View source for M. R. James

{{Short description|British author and scholar (1862–1936)}}
{{about|the English scholar and writer of ghost stories|the Maroon leader|Montague James}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|OM|FBA}}
| image            = MRJames1900.jpg
| caption          = M. R. James, c. 1900
| pseudonym        = M. R. James
| birth_name       = Montague Rhodes James
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1862|08|01|df=yes}}
| birth_place      = [[Goodnestone, Dover|Goodnestone]], [[Kent]], England
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1936|06|12|1862|08|01|df=yes}}
| death_place      = [[Eton, Berkshire|Eton]], [[Buckinghamshire]], England
| occupation       = Author, scholar
| nationality      = British
| period           = 
| genre            = {{Hlist|[[Horror fiction|Horror]]|[[ghost story|ghost stories]]}}
| subject          = 
| movement         = 
| signature        = 
| alma_mater       = [[King's College, Cambridge]]
}}
'''Montague Rhodes James''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|OM|FBA}} (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English [[Medieval studies|medievalist]] [[scholar]] and [[author]] who served as [[provost (education)|provost]] of [[King's College, Cambridge]] (1905–1918), and of [[Eton College]] (1918–1936) as well as [[List of Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge|Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge]] (1913–1915). James's scholarly work is still highly regarded,<ref>{{cite journal |first=Nicolas |last=Barker |author-link=Nicolas Barker |title=After M. R. James |year=1970 |journal=[[The Book Collector]] |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=7–20 }}</ref> but he is best remembered for his [[ghost story|ghost stories]], which are considered by many critics and authors as the finest in the English language and widely influential on modern [[Horror fiction|horror]].<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Morton-Haworth, James (director) |date=December 18, 2005 |title=The Story of the Ghost Story |trans-title= |type=Television production |language= |url=https://archive.org/details/story-of-the-ghost-story-2005 |access-date= |format= |time=19.50 |location= |publisher=[[BBC]] |id= |isbn= |oclc= |quote=The strength of M. R. James' writing has come to be the benchmark by which all modern ghost stories are judged }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://lithub.com/the-restless-ghost-stories-of-m-r-james/|title=The Restless Ghost Stories of M. R. James |last=Scovell |first=Adam |date=2020-12-15 |website=[[Literary Hub]] |publisher= |access-date=2024-04-29 |quote=His first collection, ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'', was published to great acclaim by Edward Arnold in 1904, followed by several equally celebrated volumes establishing him as the foremost writer of the genre, still arguably unsurpassed.}}</ref>

James originally read the stories to friends and select students at Eton and Cambridge as [[Christmas Eve]] entertainments, and received wider attention when they were published in the collections ''[[Ghost Stories of an Antiquary]]'' (1904), ''[[More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary]]'' (1911), ''[[A Thin Ghost and Others]]'' (1919), ''[[A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories]]'' (1925), and the hardback [[Omnibus edition|omnibus]] ''[[The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James]]'' (1931). James published a further three stories before his death in 1936, and seven previously unpublished or unfinished stories appeared in ''The Fenstanton Witch and Others: M. R. James in Ghosts and Scholars'' (1999), all of which have been included in later collections.

James redefined the ghost story for the new century by abandoning many of the formal [[Gothic fiction|Gothic]] [[cliché]]s of his predecessors, and is noted for his use of [[Literary realism|realism]] and dry [[humour]] to ground the stories and contrast with the [[supernatural]] elements. He is known as the originator of the "[[antiquarian]] ghost story" and "the Father of [[Folk horror|Folk Horror]]" for the way his plots and characters drew on his own scholarly interests in ancient [[folklore]] and the rural landscapes of [[East Anglia]].<ref name="jb">Briggs, Julia (1986). "James, M(ontague) R(hodes)". In [[Jack Sullivan (literary scholar)|Sullivan, Jack]], ed., ''The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural''. New York: Viking Press. {{ISBN|0-670-80902-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Cooray Smith |first=James |author-link=James Cooray Smith |date=2016-12-22 |title=The fear of other people: these Folk Horror ghost stories are perfect for Brexit Christmas |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2016/12/fear-other-people-these-folk-horror-ghost-stories-are-perfect-brexit-christmas |url-status=live |magazine=[[New Statesman]] |location= |publisher= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025124508/https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2016/12/fear-other-people-these-folk-horror-ghost-stories-are-perfect-brexit-christmas |archive-date=2021-10-25 |access-date=2024-04-29}}</ref> This association has continued into the 21st century due to [[Adaptations of works by M. R. James|the many adaptations of his stories]], which have made him, according to critic Jon Dear, "the go-to folk horror writer".<ref>{{cite AV media |title=Ghost Stories for Christmas: Volume 1: Disc 1: Commentary for Whistle and I'll Come to You |date=2022-12-05 |last=Dear |first=Jon |type=DVD |publisher=BFI |orig-date=''Whistle and I'll Come to You'', first broadcast May 7, 1968 |quote=M. R. James has become the go-to folk horror writer for telly because of the Ghost Stories for Christmas.}}</ref>

==Early life==
James was born in a [[clergy house]] in [[Goodnestone, Dover]], [[Kent]], England, although his parents had associations with [[Aldeburgh]] in [[Suffolk]]. His father was Herbert James, an [[Evangelical Anglicanism|Evangelical Anglican]] clergyman, and his mother, Mary Emily (''née'' Horton), was the daughter of a naval officer.<ref name="mc">[[Michael Cox (novelist)|Cox, Michael]] (1987). "Introduction". ''Casting the Runes and Other Ghost Stories'' by M. R. James. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. xi–xxx. {{ISBN|978-0-19-281719-8}}</ref> He had two older brothers, Sydney and Herbert (nicknamed "Ber"), and an older sister, Grace.<ref name="mc" />

[[Sydney James (priest)|Sydney James]] later became [[Archdeacon of Dudley]]. From the age of three (1865) until 1909 James's home, if not always his residence, was at the Rectory in [[Great Livermere]], Suffolk.<ref name="mc" /> This had previously been the childhood home of another eminent Suffolk antiquary, [[Thomas Martin of Palgrave]] (1696–1771). Several of James's ghost stories are set in Suffolk, including {{"-}}[['Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad']]{{-"}} ([[Felixstowe]]), "[[A Warning to the Curious]]" (Aldeburgh), "Rats" and "[[A Vignette]]" (Great Livermere).

