Showing results by author "James R" in All Categories

A British antiquary named Somerton and his protégé follow a coded message about a huge treasure said to have been buried within a monastery by a disgraced abbot. Much to their peril they ignore ominous warnings of a supernatural guardian protecting the treasure. They are led to a place in Germany where the treasure is discovered. When he takes the treasure, Somerton finds that an entity will torment him until he returns the treasure to its hiding place.

Thirty little gems by some of the world's great classic short story writers, including: 'The Flying Man' by H. G. Wells, 'Between Rounds' by O. Henry, 'A School Story' by M. R. James, 'A Pair of Silk Stockings' by Kate Chopin, 'A Deal in Ostriches' by H. G. Wells, 'The Piano Next Door' by Elia W. Peattie, 'Royal Visitors' by E. F. Benson, 'The Stolen Bacillus' by H. G. Wells, 'The Story of Chugoro' by Lafcadio Hearn, 'One Law for the Rich' by Stacy Aumonier, 'My Enemy and Myself' by Vincent O'Sullivan and more.

M. R. James (1862-1936) was provost of King's College, Cambridge, and Eton College. He was a highly regarded scholar and academic in his time but today is remembered for his ghost stories, which are considered among the finest in the genre. Here is one of them: "A Warning to the Curious".

Best remembered for his ghost stories, this is a collection of M. R. James' finest.

M R James is widely regarded as THE master of the ghost story. His stories abound with spectres skulking in the shrubbery, in shadowy corners and dark recesses. 'The Mezzotint' is a whimsical and apparently supernatural tale of art on the move; a dying man devises a gruesome plan for testing his heirs in 'The Tractate Middoth', and something is lurking under the bedclothes in 'Rats'.

Here's a chilling ghost story about a young student taking up temporary residence at an out-of-the-way inn. The inn is well-tended by its elderly owners, all except for one room which stands unoccupied and securely locked. What is the mysterious secret of the room? The student, much to his horrified dismay, soon finds out.

A young, scientifically minded college professor finds an old bronze whistle while exploring the ruins of a Knights Templars' preceptory. That night, he blows on the whistle and a vision comes to him of a dark expanse with a lonely figure in its midst. The sound also appears to call up a gust of wind, but the sensible professor dismisses it as a coincidence. More strange incidents follow, however, to shake his disbelief in the supernatural.

The emergence of this project is due to a fascinating discovery by coauthor James Harman; his great-grandfather Robert Slothower (born in 1871) had left an incredible handwritten life-story manuscript behind. Plains to the Pacific is a well-written and gripping time-capsule account of a lost world. Some have remarked that the author's style reminds them of Hemingway’s. Plains to the Pacific is an engaging listen, the tale of a man who survived more hardship and excitement before he was 30 than most of us will experience in our lifetime.

This is a self-help book that assists listeners in both the psychology and nutritional choices of losing weight in a healthy way without counting calories, buying into a diet program, or sacrificing the pleasure of eating tasty food....

Tales as you’ve never heard them before. In the dusty corners of history, you’ll find obscure stories about the men and women, just like you and me, whose names have been engraved in the annuals of time. Take my hand, and I’ll guide you on a fascinating journey through obscure history’s tales of inventions, sports, war, courage, crime, disasters, and more. Let’s have some fun!

A ghost story about a non-existent room 13 in an inn. The occupant of room 12 and the inn-keep hear noises next door, but it’s not coming from room 14. When they do discover the door to number 13, strange things start happening....

First published in 1911, A School Story is a classic paranormal tale written by M. R. James, an author considered to be the originator of the modern-age ghost story. In this particularly story, a Latin teacher is troubled by unusual phrases from the dead language that start to show up among the work he sets his students; something about the phrases remind him of a dark secret from his past.

It is the 1920s in the Trinidadian capital, and Haynes' world has been upended. His mother has passed away, and his carefully mapped-out future of gleaming opportunity has disappeared with her. Unable to afford his former life, he finds himself moving into Minty Alley - a bustling barrack yard teeming with energy and a spectacular cast of characters. In this sliver of West Indian working-class society, outrageous love affairs and passionate arguments are a daily fixture and Haynes begins to slip from curious observer to the heart of the action.

Eerie old houses, wretched smiles, mausoleums, and banshees. Stories from masters of the horror genre, M.R. James, F. Marion Craword, Edgar Allan Poe, W.W. Jacobs, Amelia Edwards, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, and H.P. Loveraft, stories to make your body tingle and your mind play tricks.

Allison - a modest, driven political aspirant - is struggling with finding satisfaction with her desk job when what she really wants is to be in the political arena. When her boss asks her to attend a masquerade thrown by a local politician, whom Allison both loathes and admires, she balks at the requirement that all female guests, dress in revealing costumes. Secretly though, she is intrigued by the idea of playing exhibitionist for an evening.

The Hundred Years' War: a series of conflicts waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Plantagenet, rulers of England, against the House of Valois, rulers of France, over the succession to the French throne. It was a time of intrigue, plot, murder, and romance. Agnes Sorel, 20, became the favorite mistress of the King of France, wielding much influence and earning enemies. Her untimely death at the age of 28, just days after bearing him a fourth child, was blamed on dysentery. In this novel, we follow the trials of Jean Charost, secretary to the Duke of Orleans and brother of the king; and see how his life was entwined with that of the beautiful Agnes.

I'm staying late at the office one evening, when before you know it, I'm pushing way more than just pencils. For the longest time, I've been pretty damn overwhelmed by life. The son of a rich family, I've always gotten into quite a bit of unsavory behavior to compensate for my general dissatisfaction, much to my family's dismay. Little do they know, however, that the reasons for my acting out are my suppressed homosexual urges, for which I simply cannot seem to find an outlet.

Montague Rhodes James, the greatest English writer of ghost stories, was born in 1862 at Goodnestone Parsonage in Kent, where his father was Curate, and spent most of his boyhood at Livermere, near Bury St Edmunds in East Anglia, where his father had become Rector. From childhood he was passionately interested in mediaeval books and antiques. At the age of six, attending his first children’s party, he burst into tears, but was soon comforted by being taken into the library of the house and left there alone.

A gripping collection of mystery stories, strange tales and horrible crimes: 'The Perfect Murder', by Stacy Aumonier; 'The Magic Casket', by F. Austin Freeman; 'The Shadow of the Shark', by G. K. Chesterton; 'The Marionettes', by O. Henry; 'Charles', by A. J. Alan; 'Moon's Gibbet', by Egerton Castle; 'The Severed Hand', by Wilhelm Hauff; 'The Man with the Watches', by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; 'The Adventure of the Diamond Necklace', by G. F. Forrest; 'My Adventure at Chislehurst', by A. J. Alan; 'Blackmail', by John Galsworthy.

Once more the denizens of obscure history, the men and women, heroes and villains, and people just like you and me who have etched their names on the pages of history have stepped forward to tell their stories.