3 h 36 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A sound in the next room. A shape beneath a sheet. How little does it take to make you afraid?
In A Thin Ghost and Others, M. R. James brings scholars, clergymen, travellers and collectors into contact with something old and troubling. Libraries, churches and country houses offer familiar shelter, but the past holds dark secrets. These five ghost stories let fear gather slowly, until an ordinary room no longer feels safe.
The collection explores scholars who walk into old trouble, ordinary places that hide old wrongs, and dread built from what remains unseen. A movement at the corner of the eye or a touch that feels wrong carries the threat. James pairs this quiet unease with a dry sense of humour, keeping terror close to everyday life.
What you’ll discover
- Curiosity meets old trouble Follow antiquaries and collectors whose love of the past brings them close to danger.
- Familiar places turn uneasy Enter cathedral closes, village inns and university rooms where ordinary surroundings conceal old wrongs.
- The terror of half glimpses Watch a shape, a movement or a sound make the unseen feel terribly near.
- Restraint that deepens fear Discover how dread grows without grand villains or long speeches about evil.
- Humour beside the shadows Enjoy a dry sense of humour alongside the collection’s slow and quiet horror.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like slow, quiet horror, old English places and a dry sense of humour. It is a good choice for reading aloud on a dark evening. If you want gore or fast action, it may feel too restrained.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Scholars walk into old trouble
- Ordinary places hide old wrongs
- Dread is built by what you do not see
- Why these stories still unsettle
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- Large print hardcover
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Un fantôme évanescent et autres histoires
by M. R. James· 1919
Encounters with the past bring supernatural dangers into ordinary lives.
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Language: Français
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 4
Scholars walk into old trouble
James fills his tales with men much like himself. They are antiquaries, dons, clergymen and collectors who care about books, buildings and the past. They are curious, polite and a little proud of what they know.
That curiosity is what gets them into danger. A scholar handles an old object, reads a forgotten record or pokes into a corner that others have left alone. He does not set out to find a ghost. He wants a fact for his notes.
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The author
M. R. James
1862–1936 · English ghost story writer
M. R. James was an English medieval scholar — Provost of King's College, Cambridge, and later of Eton — who became the acknowledged master of the English ghost story. Ghost Stories of an Antiquary collects the first and most famous of his quietly terrifying tales.
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What is A Thin Ghost and Others about?
It is a collection of ghost stories by M. R. James. Scholars and travellers in English settings meet old, hostile presences, and the fear builds slowly through small, concrete details rather than open violence.
When was A Thin Ghost and Others written?
It was published in 1919. James wrote his tales as fiction, though he often set them in real kinds of places, and he first read many of them aloud to friends at Cambridge.
Is A Thin Ghost and Others scary?
Yes, but in a quiet way. James relies on suggestion, odd details and the unseen, so the dread is more eerie than bloody. Many readers find it more unsettling than louder horror.
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