In September 1873, he arrived as a boarder at [[Temple Grove School]] in [[East Sheen]], west London, one of the leading boys' preparatory schools of the day.<ref name="dj">Jones, Darryl (2011). "Introduction". ''Collected Ghost Stories'' by M. R. James. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. xii. {{ISBN|978-019-956884-0}}</ref>

From September 1876 to August 1882, he studied at [[Eton College]],<ref name="eak1">James, M. R. (1925). ''Eton and King's''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 13–97. {{ISBN|978-1-108-03053-3}}</ref> where he claimed to have translated the ''[[Book of Baruch]]'' from its original Ethiopic in 1879.<ref name="eak2">James, M. R. (1925). ''Eton and King's''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 41–42; {{ISBN|978-1-108-03053-3}}</ref> He lived for many years, first as an undergraduate (1882–1885),<ref name="eak3">James, M. R. (1925). ''Eton and King's''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 106–195; {{ISBN|978-1-108-03053-3}}</ref> then as a [[University don|don]] and [[Provost (education)|provost]], at [[King's College, Cambridge]],<ref>{{acad|id=JMS882MR|name=James, Montague Rhodes}}</ref> where he was also a member of the [[Pitt Club]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Benson |first1=Edward Frederic |author-link1=E. F. Benson |title=Our Family Affairs, 1867–1896 |url=https://archive.org/details/ourfamilyaffairs0000bens |year=1920 |publisher=Cassell and Company, Ltd. |location=London, New York, Toronto, and Melbourne |page=[https://archive.org/details/ourfamilyaffairs0000bens/page/231 231] }}</ref>

The university provides settings for several of his tales. Apart from medieval subjects, James toured Europe often, including a memorable 1884 tour of France in a [[Cheylesmore]] tricycle,<ref name="eak4">James, M. R. (1925). ''Eton and King's''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 151–153; {{ISBN|978-1-108-03053-3}}</ref> studied the classics and appeared very successfully in a staging of [[Aristophanes]]' play ''[[The Birds (play)|The Birds]]'', with music by [[Hubert Parry]]. His ability as an actor was also apparent when he read his new ghost stories to friends at Christmas time.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

==Scholarly works==
[[File:Dead abbots Bury St Edmunds Abbey.jpg|thumb|right|M. R. James's scholarly work uncovered the burial places of the abbots of [[Bury St Edmunds Abbey]] in 1903 (from front to rear):  Edmund of Walpole (1248–1256); Henry of Rushbrooke (1235–1248); Richard of the Isle of Ely (1229–1234); Samson (1182–1211); and Ording (1148–1157).<ref>[http://www.burypastandpresent.org.uk/j_brief.html#top Bury St Edmunds Past and Present Society, burypastandpresent.org.uk] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100404001740/http://www.burypastandpresent.org.uk/j_brief.html#top |date=4 April 2010 }}</ref>]]
James is best known for his ghost stories, but his work as a medievalist scholar was prodigious and remains highly respected in scholarly circles. Indeed, the success of his stories was founded on his antiquarian talents and knowledge. His discovery of a manuscript fragment led to excavations in the ruins of the abbey at [[Bury St Edmunds]], West Suffolk, in 1902, in which the graves of several twelfth-century abbots described by [[Jocelyn de Brakelond]] (a contemporary chronicler) were rediscovered, having been lost since the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Discoveries at Bury St Edmunds. |periodical=The Times |date=9 January 1903 |page=9}}</ref><ref name="Moshenska2012">{{cite journal |last1=Moshenska |first1=Gabriel |title=MR James and the archaeological uncanny |journal=Antiquity |date=2012 |volume=86 |issue=334 |pages=1192–1201 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00048341|s2cid=160982792 }}</ref>

He held the [[Sandars Lectures|Sandars Readership in Bibliography]] two times, speaking on "Manuscripts in Cambridge" in 1902 and "The Pictorial Illustration of the Old Testament from the 14th Century to the 16th" in 1923.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/sandars/past-readers |title=Previous Sandars Readers |website=University Library Research Institute |date=21 February 2024 |publisher=University of Cambridge |access-date=21 September 2024 }}</ref>

He published a detailed description of the sculptured ceiling bosses of the cloisters of [[Norwich Cathedral]] in 1911. This included drawings of all the bosses in the north walk by C. J. W. Winter.<ref name="James1911">{{cite book |last1=James |first1=Montague Rhodes |title=The Sculptured Bosses in the Cloisters of Norwich Cathedral |date=1911 |publisher=Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society |url=https://archive.org/details/norwich-cloisters-sculptured-bosses}}</ref> His 1917 edition of the Latin [[hagiography]] of [[Æthelberht II of East Anglia]], king and martyr,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=James |first1=M. R. |title=Two Lives of St. Ethelbert, King and Martyr |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_english-historical-review_1917-04_32_126/page/214 |journal=The English Historical Review |date=1917 |volume=32 |issue=126 |pages=214–244 |doi=10.1093/ehr/XXXII.CXXVI.214 |jstor=551656}}</ref> remains authoritative. In 1919, he published an English translation of [[John Blacman|John Blacman's]] biography of [[Henry VI of England|King Henry VI]].<ref>John Blacman, ''Henry the Sixth; A Reprint of John Blacman's Memoir,'' edited by M. R. James (Cambridge, U.K.: 1919).</ref>

He catalogued many of the manuscript libraries of the colleges of the [[University of Cambridge]]. Among his other scholarly works, he wrote ''The Apocalypse in Art'', which placed the [[English Apocalypse manuscripts]] into families. He also translated the [[New Testament apocrypha]] and contributed to the ''[[Encyclopaedia Biblica]]'' (1903). His ability to wear his learning lightly is apparent in his ''Suffolk and Norfolk'' (Dent, 1930), in which a great deal of knowledge is presented in a popular and accessible form, and in ''Abbeys''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=James |first1=M.R. |title=Abbeys |date=1926 |publisher=The Great Western Railway |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.533601}}</ref>

He also achieved a great deal during his directorship of the [[Fitzwilliam Museum]] in Cambridge (1893–1908).<ref>{{cite web| url=https://fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/about-us/directors/m-r-james | title=Montague Rhodes James | publisher=[[Fitzwilliam Museum]] | accessdate=27 October 2024 }}</ref> He managed to secure a large number of important paintings and manuscripts, including notable portraits by [[Titian]].

James was [[List of Provosts of Eton College|Provost]] of [[Eton College]] from 1918 to 1936.<ref name=jb /> He was admitted to the [[Order of Merit]] in 1930. He died in 1936 (age 73) and was buried in [[Eton, Berkshire|Eton]] town cemetery.

==Ghost stories==
[[File:Whistle and I'll come to you illustration.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Illustration by James McBryde for M. R. James's story {{"-}}[['Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad']]{{-"}}. James was close friends with the illustrator, and the collection ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' in 1904 was intended as a showcase for McBryde's artwork, but McBryde died having completed only four plates.]]
James's ghost stories were published in a series of collections: ''[[Ghost Stories of an Antiquary]]'' (1904), ''[[More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary]]'' (1911), ''[[A Thin Ghost and Others]]'' (1919), and ''[[A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories]]'' (1925). The first hardback collected edition appeared in 1931. Many of the tales were written as Christmas Eve entertainments and read aloud to friends. This idea was used by the BBC in 2000 when they filmed [[Christopher Lee]] reading James's stories in a candle-lit room in [[King's College, Cambridge|King's College]].

James perfected a method of story-telling which has since become known as Jamesian. The classic Jamesian tale usually includes the following elements:

# a characterful setting in an English village, seaside town or country estate; an ancient town in France, Denmark or Sweden; or a venerable abbey or university
# a nondescript and rather naive gentleman-scholar as protagonist (often of a reserved nature)
# the discovery of an old book or other antiquarian object that somehow unlocks, calls down the wrath, or at least attracts the unwelcome attention of a supernatural menace, usually from beyond the grave

According to James, the story must "put the reader into the position of saying to himself, 'If I'm not very careful, something of this kind may happen to me!'"<ref name=joshi>[https://books.google.com/books?id=0VxZ13zOtt8C&pg=PT217 James, M. R., "Preface to ''More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'']". In Joshi, S. T., ed. (2005). ''Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories: The Complete Ghost Stories of M. R. James, Volume 1'', pt. 217. Penguin Books.</ref> He also perfected the technique of narrating supernatural events through implication and suggestion, letting his reader fill in the blanks, and focusing on the mundane details of his settings and characters in order to throw the horrific and bizarre elements into greater relief. He summed up his approach in his foreword to the anthology ''Ghosts and Marvels'': "Two ingredients most valuable in the concocting of a ghost story are, to me, the atmosphere and the nicely managed crescendo. ... Let us, then, be introduced to the actors in a placid way; let us see them going about their ordinary business, undisturbed by forebodings, pleased with their surroundings; and into this calm environment let the ominous thing put out its head, unobtrusively at first, and then more insistently, until it holds the stage."<ref>{{cite book |last1=James |first1=M. R. |editor-first=V. H. |editor-last=Collins|title=Ghosts and Marvels: A Selection of Uncanny Tales from Daniel Defoe to Algernon Blackwood |year=1924|publisher=Oxford University Press |location=London |chapter=Introduction}} Rpt. in {{cite book |last=James |first=M. R. |editor1-first=Christopher |editor1-last=Roden |editor2-first=Barbara |editor2-last=Roden |title=A Pleasing Terror: The Complete Supernatural Writings |year=2001 |publisher=Ash-Tree Press |location=Ashcroft, B.C. |isbn=1-55310-024-7 |page=486}}</ref>

He also noted: "Another requisite, in my opinion, is that the ghost should be malevolent or odious: amiable and helpful apparitions are all very well in fairy tales or in local legends, but I have no use for them in a fictitious ghost story."<ref name=joshi/>

Despite his suggestion (in the essay "Stories I Have Tried to Write") that writers employ reticence in their work, many of James's tales depict scenes and images of savage and often disturbing violence. For example, in "Lost Hearts", pubescent children are taken in by a sinister dabbler in the occult who cuts their hearts from their still-living bodies. In a 1929 essay, James stated:
<blockquote>
Reticence may be an elderly doctrine to preach, yet from the artistic point of view, I am sure it is a sound one. Reticence conduces to effect, blatancy ruins it, and there is much blatancy in a lot of recent stories. They drag in sex too, which is a fatal mistake; sex is tiresome enough in the novels; in a ghost story, or as the backbone of a ghost story, I have no patience with it. At the same time don't let us be mild and drab. Malevolence and terror, the glare of evil faces, 'the stony grin of unearthly malice', pursuing forms in darkness, and 'long-drawn, distant screams', are all in place, and so is a modicum of blood, shed with deliberation and carefully husbanded; the weltering and wallowing that I too often encounter merely recall the methods of [[Matthew Lewis (writer)|M G Lewis]].<ref>M. R. James. "Some Remarks on Ghost Stories". ''The Bookman'', December 1929.</ref>
</blockquote>

Although not overtly sexual, plots of this nature have been perceived as unintentional metaphors of the [[Freudian]] variety. James's biographer Michael Cox wrote in ''M. R. James: An Informal Portrait'' (1983), "One need not be a professional psychoanalyst to see the ghost stories as some release from feelings held in check." Reviewing this biography (''Daily Telegraph'', 1983), the novelist and diarist [[Anthony Powell]], who attended Eton under James's tutelage, commented that "I myself have heard it suggested that James's (of course platonic) love affairs were in fact fascinating to watch." Powell was referring to James's relationships with his pupils, not his peers.

Other critics have seen complex psychological undercurrents in James's work. His authorial revulsion from tactile contact with other people has been noted by [[Julia Briggs]] in ''Night Visitors: The Rise and Fall of the English Ghost Story'' (1977). As [[Nigel Kneale]] wrote in the introduction to the [[Folio Society]] edition of ''Ghost Stories of M. R. James'', "In an age where every man is his own psychologist, M. R. James looks like rich and promising material. ... There must have been times when it was hard to be Monty James." Or, to put it another way, "Although James conjures up strange beasts and supernatural manifestations, the shock effect of his stories is usually strongest when he is dealing in physical mutilation and abnormality, generally sketched in with the lightest of pens."<ref>David Punter, ''The Literature of Terror: A History of Gothic Fictions from 1765 to the Present Day'', Vol. II, ''Modern Gothic'', p. 86.</ref>

In addition to writing his own stories, James championed the works of [[Sheridan Le Fanu]], whom he viewed as "absolutely in the first rank as a writer of ghost stories",<ref>James, M. R., Prologue to J. S. Le Fanu, ''Madame Crowl's Ghost'' (1923), p. vii. Quoted in [https://books.google.com/books?id=N7Wri3Y_wCMC&pg=PR17 "Introduction"], Cox, Michael, and Gilbert, R. A., eds. (2003), ''The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories'', p.xvii. Oxford University Press.</ref> editing and supplying introductions to ''Madame Crowl's Ghost'' (1923) and ''Uncle Silas'' (1926).

