on his honeymoon at the moment, so in lieu of a full episode Will provides a reading of and short commentary on an M.R. James essay ‘Ghosts – Treat them Gently! ‘ which was originally published in the Evening News on 17 April 1931. In the essay Monty talks about what ingredients he thinks go to make up a really successful ghost story, and gives an insight into the sup...

Join Mike and Will as they peer through their scrying glass at the second installment of ‘The Residence at Whitminster’ by M.R. James. More black magic, strange visions, swarms of satanic flies and is that Beelzebub hiding in the closet? Or is it just R. Kelly? One things for sure, you’ll never look into your underwear draw in the same way again! Show notes: William Oldys (wikipe...

Join Mike & Will for the first in a two part special on ‘The Residence at Whitminster’ by M.R. James ! No black cockerels were harmed in the recording of this podcast (OK, maybe one or two. It’s called research people). This episode features readings by Hamish Symington and Peter Ross. Show Notes: M.R. James – An Informal Portrait by Michael Cox (Amazon) For details of...

Robert Lloyd Parry as M.R. James – photo by Shelagh Bidwell On the 1st August it will be exactly 150 years since the birth of M.R. James, and in this special episode Will and Mike are celebrating Monty’s Sesquicentenary in style with the help of England’s finest Jamesian actor, Robert Lloyd Parry ! Robert had been performing his trilogy of one-man shows based on James’s wor...

This episode Mike and Will get hopelessly lost in ‘Mr Humphreys and his Inheritance’. It’s a-maze-ing! Show notes: Two Ghosts & Scholars Essays We referred extensively to two outstanding examinations of the symbolism and antiquarian lore behind the story: Martin Hughes’, “ A Maze of Secrets in a Story by M.R. James “, reprinted in Warnings to the Curious and...

In this episode Mike and Will investigate strange goings on in 17th Century Devon in Martin’s Close by M.R. James . Unrequited love, scoundrel squires, courtroom highjinx, bloody judges, amorous yokels and barbarous murder are all on the cards. It’s like The Archers, but even more horrible. Strap in! Don’t forget to check out our Visit to Martin’s Close Video on YouTube. Sh...

Church matters concern Will and Mike this episode as they don their literary cassocks and plant their proverbial buttocks upon ‘The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral’ by M.R. James. Snow notes: The Double Shadow Podcast (www.thedoubleshadow.com) An exciting new podcast dedicated to American M.R. James admire Clark Ashton Smith. M.R. James performances by the Nunkie Theatre Company (www.nu...

This episode we return to the diabolical doings of Mr Karswell in part two of our examination of ‘Casting the Runes’ by M.R. James. Show notes: Comparative Mythology and the Cambridge Ritualists (Wikipedia) The criticism of Karswell’s writing style could be read as M.R. James having a dig at his academic contemporaries working in theoretical subjects that James thought were nonse...

Join Mike & Will as they delve into Brian Blessed’s beard, the truth of alchemy, diabolical magic lantern shows and class war in the first of our two-part extravaganza on M.R. James’s chilling story ‘Casting the Runes’ ! Our reader for this episode is Mr Torion Bowles. Show notes: Magic Lanterns (Wikipedia) Mr Karswell was not the first to use a magic lantern to scare t...

In this episode Mike & Will whip out their library cards and prepare to crack the spine of ‘The Tractate Middoth’ by M.R. James . Questions addressed in this episode include: Does Mr Eldred like MC Hammer? Did Sir Jimmy Saville make a pact with the devil? Is Miss Simpson a slamming hotty or merely a comely wench? And is it even politically correct to call someone a wench in this da...

In this episode Will & Mike experience the horticultural horror of M.R. James’s ‘The Rose Garden’ . Thanks to Kirsty Woodfield who was our reader for this episode. Show notes: Popish Plot Playing Cards (BritishMuseum.org) Having trouble getting your head around the popish plot? Why not invest in a pack of Popish Plot Playing Cards! Alas hundreds of years out of print. The Sev...

In this episode Mike & Will return to M.R. James’s old alma mater for chaos in the classroom, death in the dormitory and revenge in the refectory. That’s right, it’s ‘A School Story’! N.b. If you have forgotten your gym-kit, you have to listen to this episode in your vest and pants. Show notes: The History of Temple Grove School (.pdf) The school in ‘A Schoo...

In this episode Will & Mike follow M.R. James on a terrifying treasure hunt to Germany in ‘The Treasure of Abbot Thomas’. Show notes: Steinfeld Abbey & Glass (also see Googlemaps ) Read about the read-world location of this story on wikipedia. The Treasure of Steinfeld Abbey, A Visit to the Scene of “The Treasure of Abbot Thomas” by Helen Grant Interesting account o...

This episode features the second half of our podcast extravaganza on M.R. James’s seaside shocker ‘Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’. Neither beach nor bedtime will ever be the same again! Thanks again to Tom Hemmings who lent us his wonderful voice for the readings, and to Dave Senior ( EastScapes ) for the excellent groyne photo. Show notes: ‘The Toad in th...