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Stories that inspired M.R. James

Twelve tales of terror recommended by the master of the genre!

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Episode 97 – Mark Gatiss’s Lot 249

Stylised image of Mark Gatiss with a mummy looming behind himHold on to your mummy! This episode Mike and Will discuss Mark Gatiss’s recent Ghost Story for Christmas TV adaptation Lot 249, as well as the Arthur Conan Doyle short story it is based on.

Show notes:

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Episode 96 – The Real and the Counterfeit by Louisa Baldwin

A group of Victorian children tobogganingThis episode, Mike and Will grab their literary toboggans and gallop joyously out into the snow, only to be hit in the face by a terrifying fictional snowball in the form of Louisa Baldwinā€™s The Real and the Counterfeit!

Big thanks as ever to Debbie Wedge for providing the readings for this episode. Looking for a last-minute Christmas gift to please the M.R. James fan in your life? Why not head over to Debbieā€™s Redbubble store and pick up an awesome Jamesian Wallop, Barchestering, or No Digginā€™ ā€˜Ere t-shirt?

Show notes:

  1. More on Louisa Baldwin in our last episode
    We covered The Weird of the Walfords back in the summer, and included a lot more biographical details about Louisa Baldwin.
  2. Long Galleries (wikipedia)
    A lot of the action in this story takes place in a long gallery, a popular architectural feature of many stately homes in England.
  3. Georgeā€™s banjo (authorama.com)
    Like Lawley in this story, George in Jerome K. Jeromeā€™s Three Men in a Boat was also a keen banjo player, much to the displeasure of his friends. Similarly, in Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse, Bertieā€™s insistence on playing the banjolele is what finally drives Jeeves to leave Bertieā€™s service (albeit temporarily).
  4. Other haunted abbeys (nearlyknowledgeablehistory.blogspot.com)
    In this episode, Mike mentions a number of old houses in England that are, like Stonecroft, said to be haunted by ghostly monks.
  5. Tobogganing at Funchal (carreirosdomonte.com)
    The city of Funchal in Madeira is famous for providing toboggan-like basket rides from the Mount Church on the hill, down into the town.
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Episode 95 – The Weird of the Walfords by Louisa Baldwin

Illustration of humphrey Walford destroying the bed, from the original editions of Louisa Baldwin's 'The Shadow on the Blind'Who would win in a fight between a man and a bed? Find the answer to this question and more in our new episode on The Weird of the Walfords by Louisa Baldwin!Ā Also, if you like emotionally-repressed Victorian husbands, you will not leave disappointed.

Show notes:

Thanks to Debbie Wedge for providing the readings for this episode. Don’t forget to check out Debbie’s new Jamesian Wallop t-shirt and others inspired by M.R. James on Redbubble.com.

Jamesian Wallop T-shirt

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