MORE M.R.JAMES

For this month’s article I wanted to return to one I’ve written about before.  M.R. James is one of my absolute favorite writers.  In my previous article (found at http://www.vintagehorror.com/node/21) I spent more time on his life but didn’t go into much detail on his stories.  With this one I will not retread his history but instead focus on some of his lesser-known tales of terror.  More than likely I will return to the brilliant works of M.R. James again sometime in the future.
 
1- “Cannon Alberic’s Scrap-Book” (1895) – Denistoun is a man studying a “decaying” town’s church.  He is seeking to discover some rare old books or manuscripts.  During his long study there the sacristan attends him.  The sacristan seems on edge, constantly looking behind him and growing fearful at sounds in the building.  He refuses to leave Denistoun there alone however, despite his obvious desire to depart the place.  As they are leaving the sacristan offers to show Denistoun something he has at his house he thinks might interest him.  Once there he is shown an old book filled with extremely valuable manuscripts and an unsettling picture of a creature hunched over the body of someone it has just slain.  Frightened armed guards who appear to be awaiting orders from their on-looking king surround it.  He describes the creature in part as looking like: “… one of those awful bird-catching spiders of South America translated to human form… ”.  When he asks how much the man would be willing to sell the book for, he is told a price much lower than its value, but the sacristan refuses to take anymore for it.  After Denistoun obtains the book and is alone in his room, he begins to realize that he has gotten more than he bargained for.
2- “The Rose Garden” (1911) – When work to clear a rough spot of land in order to plant a rose garden is begun, it comes to light that it is the same spot where a summerhouse used to stand.   Around that time the owners start to have strange and frightening dreams about an old execution trial.
3- “The Tractate Middoth” (1911) – A young man at a library named Mr. Garrett is asked to assist a Mr. Eldred in locating a book called The Tractate Middoth.  Garrett goes to retrieve the book buts finds it is checked out.  He tells Mr. Eldred he believes the man who has it should be leaving the library soon if he should like to wait and meet him. Eldred makes a rather nervous retreat of the library after hearing the description of the man with the book.  The next day when Garrett goes to check on the book for Eldred’s return, he is horrified to find the same man, who he had not got a good look at before, with the book.  The appearance of this hideous being terrifies Garrett.  As the story goes on Garrett learns that the book has something valuable hidden in it, and it appears the monstrous entity is tied to it as well.
4- “The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral” (1910) – A new Archdeacon is cataloging manuscripts in a college library.  While doing so he finds a box that once belonged to a man who rose quickly to the rank of Archdeacon of Barchester Cathedral and who died in a mysterious, violent manner.  He is given permission to take the box and examine its contents.   Inside he finds mostly journals and letters.   The journal of the deceased Archdeacon recounts the odd events before his death.  The stall that belonged to him was adorned with three small, grotesque statuettes.  One looks like some sort of crouching cat, another is a figure seated on a throne that James describes in this passage.  “His feet are studiously concealed by the long robe in which he is draped: but neither the crown nor the cap which he wears suffice to hide the prick-ears and curving horns which betray his Tartarean origin; and the hand which rests upon his knee is armed with talons of horrifying length and sharpness.”  The last is situated between those two figures and looks like a rent flesh, sunken cheeked monk that he describes as the “King of Terrors”.   As the journal goes on the new Archdeacon begins to hear disembodied voices and movements along with a creeping fear when he is in the place alone as dark forces begin to make their presence known to him.
5- “Martin’s Close” (1911) – A man finds a manuscript detailing an old murder trial he was interested in after being shown a walled-in piece of land where the murderer is said to be buried.  George Martin, a well-to-do handsome young man, is accused of killing an unattractive mentally handicapped girl that he used to pretend to be interested in.  He used to walk down her street singing a song that she would sing the corresponding response to.  After he became engaged to a woman of his own status, his new fiancé demanded he stop this nonsense.  The other girl however refused to let him go and in the end she is found murdered.  During the subsequent trial several people report seeing or hearing the girl singing after her death.
6- “Mr. Humphreys and His Inheritance” (1911) –Humphreys inherits a large house with a nearby temple and maze from a recently deceased uncle he never met.  The maze draws the most interest in this story as it has many cryptic puzzles and clues surrounding it.  The translated motto over the maze entrance reads, “My secret is for me and for the children of my house.”  In the center of the maze he finds what he at first thinks is a sundial but after closer study he finds it holds a globe atop it.  The globe has several unsettling designs on it that hint at dark demonic things.  Humphreys seems able to easily find his way about the maze but others, when going through without him, have a much harder time.  When Humphreys begins to trace out the plans of the maze to give to a woman who is writing a book on mazes, he is troubled to find a black spot on his paper that seems to form into a large hole that goes down deep through the table he is on down as far as his eyes could see.  My favorite part of this story is the description James uses in describing the way a ghastly figure comes up the hole towards him.  “Nearer and near it came, and it was of a blackish-gray colour with more than one black hole.  It took shape as a face – a human face- a burnt human face: and with the odious writhings of a wasp creeping out of a rotten apple there clambered forth an appearance of a form, waving black arms prepared to clasp the head that was bending over them.”
7- “The Haunted Dolls’ House” (1925) – A man purchases an exquisite doll house for very cheap, only to find that every night at 1:00 in the morning a scenario is played out inside it detailing the events of an apparent murder.

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