James's statements about his actual beliefs about ghosts are ambiguous. He wrote, "I answer that I am prepared to consider evidence and accept it if it satisfies me."<ref>James, M. R. [https://books.google.com/books?id=3gpihu2SOjEC&pg=PA419 "Preface to ''The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James''" (1931)]. In Jones, Darryl, ed. (2011), p. 419. Oxford University Press.</ref>

==Views on literature and politics==
James held strongly traditional views about literature. In addition to ghost stories, he also enjoyed reading the work of [[William Shakespeare]], the detective stories of [[Agatha Christie]], and the works of [[Charles Dickens]] and [[P. G. Wodehouse]].<ref name="rwp">Pfaff, Richard William (1980). ''Montague Rhodes James''. London: Scolar Press. p. 401.</ref> 
He disliked most contemporary literature, strongly criticising the work of [[Aldous Huxley]], [[Lytton Strachey]] and [[James Joyce]] (whom he called "a charlatan" and "that prostitutor of life and language").<ref name="mc" /><ref name="dj" /><ref name="rwp" /> He also supported the banning of [[Radclyffe Hall]]'s 1928 novel about [[lesbianism]], ''[[The Well of Loneliness]]'', stating, "I believe Miss Hall's book is about birth control or some kindred subject, isn't it? I find it difficult to believe either that it is a good novel or that its suppression causes any loss to literature."<ref name="rwp" />

When he was a student at King's, James had opposed the appointment of [[Thomas Henry Huxley]] as [[Provost of Eton]] because of Huxley's [[agnosticism]]; he later became Provost of Eton himself.<ref name="dj" /> In his later life James showed little interest in politics and rarely spoke on political issues. However, he often spoke out against the [[Irish Home Rule movement]],<ref name="mc" /> and in his letters he also expressed a dislike for [[Communism]].<ref name="dj" /> His friend [[A. C. Benson]] considered him to be "reactionary", and "against modernity and progress".<ref name="dj" />

==Reception and influence==
[[H. P. Lovecraft]] was an admirer of James's work, extolling the stories as the peak of the ghost story form in his essay "[[Supernatural Horror in Literature]]" (1927).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lovecraft |first1=Howard Phillips |title=Supernatural Horror in Literature |date=1945 |publisher=Dover Publications |location=New York |isbn=0-486-20105-8 |pages=100–105 |edition=Abramson}}</ref> Another renowned fan of James in the horror and fantasy genre was [[Clark Ashton Smith]], who wrote an essay on him.<ref>Smith, Clark Ashton (February 1934). "The Weird Works of M. R. James", ''[[The Fantasy Fan]]''. Reprinted in Smith, ''Planets and Dimensions''. Baltimore: Mirage Press, 1973.</ref> [[Michael Sadleir]] described James as "the best ghost-story writer England has ever produced".<ref name="ww">[[Michael Sadleir|Sadleir, Michael]] (1992). "Introduction". ''Collected Ghost Stories'' by M. R. James. Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions. {{ISBN|1853260533}}</ref> [[Marjorie Bowen]] also admired his work, referring to his ghost stories as "the supreme art of M. R. James".<ref>[[Jessica Amanda Salmonson|Salmonsom, Jessica Amanda]] (1998). "Introduction". In Bowen, Marjorie, ''Twilight and Other Supernatural Romances''. Ashcroft, BC: [[Ash-Tree Press]]. {{ISBN|1-899562-49-4}}</ref> [[Mary Butts]], another admirer, wrote the first critical essay on his work, "The Art of Montagu James", in the February 1934 issue of the ''[[London Mercury]]''.<ref>[[Harold Bloom]], Modern Horror Writers. Chelsea House Publishers, 1995 {{ISBN|0791022242}}, (p. 129)</ref> [[Manly Wade Wellman]] esteemed his fiction.<ref>"I admire and constantly reread James, [[Lord Dunsany|Dunsany]] and [[Lafcadio Hearn|Hearn]]....I wish I wrote things as well as James did.". Wellman interviewed in Jeffrey M. Elliot, ''Fantasy Voices: Interviews with American Fantasy Writers''. Borgo Press, San Bernardino. 1982 ISSN 0271-7808</ref> In ''[[The Great Railway Bazaar]]'', [[Paul Theroux]] refers to "[[The Mezzotint]]" as "the most frightening story I know". In his list "The 13 Most Terrifying Horror Stories", [[T. E. D. Klein]] placed James's "[[Casting the Runes]]" at number one.<ref>[[T. E. D. Klein|Klein, T. E. D.]] (July–August 1983), "The 13 Most Terrifying Horror Stories". ''[[Twilight Zone literature|Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine]]'', p. 63.</ref> [[E. F. Bleiler]] stated that James is "in the opinion of many, the foremost modern writer of supernatural fiction", and he described ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' as "one of the landmark books in the history of supernatural fiction" and characterised the stories in James's other collections as "first-rate stories" and "excellent stories".<ref>[[E. F. Bleiler|Bleiler, E. F.]] ''The Guide to Supernatural Fiction''. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1983. pp. 279–81. {{ISBN|0873382889}}</ref> [[Ruth Rendell]] has also expressed admiration for James's work, stating, "There are some authors one wished one had never read in order to have the joy of reading them for the first time. For me, M. R. James is one of these."<ref name="ww" /> [[David Langford]] has described James as the author of "the 20th century's most influential canon of ghost stories".<ref name=drl>[[David Langford|Langford, David]] (1998). "James, Montague Rhodes". In [[David Pringle|Pringle, David]], ed., ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers''. London: St. James Press. {{ISBN|1558622063}}</ref>

Sir [[John Betjeman]], in an introduction to Peter Haining's book about James, shows how influenced he was by James's work:
<blockquote>In the year 1920 I was a new boy at the [[Dragon School]], [[Oxford]], then called Lynam's, of which the headmaster was C. C. Lynam, known as 'the Skipper'. He dressed and looked like an old Sea Salt, and in his gruff voice would tell us stories by firelight in the boys' room of an evening with all the lights out and his back to the fire. I remember he told the stories as having happened to himself. ... they were the best stories I ever heard, and gave me an interest in old churches, and country houses, and Scandinavia that not even the mighty [[Hans Christian Andersen]] eclipsed.</blockquote>
Betjeman later discovered the stories were all based on those of M. R. James.

[[H. Russell Wakefield]]'s supernatural fiction was strongly influenced by the work of James.<ref>Morgan, Chris (1985). "H. Russell Wakefield". In [[E. F. Bleiler|Bleiler, E. F.]], ed., ''Supernatural Fiction Writers''. New York: Scribner's. pp. 617–622. {{ISBN|0-684-17808-7}}</ref> A large number of British writers deliberately wrote ghost stories in the Jamesian style; these writers, sometimes described as the "James Gang",<ref name=drl /> include [[A. N. L. Munby]], [[E. G. Swain]], "Ingulphus" (pseudonym of [[Arthur Gray (Master of Jesus)|Sir Arthur Gray]], 1852–1940), [[Amyas Northcote]]<ref>Wilson, Neil (2000). ''Shadows in the Attic: A Guide to British Supernatural Fiction, 1820–1950''. London: [[British Library]]. p. 383. {{ISBN|0712310746}}. "The author's [Northcote's] tales are firmly in the style of M. R. James' antiquarian school of traditional ghost stories."</ref> and [[R. H. Malden]], although some commentators consider their stories to be inferior to those of James himself.<ref name=jb /><ref>[[S. T. Joshi|Joshi, S. T.]] (2005). "Introduction". ''Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories'' by M. R. James. London: Penguin. {{ISBN|0-14-303939-3}}</ref> Although most of the early Jamesian writers were male, there were several notable female writers of such fiction, including Eleanor Scott (pseudonym of Helen M. Leys, 1892–1965) in the stories of her book ''Randall's Round'' (1929)<ref name="rp">Pardoe, Rosemary (2001). "The James Gang". ''Meddling with Ghosts: Stories in the Tradition of M. R. James''. London: [[British Library]]. pp. 267–87. {{ISBN|0-7123-1125-4}}</ref> and [[D. K. Broster]] in the collection ''Couching at the Door: Strange and Macabre Tales'' (1942).<ref name="rp"/> [[L. T. C. Rolt]] also modelled his ghost stories on James's work, but, unlike other Jamesian writers, set them in industrial locations, such as mines and railways.<ref name="rp"/><ref>Wilson, Neil (2000). ''Shadows in the Attic: A Guide to British Supernatural Fiction, 1820–1950''. London: [[British Library]]. pp. 433–34. {{ISBN|0712310746}}</ref>

James's stories continue to influence many of today's great supernatural writers, including [[Stephen King]] (who discusses James in the 1981 non-fiction book ''[[Danse Macabre (King book)|Danse Macabre]]'') and [[Ramsey Campbell]], who edited ''Meddling with Ghosts: Stories in the Tradition of M. R. James'' and wrote the short story "The Guide" in tribute.<ref>[[Ramsey Campbell|Campbell, Ramsey]] (2001). "Preface". ''Meddling with Ghosts: Stories in the Tradition of M. R. James''. London: [[British Library]]. {{ISBN|0-7123-1125-4}}</ref> The author [[John Bellairs]] paid homage to James by incorporating plot elements borrowed from James's ghost stories into several of his own juvenile mysteries. Several of [[Denis MacEoin|Jonathan Aycliffe]]'s novels, including ''Whispers in the Dark'' and ''The Matrix'' are influenced by James's work.<ref name="rp"/> Aycliffe/MacEoin studied for his PhD in Persian Studies at King's College, Cambridge. This makes three King's College authors of ghost stories (James, Munby and Aycliffe).

===Works inspired by James===
H. Russell Wakefield's story "{{-'}}He Cometh and He Passeth By!{{'-}}" (1928) is a homage to James's "Casting the Runes".<ref>[[Don D'Ammassa]], ''Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Horror Fiction''. Infobase Publishing, 2009. {{ISBN|1438109091}} (pp. 159–160).</ref>

[[W. F. Harvey]]'s ghost story "The Ankardyne Pew" (1928) is also a homage to James's work, which Harvey admired.<ref>[[A. Langley Searles|Searles, A. L.]] (1983). "The Short Fiction of Harvey". In Frank N. Magill, ed., ''Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature'', Vol 3. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press. pp. 1532–1535. {{ISBN|0-89356-450-8}}</ref>

The composer [[Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji]] wrote two pieces for piano with a link to James: ''Quaere reliqua hujus materiei inter secretiora'' (1940), inspired by "Count Magnus", and ''St. Bertrand de Comminges: "He was laughing in the tower"'' (1941), inspired by "Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book".

[[Gerald Heard]]'s novel ''The Black Fox'', published in 1950, is an occult thriller inspired by "The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral".<ref name="rp" />

[[Kingsley Amis]]'s 1969 novel ''[[The Green Man (Amis novel)|The Green Man]]'' is partly a homage to James's ghost stories.<ref name="rp" />

Between 1976 and 1992, Sheila Hodgson authored and produced for [[BBC Radio 4]] a series of plays which portrayed M. R. James as the diarist of a series of fictional ghost stories, mainly inspired by fragments referred to in his essay "Stories I Have Tried to Write". These consisted of ''Whisper in the Ear'' (October 1976), ''Turn, Turn, Turn'' (March 1977), ''The Backward Glance'' (22 September 1977), ''Here Am I, Where Are You?'' (29 December 1977), ''Echoes from the Abbey'' (21 November 1984), ''The Lodestone'' (19 April 1989), and ''The Boat Hook'' (15 April 1992). David March appeared as James in all but the final two, which starred [[Michael Williams (actor)|Michael Williams]]. [[Raidió Teilifís Éireann]] also broadcast ''The Fellow Travellers'', with Aiden Grennell as James, on 20 February 1994.<ref>{{cite web |last=Pardoe |first=Rosemary |title=M. R. James on TV, Radio and Film |url=http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pardos/MediaList.html |work=Ghosts and Scholars |date=30 August 2007 |access-date=30 September 2009}}</ref> All the stories later appeared in Hodgson's collection ''The Fellow Travellers and Other Ghost Stories'' ([[Ash-Tree Press]], 1998).

On Christmas Day 1987, ''The Teeth of Abbot Thomas'', a James parody by Stephen Sheridan, was broadcast on Radio 4. It starred [[Alfred Marks]] (as Abbot Thomas), [[Robert Bathurst]], [[Denise Coffey]], [[Jonathan Adams (British actor)|Jonathan Adams]] and [[Bill Wallis]].

In 1989, [[Ramsey Campbell]] published the short story "The Guide", which takes an antiquarian on a macabre journey to a ruined church after following marginalia in a copy of James's guidebook ''Suffolk and Norfolk''. In 2001, Campbell edited the anthology ''Meddling with Ghosts: Stories in the Tradition of M. R. James''.

The novelist [[James Hynes]] wrote an updated version of "Casting the Runes" in his 1997 story collection ''[[Publish and Perish]]''.

In 2003, Radio 4 broadcast ''The House at World's End'' by Stephen Sheridan. A pastiche of James's work, it contained numerous echoes of his stories while offering a fictional account of how he became interested in the supernatural. The older James was played by [[John Rowe (actor)|John Rowe]], and the younger James by Jonathan Keeble.

Chris Priestley's ''Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror'' (2007) is a volume of ghost stories influenced by James in mood, atmosphere, and subject matter, as the title suggests.

