Into the Archive: Two Past Masters

 

Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories, by M. R. James

The first volume of James’ collected ghost stories, presented by Penguin Classics, and annotated by the noted scholar of weird literature, S. T. Joshi. I find James to be one of the finest writers of ghostly tales, or at least the one that most closely appeals to my sensibilities. This volume contains rarities not included in other collections, and Joshi’s notes look to illuminate phrases and references that may have grown obscure in time, or perhaps too subtle for a casual reader. I suppose that having these books will mean that I can pass on my lesser Collected James. Annotations! 

“Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories contains the entire first two volumes of James’s ghost stories, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary and More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. These volumes are both the culmination of the nineteenth-century ghost story tradition and the inspiration for much of the best twentieth-century work in this genre. Included in this collection are such landmark tales as “Count Magnus,” set in the wilds of Sweden; “Number 13,” a distinctive tale about a haunted hotel room; “Casting the Runes,” a richly complex tale of sorcery that served as the basis for the classic horror film Curse of the Demon; and “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad,” one of the most frightening tales in literature. The appendix includes several rare texts, including “A Night in King’s College Chapel,” James’s first known ghost story.” – Amazon.

I have to say that getting this volume has cost me much worry, more so than most books. After I ordered it back on the last day of July, I waited weeks until I was informed that it had been lost in the mail somehow and I could have my money refunded. Afterwards, I ordered another copy from another company (for much cheaper, I might add) and now have had a quite prompt delivery. It is well, because I felt I could not really read the second volume (The Haunted Dolls’ House and Other Ghost Stories) until I had read Volume I, although in this case (they are anthologies and not otherwise connected save by author) it probably would not have made much of a difference.

And for some reason I ordered another copy of Lord Dunsany’s The Charwoman’s Shadow, having gotten the impression that I had somehow sold it, even though I recorded it in my Biographical Inventory of Books on August 8^th of 2020 (which I was surprised anyhow to learn was almost exactly three years ago now already – Time, you continue to baffle me). I am ready to try it again at last, having read Dunsany’s Don Rodriguez: Chronicles of Shadow Valley on Kindle. The Charwoman’s Shadow is sort of a soft sequel, apparently. I remember trying to read it over at Aunt Wimpy’s and failing spectacularly; I wasn’t quite ready for this brand of literary fantasy. I believe I misplaced my old copy by not putting it with my other Dunsany paperbacks. Now I suppose I will have to seriously consider acquiring Don Rodriguez in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy edition, just to appease my compulsory obsessiveness.