Saturday, February 17, 2024

THE SPECTRES OF M. R. JAMES by Richard Svensson

 





THE SPECTRES OF M. R. JAMES

written and illustrated by Richard Svensson

M. R. James is one of the most famous writers of classic British ghost stories. His tales feature academically-minded protagonists investigating university libraries, old abbeys, and country manors where they come across strange and malevolent supernatural entitites. His tales are colorful, even quaint at times, but a slow, suspenseful dread gradually creeps in until the final horror is revealed.  

Richard Svensson has illustrated some of most iconic beings from these stories. At no more than 60 pages, it’s a conveniently small book you can keep by your bed to glance at as you’re falling asleep, or leaf through while you’re in the waiting room at a doctor’s office.

Seeing all these stories collected together, it’s surprising to realize just how many “monsters” were in James’ “ghost stories”.  There’s the weird, tentacled horror of “The Treasure of Abbot Thomas”, the unseen, hairy demon of “Casting the Runes”, and the gigantic monstrous sawflies of “The Residence at Whitminster”. Even James’ more traditional ghosts can be quite bizarre, such as the frog-man of “The Haunted Dollhouse”, the hallucinatory pink-faced entity from “The Rose Garden”, or the famous bed-sheet phantom of “Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad.”

You can get a copy of The Spectres of M R James at Lulu.com

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