3 h 36 minAudiobook5 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.
Who will love it
Readers who love candlelit ghost stories, old houses and cathedral closes, antiquaries with their diaries and letters, and quiet dread that grows out of everyday scenes and a dry sense of humour.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A dying boy's warning haunts Whitminster
- A pretty pattern brings an ugly guest
- A cracked tomb stirs under the choir
- A rector vanishes and a puppet show waits
- Two physicians and a bundle of statements
- How the five tales are told
Who’s who
- Lord SaulA pale Irish viscount of sixteen who is sent to Whitminster as a pupil and who seems to be drawn to graveyards.
- Dr. AshtonA strongly built and stern prebendary of Whitminster who takes in two boys and keeps a careful diary of what follows.
- Mary OldysDr. Oldys's niece, fond of novels, who looks into a glass tablet found in the garden of the old prebendal house.
- James DentonAn antiquary at Rendcomb Manor who buys an old diary and has a pattern from it copied for his new curtains.
- Mr. WorbyThe head verger of Southminster, who knows the cathedral's secrets and tells the story of its altar tomb.
- Mr. LakeA scholar sent to study the cathedral's archives, who lodges with Worby and writes down his story.
- W. R.A letter writer who goes to a country town to help search for his missing uncle, the rector.
- Dr. QuinnA plain, honest Islington physician in 1718 who is troubled by dreams of a chrysalis.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 3 h 36 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 5 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Un fantasma sottile e altri racconti in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Un fantasma sottile e altri racconti
by M. R. James · 1919
A sick boy's aunt begs her husband to stop the minster clock, and Lord Saul is summoned to the study at Whitminster.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
A thin boy, a curtain pattern, a cracked tomb, a missing rector and a pillow. These are the hooks of A Thin Ghost and Others, five ghost stories by M. R. James, a scholar of medieval manuscripts who wrote tales of fear to read aloud among friends.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A dying boy's warning haunts Whitminster
In December 1730, Dr. Ashton, a prebendary of the minster at Whitminster, hears his wife beg him to stop the minster clock chiming above their ill nephew Frank. The doctor agrees. Then he sends for Lord Saul, a thin Irish viscount of about sixteen who lives with them as a pupil.
Saul's father admits the boy wanders among old graves and that his nurse called him possessed. Trouble follows Saul everywhere. Soon Dr. Ashton watches from a window as Saul lays a hand on Frank's head while Frank stares at something glittering in his palm. Frank collapses into fever and terror.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Un fantasma sottile e altri racconti
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is A Thin Ghost and Others about?
It collects five ghost stories by M. R. James.
What does the title A Thin Ghost mean?
It comes from a saying in the first story, spoken by a sexton, that a withered heart makes an ugly thin ghost.
Which stories are in A Thin Ghost and Others?
The five tales are The Residence at Whitminster, The Diary of Mr. Poynter, An Episode of Cathedral History, The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance, and Two Doctors. Each is a separate story with its own people and place.
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.
More by M. R. James
All 3 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