In 2008 the English experimental [[neofolk]] duo The Triple Tree, featuring [[Tony Wakeford]] and Andrew King from [[Sol Invictus (band)|Sol Invictus]], released the album ''Ghosts'' on which all but three songs were based upon the stories of James.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Triple-Tree-Ghosts/release/1482003|title=The Triple Tree-Ghosts|website=[[Discogs]]|date=September 2008 |access-date=15 October 2015}}</ref> One of the songs, "Three Crowns" (based on the short story "A Warning to the Curious"), also appeared on the compilation album ''John Barleycorn Reborn'' (2007).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Various-John-Barleycorn-Reborn/release/1070437|title=Various-John Barleycorn Reborn|website=[[Discogs]]|date=September 2007 |access-date=15 October 2015}}</ref>

[[Helen Grant (author)|Helen Grant]]'s novel ''The Glass Demon'' (2010) was inspired by "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Grant|first1=Helen|url=https://helengrantbooks.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-antiquary-and-crocodile-mrjames.html|title=The Antiquary and the Crocodile: M. R. James Resources|date=20 January 2017|website=Helen Grant Blog|access-date=25 February 2024}}</ref>

In February 2012, the UK [[psychedelic rock|psychedelic]] band [[The Future Kings of England]] released their 4th album, ''Who Is This Who Is Coming'', based on James's {{"-}}[['Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad']]{{-"}}. An instrumental work, it evokes the story from beginning to end, with the tracks segueing into one another to form a continuous piece of music.

On 23 February 2012 the [[Royal Mail]] released a stamp featuring James as part its "Britons of Distinction" series.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.royalmail.com/node/6424655 |title=Britons of Distinction |work=Royal Mail|date= 23 February 2012}}</ref>

In 2013, the [[Fan Museum]] in London hosted two performances of ''The Laws of Shadows'', a play by Adrian Drew about M. R. James. The play is set in James's rooms at Cambridge University and deals with his relationships with his colleague [[E. F. Benson]] and the young artist James McBryde.<ref>"[http://www.thefanmuseum.org.uk/events.html In Celebration 2013: The Laws of Shadows] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108021804/http://www.thefanmuseum.org.uk/previous1.html |date=8 November 2014 }}". The Fan Museum, Greenwich, London. Retrieved 16 September 2013.</ref>

On 9 January 2019, in the third episode of the seventh series of the [[BBC One]] programme ''[[Father Brown (2013 TV series)|Father Brown]]'', titled "The Whistle in the Dark", the character Professor Robert Wiseman reads a collection of ghost stories by M. R. James and later suggests that the whistle in his possession is the one described in James's {{" '}}Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad{{' "}}.

Comedian and writer [[John Finnemore]] is a fan of the ghost stories of M. R. James.<ref>"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvoY5dt9rJ8]". [[YouTube]]. Retrieved 28 August 2021.{{dead link|date=October 2024}}</ref> His radio sketch series ''[[John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme]]'', first broadcast in 2011, features the recurring character of a storyteller (a fictionalised version of Finnemore) who tells tall tales partly influenced by M. R. James's ghost stories. During the ninth series broadcast in 2021, which underwent a format change due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic|coronavirus pandemic]], Oswald 'Uncle Newt' Nightingale, analogous with Finnemore's storyteller character, meets M. R. James during the Christmas of 1898 as a young boy, who proceeds to tell him the story of ''The Rose Garden''. Later in Uncle Newt's life (or earlier in the series), he tells an iteration of said story whilst babysitting Deborah and Myra Wilkinson.

In 2022, British [[post punk]] band [[Funboy Five]] released "Kissing the Ghost of M R James"<ref>{{cite web |title=Kissing The Ghost Of M R James by Funboy Five |url=https://funboyfive.bandcamp.com/track/kissing-the-ghost-of-m-r-james |website=Bandcamp |access-date=14 March 2022}}</ref> and "A Warning to the Curious (Disturbed Mix)",<ref>{{cite web |title=A Warning To The Curious (Disturbed Mix) by Funboy Five |url=https://funboyfive.bandcamp.com/track/a-warning-to-the-curious-disturbed-mix |website=Bandcamp |access-date=14 March 2022}}</ref> a remix of a song, based on the James story, that first appeared on their 2019 release ''[[An Autumn Collection]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=An Autumn Collection by Funboy Five |url=https://funboyfive.bandcamp.com/album/an-autumn-collection |website=Bandcamp |access-date=14 March 2022}}</ref>

==Adaptations==
{{main|Adaptations of works by M. R. James}}
There have been numerous adaptations of the works of M. R. James for radio and television, as well as a 1957 film adaptation of "Casting the Runes" by [[Jacques Tourneur]], titled ''[[Night of the Demon]]'' (US title ''Curse of the Demon'').

== Personal life ==

James became guardian to Jane, the daughter of James and Gwendolen McBryde, after James McBryde's death, which occurred shortly after their marriage, when he was 29 or 30. His subsequent letters to Jane and Gwendolen were published in 1956 as ''Letters to a Friend'', which Gwendolen (also an artist and writer) edited.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mrs Gwendolen McBryde |url=https://uploads.guim.co.uk/2020/02/20/23_dec_58.jpg |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=23 December 1958}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Letters to a Friend by M.R. James : Gwendolen McBryde .: Near Fine Hardcover (1956) 1st Edition |url=https://www.abebooks.co.uk/first-edition/Letters-Friend-M.R-James-Gwendolen-McBryde/31906437735/bd |website=ABE Books |publisher=Booklore |access-date=19 March 2025}}</ref>

