Complete Ghost Stories by M. R. James

Modern readers of James' work may well find him rather stuffy and dusty. His short stories are campfire fare, and written in an older narrative style some may find off-putting. This would be, however, giving no credit to the man's genius at crafting well-written and simple to follow "chillers" complete with all of the tropes horror and suspense fans love - old graveyards, rats in the walls, sinister Gothic atmospheres, mists and glooms - many of which are, in fact, his unique contributions to his field. I am pleased to see that, in the last twenty years or so, James has undergone something of a "Renaissance," making his name a little more well known than it once was. It is a solid reputation richly merited.