Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories: The Complete Ghost Stories of M. R. James, Volume 1 (Penguin Classics)

There are many M.R. James collections available. The two volumes of the Penguin collection (this and The Haunted Doll's House And Other Ghost Stories ) have the advantage of containing all of his stories, plus the prefaces he wrote for the collections published in his lifetime, plus a few other essays of his on ghost stories. The stories are arranged chronologically (with this volume containing the earlier stories), allowing the reader to trace the evolution of James's style. His best stories are scattered across the two volumes.It should be admitted that the pleasures of James's stories can be subtle. Generally, they provide a pleasant chill, rather than the sort of visceral thrills that those raised on slasher flicks might expect. True, there is a surprising physicality to many of the tales, with malignant forces more likely to manifest as hairy beasts than as spectral ladies. Furthermore, some of James's earlier tales are fairly straight-forward horror stories of gore and revenge. However, as he develops as a writer, his tales become more skeletal and more sophisticated. It is in the framing of them that he excels: the atmospheric evocations of time and place; the superficially fussy, but secretly gymnastic authorial voice, which occasionally performs surprising leaps; and, most of all, the textual experiments. My favourite tales are those told through fragments of found documents, folk tales and gossip. The closer James clings to his background as an antiquary, the more seemingly authentic, and thus chilling, are his tales.

The following review is for the Penguin paperback book "Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories: The Complete Ghost Stories of M.R. James (volume 1)", not the audiobook.This Penguin edition, when combined with its sister volume  The Haunted Dolls' House and Other Ghost Stories (volume 2)  form the most definitive binding of M.R. James's ghost stories that is widely available. Comprising James's first two ghost story books ("Ghost Stories of an Antiquary" and "More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary") this edition is fully annotated and with a few extras thrown in. Although James's works are supremely accessible and highly readable, there are a few references which may be just a bit too oblique for us nowadays - there are few Edwardian scholars like James around. The editors come to the rescue here with comprehensive notes at the back, together with translations of passages of Latin which James left as it was.The most interesting added bonus here is "A Night In King's College Chapel", thought to be M.R. James's very first ghost story, and not included in the other widely available published works. It's ultimately a little disappointing, and having none of the terror and atmosphere of his other works, but nevertheless it's a real privelige to read this rare work and see where it all began.As for the stories themselves, many of James's best known are in this volume; "Lost Hearts", "The Treasure of Abbott Thomas", and perhaps the best known "Oh Whistle, and I'll Come To You My Lad". The best way to enjoy these is to space them out - they are all quite short and read one after another they loose their impact. Most follow the well known Jamesian formula of an academic or member of the clergy inadvertently summoning a malevolent force. Widely considered to be the master of his genre, James creates a superbly chilling atmosphere in just a few pages.There are lots of different editions of M.R. James's ghost stories available. These Penguin ones do work out among the most expensive considering two volumes are involved, but they are worthwhile for the bonus stories and essays not found in the others, and for the annotations for the interested reader.

First off, if you thinking of buying this CD you probably will be buying a "preloved" copy. That may also suggest you are already familiar with the stories of M R James. So, what do you get? Its 2 CD's of Derek Jacobi reading 5 of M. R. James's stories, supernatural may be a more accurate title than ghost stories. Derek Jacobi reads them well and develops a good atmosphere and is true to the written stories, so no problems there. I first borrowed this CD from my local library and then bought it from Amazon, so knew what I was buying. A potential buyer who had perhaps already read the stories and possibly already owned other audio CD's I think could buy this CD with confidence that they would enjoy it. A potential buyer with no or limited knowledge of M. R. James's work and background could well enjoy and be "pleasantly scared" by the stories but, could equally, find them not very scary and "twee." This is not so say that M. R. James was a bad writer or to downplay his importance in the change from "gothic" ghost stories to that we have today, but we have moved on since the Edwardian era. The choice of stories would, I suggest, appeal to someone who already had some knowledge of M. R. James's work as " A View From A Hill," and "The Ash Tree" are very good, "Rats," and "A School Story," are shorter and lesser stories, which may have had more resonance when they were published. "The Story Of A Disappearance" is the final story. None of these stories are very well known. Volume 2 of Ghost Stories also available includes "A Warning to The Curious," The Stalls Of Barchester Cathedral" and "The Mezzotint" which are more well known, typical of M. R. James's work and, I would suggest, this CD would be a better choice for "entry level."In conclusion, I enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, these 2 CD's which are well done and so get 5, stars but appreciate the stories may appear tame by today's standards.