Ghost Stories of an Antiquary

Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
	First edition cover
Author	M. R. James
Language	English
Genre	Horror short stories
Publisher	Edward Arnold
Publication date	1904
Publication place	UK
Media type	Print (hardback)
Followed by	More Ghost Stories

Ghost Stories of an Antiquary is a collection of ghost stories by British writer M. R. James, published in 1904 (some had previously appeared in magazines). Some later editions under this title contain both the original collection and its successor, More Ghost Stories (1911), combined in one volume.^[1]

It was his first short story collection.

Contents of the original edition

"Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book"
"Lost Hearts"
"The Mezzotint"
"The Ash-tree"
"Number 13"
"Count Magnus"
"'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad'"
"The Treasure of Abbot Thomas"

Reception

A. M. Burrage praised Ghost Stories of an Antiquary and its successor, More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary as "two really admirable books of ghost stories". Burrage also described "'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad'" as "a real gem".^[2] Henry S. Whitehead also lauded the book: "Ghost Stories of an Antiquary and its two successors with similar titles have rarely if ever been surpassed in the peculiarly thrilling field which that wonderful writer has made his own."^[3]

Adaptations

After Jonathan Miller adapted "'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad'" for the BBC's Omnibus series in 1968, several stories from the collection were adapted as the BBC's yearly Ghost Story for Christmas strand, including "Lost Hearts", "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas", "The Ash-tree", and "Number 13". "Whistle and I'll Come to You" was also remade (heavily adapted by Neil Cross) for broadcast on Christmas Eve 2010.^[4] Mark Gatiss wrote and directed adaptations of "The Mezzotint" and "Count Magnus" for the Ghost Story for Christmas series in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

References

^ Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. p. 240.
^ Burrage, A. M. "The Supernatural in Fiction", The Home Magazine, October 1921. Reprinted in Burrage, Someone in the Room: Strange Tales Old and New (edited by Jack Adrian). Ashcroft, B.C. : Ash-Tree Press, 1997. ISBN 9781899562381
^ Whitehead, Henry S. "The Occult Story", in The Free-Lance Writer's Handbook, 1926. Reprinted in S. T. Joshi, The Theory of the Weird Tale. Seattle, WA, Sarnath Press, 2024. ISBN 979-8332097829 (p. 194).
^ A Ghost Story for Christmas, imagedissectors.com