==Works==

===Scholarly works===
[[File:Fitwilliam James Plate 13 0274.jpg|thumb|The Virgin Mary: page from a 15th-century book of hours from the catalogue of the Fitzwilliam Museum]]
* [https://archive.org/details/b29003507 ''A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Peterhouse'']. Cambridge University Press, 1899. Reissued by the publisher, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-108-00307-0}}
*''[https://archive.org/details/waltermapdenugis00mapwuoft Walter Map : De Nugis Curialium]'' (ed.) Anecdota Oxoniensia; Mediaeval and Modern Series 14. Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1914. 
*''A Descriptive Catalogue of the Library of Samuel Pepys''. Sidgwick and Jackson, 1923. Reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-108-00205-9}}
*[https://archive.org/details/descriptivecatal00fitz_0 ''A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Fitzwilliam Museum'']. Cambridge University Press, 1895. Reissued by the publisher, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-108-00396-4}}
*''A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge''. [https://archive.org/details/descriptivecatal0001corp Volume 1]; [https://archive.org/details/descriptivecatal0002corp Volume 2]. Cambridge University Press, 1912. Reissued by the publisher, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-108-00485-5}}<ref>[http://www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/parker/printed_catalogue.php Corpus Christi College Cambridge: The Parker Library<!-- bot-generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071003005044/http://www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/parker/printed_catalogue.php|date=3 October 2007}} at www.corpus.cam.ac.uk</ref>
*''A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Gonville and Caius College''. [https://archive.org/details/descriptivecatal0001gonv Volume 1]; [https://archive.org/details/descriptivecatal0002gonv Volume 2]. Cambridge University Press, 1907. Reissued by the publisher, 2009; {{ISBN|978-1-108-00248-6}}
*[https://archive.org/details/b29003222 ''A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Jesus College'']. Clay and Sons, 1895. Reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-108-00351-3}}
*[https://archive.org/download/catofmanuscripts00jamesuoft/catofmanuscripts00jamesuoft.pdf ''A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Pembroke College, Cambridge'']. Cambridge University Press, 1905. Reissued by the publisher, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-108-00028-4}}
*[https://archive.org/details/descriptivecata00stjo ''A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of St John's College, Cambridge'']. Cambridge University Press, 1913. Reissued by the publisher, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-108-00310-0}}
*[http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/3223654 St. George's Chapel, Windsor : the woodwork of the choir]. Windsor : Oxley & Son, 1933.
[[File:Fitwilliam McLean James Plate 77 0609.jpg|thumb|Page of a 12th-century English manuscript from the catalogue of the McClean Collection, Cambridge]]
*[https://archive.org/details/descriptivecatal00fitz ''A Descriptive Catalogue of the McClean Collection of Manuscripts in the Fitzwilliam Museum'']. Cambridge University Press, 1913. Reissued by the publisher, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-108-00309-4}}
*''Apocrypha Anecdota''. 1893–1897.
*''Descriptive Catalogues of the Manuscripts in the Libraries of Some Cambridge Colleges''. Cambridge University Press, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-108-00258-5}}
*''Address at the Unveiling of the Roll of Honour of the Cambridge Tipperary Club.''. 1916.
*[https://archive.org/details/henrythesixth00jameuoft ''Henry the Sixth: A Reprint of John Blacman's Memoir'']. 1919.<ref>Blakman, J., James, M. R. (Montague Rhodes)., Rogers, B. (1919). [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000309954/Home Henry the Sixth: a reprint of John Blacman's memoir]. Cambridge [Eng.]: The University Press.</ref>
*''Lists of manuscripts formerly in Peterborough Abbey library: with preface and identifications''. Oxford University Press, 1926. Reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. {{ISBN|978-1-108-01135-8}}
*''New and Old at Cambridge' article on the Cambridge of 1882. 'Fifty Years', various contributors, Thornton Butterworth, 1932
*[[iarchive:latininfancygosp0000unse|''Latin Infancy Gospels: A New Text, With a Parallel Version from Irish''.]] Cambridge University Press, 1927.
*''The Apocalypse in Art''. [[Schweich Lectures]] for 1927.
*[https://archive.org/details/apocryphalnewtes0000unse_b9n3 ''The Apocryphal New Testament'']. 1924.
*''The Bestiary: Being a Reproduction in Full of the Manuscript Ii.4.26 in the University Library, Cambridge''. Printed for the Roxburghe club, by John Johnson at the University Press, 1928.
*[https://archive.org/details/biblicalantiquit00pseu_0 ''The Biblical Antiquities of Philo'']. 1917.
*''[https://web.archive.org/web/20160810201532/http://www.filbluz.ca/resources/JAMES_lostapocryphaofo00.pdf The Lost Apocrypha of the Old Testament]''. Vol. 1, 1920.
*[https://archive.org/details/cu31924005773548 ''The Wanderings and Homes of Manuscripts'']. 1919.
*''Two Ancient English Scholars: St Aldhelm and William of Malmesbury''. 1931.
*[https://archive.org/details/westernmanuscrip00emma_0 ''The Western Manuscripts in the Library of Emmanuel College'']. Cambridge University Press, 1904. Reissued by the publisher, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-108-00308-7}}
*''The Western Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College''. [https://archive.org/details/westernmanuscrip0001trin Volume 1]; [https://archive.org/details/westernmanuscrip0000trin Volume 2]; [https://archive.org/details/westernmanuscrip0003trin Volume 3]; [https://archive.org/details/westernmanuscrip0000trin_c5t9/page/n5/mode/2up Volume 4]. Cambridge University Press, 1904. Reissued by the publisher, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-108-00288-2}}

===Ghost stories===

====First book publications====
*''[[Ghost Stories of an Antiquary]]''. 1904. 8 stories.
*''[[More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary]]''. 1911. 7 stories.
*''[[A Thin Ghost and Others]]''. 1919. 5 stories.
*''[[A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories]]''. 1925. 6 stories.
*''[[Wailing Well]]''. 1928 (tale), Mill House Press, [[Stanford Dingley]].

====First magazine publication of uncollected tales====
*"[[After Dark in the Playing Fields]]", in ''College Days'' (Eton ephemeral magazine), no. 10 (28 June 1924), pp.&nbsp;311–312, 314
*"[[There Was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard]]", in ''Snapdragon'' (Eton ephemeral magazine), 6 December 1924, pp.&nbsp;4–5
*"[[Rats (short story)|Rats]]", in ''At Random'' (Eton ephemeral magazine), 23 March 1929, pp.&nbsp;12–14
*"[[The Experiment: A New Year's Eve Ghost Story]]", in ''[[Morning Post]]'', 31 December 1931, p.&nbsp;8
*"[[The Malice of Inanimate Objects]]", in ''The Masquerade'' (Eton ephemeral magazine), no. 1 (June 1933), pp.&nbsp;29–32
*"[[A Vignette]]", written 1935, in ''[[London Mercury]]'' 35 (November 1936), pp.&nbsp;18–22

====Reprint collections====
*''[[The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James]]''. 1931. Contains the 26 stories from the original four books, plus "After Dark in the Playing Fields" (1924), "There Was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard" (1924), "Wailing Well" (1928), and "Rats" (1929). It does not include three stories completed between 1931 and James's death in 1936.
*''Best Ghost Stories of M. R. James''. 1944.
*''The Ghost Stories of M. R. James''. 1986. Selection by Michael Cox, including an excellent introduction with numerous photographs.
*''Two Ghost Stories: A Centenary''. 1993.
*''The Fenstanton Witch and Others: M. R. James in Ghosts and Scholars''. 1999. Contains seven unpublished or unfinished tales or drafts: "A Night in King's College Chapel" (1892?), "[[The Fenstanton Witch]]" (1924?), "John Humphreys" (unfinished, pre-1911), "Marcilly-le-Hayer"(story draft, pre-1929), "Speaker Lenthall's Tomb" (unfinished, 1890s?), "The Game of Bear" (unfinished) and "Merfield House" (unfinished). 
*''A Pleasing Terror: The Complete Supernatural Writings''. 2001. Ash-Tree Press. Contains 40 stories: the 30 stories from ''Collected Ghost Stories'', the three tales published after them and the seven items from ''The Fenstanton Witch and Others''. It also includes some related non-fiction by James and some writings about him by others. It is the only complete collection of his ghost fiction, although revised versions of unfinished tales and drafts have subsequently appeared on the Ghosts and Scholars website, following further deciphering of James's handwriting.
*''Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories''. 2005. Edited, with an introduction and notes, by [[S. T. Joshi]].
*''The Haunted Dolls' House and Other Ghost Stories''. 2006. Edited, with an introduction and notes, by S. T. Joshi.
*''Curious Warnings: The Complete Ghost Stories of M. R. James''. 2012. Edited, reparagraphing the text for the modern reader, by Stephen Jones.

