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Montague Rhodes James (Goodnestone Parsonage, August 1, 1862 – June 12, 1936) was probably the most effective ghost-story writer, someone who certainly managed to perfect this particular genre of typically English supernatural literature.
In reality, the Eton college master was better known for his work as a renowned medievalist to which he dedicated remarkable studies still remembered today as “The Apocalypse in Art” and “New Testament Apocryph”. In any case, he owes his fame to his unforgettable ghost stories that place him on par with distinguished writers like H.P. Lovecraft and Jean Ray.
All of his stories are encapsulated in four rare 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). All the stories present here were later included in the renowned 1931 collection “Collected Ghost Stories”.
The cultural and historical background in which his texts are set places him in the tradition of Anglo-Saxon literature. However, M.R. James is an innovator who, while having his roots in Gothic fiction, distances himself from the more predictable stereotypes of the genre. His stories indeed have a solid basis in everyday reality.
The effectiveness with which he manages to evoke terror stems precisely from the contrast between the tranquility of his settings (ancient, dusty “colleges” laden with mystery, Gothic cathedrals described with the detail of a scholar, ancient mansions), and the terror that often unexpectedly peers out in the form of ghosts that frequently take on repugnant and surprising monstrous and demonic entities.
This technique is still the most effective today in evoking the authentic thrill of the irrational that lurks in everyday life and, in this sense, the writer is to be considered one of the greatest innovators of terror literature, to which many later epigones were inspired.
Among his most effective and anthologized stories is the famous “Count Magnus”, a variation on the vampire theme that greatly impressed Lovecraft. Also noteworthy is “The Mezzotint”, a brilliant depiction of the disturbing and horrible transformations that occur on an ancient print depicting an old villa. Also remarkable is “The Treasure of Abbot Thomas”, in which a learned antiquarian discovers a horrible secret hidden inside a well.
Nonetheless, all of his work is extraordinary and is characterized by an elegant, refined, and cultured style that earned him the praises of Dino Buzzati: the famous Italian writer indeed wrote the introduction to a splendid collection of M.R. James published by the publisher Bompiani in the distinguished series of fantastic fiction “Il Pesanervi” (“Cuori Strappati”, named after one of the most terrifying texts by M.R. James).
Previously, the English writer was already introduced to the Italian audience in the famous anthology “Storie di fantasmi”. This book, edited by Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini in 1960, had the merit of bringing authors such as Machen and Lovecraft to the broad public. In 2007, another stunning anthology of ghost stories by semi-unknown Anglo-Saxon authors (“Fantasmi in biblioteca”) was published, containing two previously unpublished stories by M.R. James in Italy.
Today, his stories are still highly enjoyable, and, in contrast to other Gothic novel authors who appear dated, they have not aged, retaining all their sophisticated aura full of ancient secrets. This further validates the merits of his work, which has been praised by modern horror writer Ramsey Campbell.
The ancient charm of the Anglo-Saxon ghost story has also piqued the interest of the leader of the musical group Current 93, David Tibet, who, in his personal rediscovery of English ghost story classics, came into possession of the original edition of “Collected Ghost Stories”.
David Tibet subsequently founded the Ghost Story Press, a publishing house entirely dedicated to the rediscovery of lesser-known classics of British supernatural literature, in which a collection by M.R. James (“Two Ghost Stories: a Centenary” – 1993 – Ghost Story Press) was also published.
Essential Italian Bibliography
Storie di Fantasmi. Racconti del soprannaturale (Carlo FRUTTERO, Franco LUCENTINI – Einaudi – 1960)
Cuori strappati (from: The Collected Ghost Stories of M.R. James, 1931 – March 3, 1967, Il Pesanervi. Masterpieces of Fantastic Literature – Bompiani, Milan)
All the Stories (Theoria – 1989)
Cuori strappati (The Collected Ghost Stories of M.R. James, 1931, Tascabili Bompiani – 1990)
Ghosts and Other Horrors (December 27, 1995, Grandi Tascabili Economici 369, Newton & Compton, Rome)
All the Stories (February 1997, Ritmi 68, Edizioni Theoria, Rome-Naples)
Ghosts in the Library (M.R. James and others, May 2007, Il Piacere di Leggere, Edizioni Sylvestre Bonnard, Milan)
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