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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 24 – The Haunted Dolls’ House

Queen Mary's Dolls' House - photo by Arthur GillThis episode Will and Mike delve into the toy box and pull out something truly horrible in the form of ‘The Haunted Doll’s House‘ by M.R. James!

Show notes:

  • Queen Mary’s Dolls’s House
    This story was written for a real dolls’ house, the one created by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens for Queen Mary of Teck between 1921 and 1924. The dolls’ house in currently on display in Windsor. Further details can be found at Wikipedia.
  • Strawberry Hill House
    James describes the dolls house in his story as being ‘Strawberry Hill Gothic‘ in style, the ‘quintessence of Horace Walpole‘. Walpole’s gothic castle-style house inspired a generation of architects when it was built on the banks of the Thames in London in the mid 18th century.
  • Dolls’ Houses: It’s a Small World
    This enjoyable Guardian.com article looks into the world of modern day dolls’ house collectors.
  • Interview with Stephen Gray
    Episode 21 of this very podcast featured an interview with filmmaker Stephen Gray who has recently completed a short film adaptation of this story. Watch it on Vimeo.
  • Ghosts & Scholars notes
    The ever-reliable Ghosts & Scholars website contains a useful set of notes on this story compiled by Rosemary Pardoe.
  • A frog the size of a man?
    Jim Moon’s excellent illustration.
  • Improvised Radio Theatre – With Dice!
    Many thanks to our reader this week, Roger Burton West.  His new RPG podcast is great – and HPL fans will appreciate the domain name…

 

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Episode 2 – Lost Hearts

Lost Hearts (1973 TV version) ScreenshotThis week we tackle Lost Hearts by M.R. James, a spine-chilling tale featuring ghostly orphans! Talking rats! Diabolical alchemy! Gore! A shower scene! (sort of).

Also in this episode:

  • Mike tweaks his hurgy gurdy around the house
  • Will says ‘Dun Dun Duuunnn!’ more than is strictly necessary
  • We both says ‘evocative’ more than is strictly necessary and then get really, really depressed

A big THANKS goes out to Kirsty Woodfield who brought a much-needed touch of class to the proceedings by doing an excellent job with the readings.

Show notes:

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