===Guidebooks===
*''Abbeys''. 1925.
*''Suffolk and Norfolk''. 1930.

===Children's books===
* ''The Five Jars''. 1922.
* As translator: ''Forty-Two Stories'', by [[Hans Christian Andersen]], translated and with an introduction by M. R. James. 1930.

===Memoirs===
* ''Eton and King's, Recollections Mostly Trivial, 1875–1925'', Cambridge University Press, 1925. {{ISBN|978-1-108-03053-3}}.

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Further reading==
*Bleiler, E. F. ''The Checklist of Fantastic Literature''. Shasta Publishers, 1948.
*Bloom, Clive. "M. R. James and His Fiction." in Clive Bloom, ed., ''Creepers: British Horror and Fantasy in the Twentieth Century.'' London and Boulder CO: Pluto Press, 1993, pp.&nbsp;64–71.
*Cox, Michael. ''M. R. James: An Informal Portrait''. Oxford University Press, 1983. {{ISBN|0-19-211765-3}}.
*[[Peter Haining (author)|Haining, Peter]]. ''M. R. James: Book of the Supernatural''. W. Foulsham, 1979. {{ISBN|0-572-01048-6}}
*James, M. R. ''A Pleasing Terror: The Complete Supernatural Writings'', ed. Christopher Roden and Barbara Roden. [[Ash-Tree Press]], 2001. {{ISBN|1-55310-024-7}}.
*[[S. T. Joshi|Joshi, S. T.]] Introductions to ''Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories''. Penguin Classics, 2005. {{ISBN|0-14-303939-3}} and ''The Haunted Dolls' House and Other Ghost Stories''. Penguin Classics, 2006. {{ISBN|0-14-303992-X}}.
*{{cite book |last=Lubbock |first=S. G. |title=A Memoir of Montague Rhodes James ... with a list of his writings |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1939 }}
*{{cite book |last=Murphy |first=Patrick J. |title=Medieval Studies and the Ghost Stories of M. R. James |location=University Park, Penn. |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |year=2017 |isbn=9780271077710 }}
*{{cite book |last=Pfaff |first=Richard William |title=Montague Rhodes James |url=https://archive.org/details/montaguerhodesja0000pfaf |url-access=registration |publisher=Scolar Press |location=London |year=1980 |isbn=0859675548 }} (concentrates on his scholarly work)
*[[Jack Sullivan (literary scholar)|Sullivan, Jack]]. ''Elegant Nightmares: The English Ghost Story from Le Fanu to Blackwood''. Ohio University Press, 1980. {{ISBN|0-8214-0374-5}}.
*Tolhurst, Peter. ''East Anglia—a Literary Pilgrimage''. Black Dog Books, Bungay, 1996. {{ISBN|0-9528839-0-2}}. (pp.&nbsp;99–101).
*[[Edward Wagenknecht|Wagenknecht, Edward]]. ''Seven Masters of Supernatural Fiction''. Greenwood Press, 1991. {{ISBN|0-313-27960-8}}.
* Weighell, Ron. [http://www.pardoes.info/roanddarroll/ArchiveDark.html Dark Devotions: M. R. James and the Magical Tradition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210706004222/http://www.pardoes.info/roanddarroll/ArchiveDark.html |date=6 July 2021 }}, ''Ghosts and Scholars'' 6 (1984):20–30

==External links==
{{sister project links|b=no|n=no|v=no|wikt=no|author=yes|commonscat=yes|s=Montague Rhodes James|d=Q963715}}
;Digital collections
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/m-r-james}}
* {{gutenberg author|id=2768|name=M. R. James}}
* {{FadedPage|id=James, M. R. (Montague Rhodes)|name=M. R. (Montague Rhodes) James|author=yes}}
* {{librivox author|id=2959}}
* [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/publics/mrjames/MRJBIBL.htm A complete chronological bibliography of all of his writings] hosted by the [[University of Pennsylvania]] School of Arts and Sciences
* [https://shadowsatthedoor.com/ ''Shadows at the Door: The Podcast''], a series of full-cast adaptations of James' stories

;Analysis and scholarship
* ''[http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pardos/GS.html Ghosts & Scholars]'' – online magazine devoted to James and related literature and writers
* [http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pardos/MRJStories.html Chronological listing of M. R. James's ghost stories] – compiled by Rosemary Pardoe, 2007
* [http://www.thin-ghost.org A Thin Ghost] – collections include comprehensive film & TV listing, bibliography of fictional works, and James-related illustrations
* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/local/suffolk/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8319000/8319392.stm BBC Suffolk feature about M. R. James] – concerning the author's links with Great Livermere and Suffolk
* "[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/02/13/fright-nights-2 Fright Nights: The Horror of M. R. James]" – article by Anthony Lane in ''[[The New Yorker]]''
* [https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/podcast/great-thinkers-uta-frith-m-r-james Great Thinkers: Uta Frith FBA on M. R. James FBA] podcast, The British Academy
* {{ISFDB name |name=M. R. James}}
* {{IMDb name|0416721}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-aca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John Henry Middleton]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=Director of the [[Fitzwilliam Museum]]|years=1893–1908}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Sir Sydney Cockerell]]}}
{{s-bef|before=Augustus Austen Leigh}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[King's College, Cambridge|Provost of King's College, Cambridge]]|years=1905–1918}} 
{{s-aft|after=Walter Durnford}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Edmond Warre]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Provost of Eton]]|years=1918–1936}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Hugh Cecil, 1st Baron Quickswood|Lord Hugh Cecil]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Works of M. R. James}}
{{Fitzwilliam Museum directors}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, M. R.}}
[[Category:M. R. James| ]]
[[Category:1862 births]]
[[Category:1936 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Goodnestone, Dover]]
[[Category:People educated at Temple Grove School]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fellows of King's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Provosts of King's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Directors of the Fitzwilliam Museum]]
[[Category:Provosts of Eton College]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London]]
[[Category:British medievalists]]
[[Category:English antiquarians]]
[[Category:20th-century English writers]]
[[Category:English short story writers]]
[[Category:British ghost story writers]]
[[Category:English horror writers]]
[[Category:English fantasy writers]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of Merit]]
[[Category:Vice-chancellors of the University of Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fellows of the British Academy]]
[[Category:English bibliographers]]
[[Category:Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America]]
[[Category:English male short story writers]]
[[Category:British weird fiction writers]]