#mrjames — Public Fediverse posts

I'm in Providence, Rhode Island, for the Necronomicon weird fiction / horror convention. The bulk of the programming starts tomorrow, but there was some fun stuff today.

My plane was delayed so I couldn't catch the live reading of The Call of Cthulhu.

But I did catch Robert Lloyd Party's performance of Casting the Runes, by M.R. James, which really brought out the dry humour of it, especially in front of a live audience. But it ends on a suitably sinister note. You can buy his reading on Bandcamp:
https://nunkie.bandcamp.com/album/casting-the-runes

If you're not interested in this, you may want to mute me until Monday. 🧟

#NecronomiconPVD #MRJames #WeirdFiction

It’s both #Caturday and the birthday of M.R. James (born #OTD in 1862), perhaps the finest author of ghost stories we’ve ever known. This makes it a very good day indeed.

(Donnie, on the right, was born in 2020 but he can be as supernatural as the next cat.)

#CatsOfMastodon #DonnieTheCat #MRJames #GhostStories #GhostStoriesOfAnAntiquary #SupernaturalLiterature #Bookstodon @bookstodon

Middoth-traktaten

M. R. James, der døde tilbage i 1936, er et uomgængeligt navn, hvis man har en forkærlighed for spøgelseshistorier – hvilket er interessant, i og med at hans spøgelser sjældent er den helt klassiske type hjemsøgelser, men er i stedet besynderlige entiteter, der fremstår halvt fysiske. På dansk optræder hans noveller i flere antologier, en enkelt samling (“Otte berømte spøgelseshistorier) fra 1970, en enkeltudgivelse af hans “Værelse 13” (som foregår i Viborg) – og nu så også en lille samling fra 2 Feet Entertainment: “Middoth-traktaten”.

Det er en del af forlagets klassikersamling i Christian Aallings sædvanligt velfungerende oversættelse. Den byder på fem noveller, hvor det gerne er akademikere, som møder det uforklarlige.

Som redaktør har det første spørgsmål naturligvis været: skal man inkludere James’ mest kendte novelle: “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to you, My Lad.” Svaret er blevet ja, og “Fløjt, og jeg kommer, min ven” slutter sig til tidligere oversættelser som “Åh, fløjt, min dreng, og jeg kommer til dig” og “Fløjt, og jeg kommer” – det gør den sammen med de andre noveller “En historie fra skoleårene”, “Middoth-traktaten”, “Grænseskellet” og “En udsigt fra en bakketop”.

Det er en fin lille samling – og et fint format, der passer til at stikke den i baglommen og læse den under åben himmel, mens man forestiller sig, at man er en aldrende akademiker fra James’ tid, som ved et uheld kommer i kontakt med det overnaturlige. Novellerne har stadig god gennemslagskraft, om titelnovellen i mine øjne stikker lidt ud som værende lidt svagere konstrueret; måske fordi den har et tydeligere mål end de andre historier. Udover den er James god til at ramme lige præcis den balance, hvor der sker sære ting, som han ikke overforklarer.

Ligesom de andre udgivelser i forlagsserien er “Middoth-traktaten” helt klart værd at læse – en stemningsfuld lille perle, der ikke skriger “Bøh”, men bare stille og roligt hvisker lyden af de døde, der kradser på barrieren til de levendes rige.

@hypnogoria Thanks for this — it was one of #MRJames tales adapted by the #BBC in 1972. I know what I'm watching tonight.

Walked along the coastal path today for 8 miles or so and found myself in this quaint Templar preceptory.

Bonus: I found an old whistle. I wonder what it sounds like…

#QuisEstIsteQuiVenit #OhWhistleAndIllComeToYouMyLad #MRJames #Fife #FifeCoastalPath

Huh - what do I see in the corner of my eye - is it - an old volume...? No - a pretty recent one (2018): this #LiteraryStudies study by Patrick J. Murphy connects the dots between the #MedievalStudies of #MRJames & his classic "antiquarian" #ghoststories 👻

#Halloween

#Bookstodon: my review of 'A Warning to the Curious', a 1925 ghost story collection by #MRJames.
https://wp.me/sezD85-curio

@helengrantsays Hi Helen. It’s nice to see you still on Mastodon, but if I could make one suggestion it would be to use hashtags liberally. That’s how it works here and it’s how you get traction. There are a lot of writers, reviewers & readers on Masto but they need to be able to find you, so just for starters I’d have added #MRJames #Bookstodon #Books #Horror to the post

M. R. James: The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral.
#MRJames: #TheStallsofBarchesterCathedral #GhostStories #EnglishGhostStories

@Raeyn as in the famous #MRJames story "Taintwhistle and I'll come to you, my lad".

👻 The telling of ghost stories late on Xmas Eve is a long-standing tradition. In the 1970s, the BBC produced classic adaptations of M.R. James supernatural tales - revived in recent years. Here is Speckled Band’s own horror story from the EP Screaming Skull 💀 Hope you enjoy it - and have a merry Christmas! 🎄www.speckled.band #ghosts #mrjames #supernatural #mrjames #xmas #xmaseve #horror #christmas #ghoststories #bbc #spooky #christmaseve

Click here 👉 https://youtube.com/shorts/TjMc8YaxXUM?si=-d6clZcVIjrexZC8

A Christmas present to myself, an M.R James figure made by the marvelous Hobbs Lane
Now to find a suitably spooky bookshelf for him to reside on.

#mrjames #ghoststories #minifigure #handmade #horror #author #hobbslane

The BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas 1971-1978 are badly in need of restoration. Some of us love these old shows a lot and want to see them available for new generations of viewers.

#LawrenceGordonClark #MRJames
#GhostStoriesForChristmas #BBC #GhostStories

👻 🎄

Why don't they make programmes like this anymore?
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2FYBsjg6zm-P9ISx_zDc3LnVszpHQ5Yo

#MRJames

I recommend you watch A Warning to the Curious (1972), made from an M. R. James story. And I recommend you watch it in a dark room, with no captions, and the sound off. #MRJames #horror #surreal

I know the whole part of M.R. James' stories is that you shouldn't be messing things you don't know about and how easily the past can haunt the present, but really, the lesson of the day is that you should get out of academia and touch some grass... except you'll probably find a cursed whistle while touching that grass; damnit!

#literature #mrjames

It’s #Halloween, and the spirits are haunting our library! 😱 Want to learn about the origins of Halloween on the British Isles or how it's celebrated in the US today, or get spooked by a ghost story? Find classics like this early edition by #MRJames & fresh tales of horror! 👻

FRI 20th and SAT 21st, December: To mark 120 years since the publication of #MRJames’ seminal collection “Ghost Stories of an Antiquary”, over two nights in December, #RobertLloydParry will perform all eight stories in Cambridge, the city that spawned them. Tix → https://gsa120.eventbrite.co.uk

It was a bit sunny this morning so I wrote a portable M.R James RPG

Best to download to look at text I fear..

#ttrpg #horrorrpg #ttrpgprops #thebuilder1900 #MRjames