Illustration by M. Grant Kellermeyer

In this bumper episode we examine M.R. James’s favourite story by his favourite author, ‘The Familiar’ by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu! Praise doesn’t get much higher than that, but is it all it is cracked up to be? If you are a fan of owls, diminutive, angry men in fur caps and incredibly long sentences, then you are in for a treat.

This episode also features an interview with noted Le Fanu expert Brian J Showers of Swan River Press and readings by Debbie Wedge.

This episodes artwork comes curtesy of M. Grant Kellermeyer of Oldstyle Tales Press.

Story notes

• Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (Wikipedia)
  Some biographical information on the man himself.
• ‘In a glass darkly’ by Le Fanu (Wikipedia)
  This is the volume of ghost stories in which this story most famously appears, featuring the ‘occult detective’ Dr. Martin Hesselius.
• M.R. James on J. S. Le Fanu (Ghosts and Scholars)
  An article based on the presentation on Le Fanu that M.R. James gave to the Royal Institution of Great Britain on March 16th, 1923.
• Haunted Holidays – The Terrible Occult Detectives (Tor.com)
  A very amusing essay on the ‘occult detective’ in literature, which singles out Le Fanu’s Dr Hesselius as the first occult detective.
• Reminiscences of a bachelor by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (Swan River Press)
  We mention this title in our interview with Brian J. Showers. The book features ‘The Watcher’ and other stories, as well as its original companion piece ‘The Fatal Bride’ and notes on both stories.

Also mentioned in this episode

• Monsters – Don’t treat them gently! (Pleasing Terror Games)
  The new M.R. James board game from friend of the show, James Drewitt.
• ‘No Diggin ‘ere’ and ‘Barchestering’ T-shirts (redbubble.com)
  Two new MRJ T-shirts from our regular reader Debbie Wedge! Also available as baby-grows, mugs, phone cases etc.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

In this episode Mike and Will cover the concluding third of ‘The Five Jars‘, M.R. James’s little-read children’s book. Expect earwig racing, bat balls, dragons and horseshoe mayhem!

The readings for this episode once again come from the excellent Librevox audiobook of The Five Jars, read by Peter Yearsley.

Links:

• Iron in Folklore (Wikipedia)
• The wonderful world of mouse racing (Youtube)
• N or M? (Wikipedia)

Contemporary children’s novels with a similar touch of the weird:

• The Box of Delights by John Masefield
• The Midnight Folk by John Masefield
• Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

In this episode, talking owls. Yes, you heard me correctly. Talking owls.

Has Monty completely lost his marbles? Mike and Will ask just that in this episode on ‘After Dark in the Playing Fields‘ by M.R. James.

Readings by kind permission of grand panjandrum and actor Robert Lloyd Parry!

The full reading of this story and many others can be found on Robert’s double-CD ‘Curious Creatures: The Shorter Horror of M.R. James‘ which is available to buy from nunkie.co.uk and is worth every penny.

Show notes:

• Story notes by Rosemary Pardoe (Ghosts & Scholars)
  The ever-reliable Rosemary Pardoe has produced a very useful set of notes on this story.
• Eton College, Windsor (various)
  The action in this story takes places in the playing fields of Eton College, Windsor, where M.R. James was provost when he wrote this story. The story features various locations in close proximity to each other .Monty meets the owl “not far from Sheep’s Bridge“, the owl is unceremoniously dumped in Fellow’s Pond before Monty eventually helps him climb into Bad Calx Tree.
• Eton Wall Game (etoncollege.com)
  In this episdoe Mike and Will mention the Eton Wall Game, one of the odd traditions unique to Eton College.
• A Midsummer Nights Dream (wikipedia)
  The mischievous sprites and fairies in this story are inspired by those in A Midsummer Nights Dream. The owl grumpily quotes “come not near out fairy Queen” from Act 2 Scene 2.
• The Five Jars by M.R. James (thin-ghost.org)
  This is not the only James story to feature talking animals, sprites and goblins. His novel for children ‘The Five Jars‘ is cut from very much the same cloth as this story.
• Daylight Saving Time (wikipedia)
  In this story and in ‘A Neighbours Landmark’ James refers to daylight saving time, a relatively new concept in M.R. James’s lifetime.
• Pathe News footage of Eton (BritishPathe.com)
  There is some fascinating early video footage of Eton College at the time James was provost on the British Pathe website, including videos of the Eton Wall Game, Eton Steeplechase and even possibly some footage of Monty himself!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS