A Podcast to the Curious - The M.R. James Podcast

... dedicated to the Weird Fiction and Ghost Stories of M.R. James.

Episode 99 – Curfew by Lucy M. Boston

This episode Mike and Will examine Curfew by Lucy M. Boston, a childhood tale of haunted bells, unearthed coffins and post-Jamesian highjinx aplenty. Big thanks to Debbie Wedge for providing the readings for this episode. Show notes: Curfew by Lucy M. Boston – read by Robert Lloyd Parry (Youtube.com) The text of this story is […]

12-18
55:57

Episode 98 – The Nature of the Evidence by May Sinclair

M.R. James said that sex had no place in a ghost story. But was he right? This episode we attempt to answer this question and more, as we cover The Nature of the Evidence by May Sinclair, a tale from 1923 about a couple who just want to enjoy their wedding night. Is that too […]

03-27
01:07:33

Episode 97 – Mark Gatiss’s Lot 249

Hold 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: Watch it online! (BBC iPlayer) If you are in the UK you can watch it on BBC iPlayer […]

01-15
59:34

Episode 96 – The Real and the Counterfeit by Louisa Baldwin

This 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 Baldwin’s The Real and the Counterfeit! Big thanks as ever to Debbie Wedge for providing the readings for this episode. Looking for […]

12-21
47:20

Episode 95 – The Weird of the Walfords by Louisa Baldwin

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! Also, if you like emotionally-repressed Victorian husbands, you will not leave disappointed. Show notes: Louisa Baldwin (1845–1925) (Wikipedia) Louisa was a member of […]

07-02
01:00:48

Episode 94 – Exploring Eleanor Scott with Vicky Margree and Dan Orrells

This episode we speak with two experts to better understand Eleanor Scott and her story Randall’s Round, Dr Vicky Margree and Prof Dan Orrells. We discuss what’s known about Eleanor Scott, her time at Oxford University in the early 1900s and the role of gender, folklore and imperialism in her writing. Vicky is a specialist […]

05-21
43:09

Episode 93 – Count Magnus Awakens

A BBC Ghost Story for Christmas is thankfully as traditional as quaffing eggnog and leaving out a carrot for Rudolph. And what a treat, as this year Count Magnus made the Black Pilgrimage onto our screens.  But has Mark Gatiss been naughty or nice? We give you our verdict. Show notes A recent interview with […]

01-08
48:56

Episode 92 – Randalls Round by Eleanor Scott

This episode Mike and Will explore freaky folk-dance, village-based villainy and Cotswold chicanery in Eleanor Scott’s awesome Jamesian folk-horror tale Randalls Round! Big thanks to Kirsty Woodfield for providing the readings for this episode. Show notes: Eleanor Scott (The Haunted Library) This article contains some biographical information as well as plot summaries of the stories […]

12-12
01:07:34

Episode 91 – Let Loose by Mary Cholmondeley

In the first episode of Season 4 tm, Mike and Will are delighted by Let Loose by Mary Cholmondeley, a tale of crypts, clergymen and crikey, what is that in the dog’s mouth? Big thanks to Jim Moon for allowing us to use extracts from his excellent reading of the story. You can listen to […]

11-05
01:14:08

Episode 90 – Right Through My Hair by Noel Boston

Join Will and Mike for haunted cathedrals, lecherous minor canons and hair-based horrors in Noel Boston’s ‘Right Through My Hair’! Big thanks to Debbie Wedge for providing the readings for this episode. Show notes Noel Boston (The Haunted Library) Biographical information about Noel Boston is a bit hard to find online, but there is an […]

09-17
01:02:23

Episode 89 – Cushi

Open your hymn books to episode 89, as we’re back in church for Christopher Woodforde’s “Cushi”: a tale of capering cats, sabotaged surplices and vengeful vergers. Don’t lose your head! Show notes: Christopher Woodforde studied at Peterhouse, Cambridge before becoming an Anglican priest. He was later Fellow and Chaplain at New College, Oxford, and Dean […]

06-18
43:51

Episode 88 – Canon Alberic’s Scrap-Book Revisited

Join Mike and Will for a special 10th anniversary (give or take a few months) special in which your now-aged hosts look back over a decade of M.R. James podcasting and return to the story that started it all, Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook! You can listen to when we originally covered this story all the way […]

03-22
01:30:11

Episode 87 – Mark Gatiss’s The Mezzotint

In this episode, Mike and Will share their thoughts on Mark Gatiss’s recent TV adaptation of M.R. James’s The Mezzotint. Join us for some monocle-popping, mustache-bristling, spine-chilling fun! Show notes A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Mezzotint (BBC iPlayer) Mark Gatiss’s adaptation is available to watch on BBC iPlayer for the next 11 months. Episode […]

01-02
41:42

Episode 86 – Lucky’s Grove by H.R. Wakefield

Ho ho, and indeed ho! In this special festive episode, Mike and Will pull on their wellies and wander straight into Lucky’s Grove by H.R. Wakefield. But who’s that hiding behind the Christmas tree? Big thanks to Julia Morgan for allowing us to use extracts from her excellent Youtube reading of this story. Show notes: […]

12-21
58:09

Episode 85 – The Tudor Chimney by A.N.L. Munby

This episode Mike and Will grab their torches and disappear up ‘The Tudor Chimney’ by A.N.L. Munby. But what is that shape moving up above? Meh, it’s probably nothing. Thanks to Debbie Wedge for providing the readings for this episode! In this episode, we also mention Will’s new project DarkOxfordshire.co.uk, which explores the darker side of Oxfordshire’s […]

08-02
01:00:47

Episode 84 – Bosworth Summit Pound

Ahoy there listeners!  Be grabbin’ yer nautical gear for a  cruise on the high seas of Leicestershire, with LTC Rolt and his story Bosworth Summit Pound.  (Enough.  It’s set on a canal – ed) What terrors might await us on England’s peaceful inland waterways? And just who digs a canal tunnel under an ancient graveyard […]

05-29
51:56

Episode 83 – A Room in a Rectory

This episode Will and Mike hitch up their cassocks, pack their prayer books and head to ‘Southshire’ to open ‘A Room in a Rectory’ by Sir Andrew Caldecott! Big thanks to Kirsty who provided the readings for this episode, and to Garry Platt who provided the photo that accompanies this episode. You can see more of […]

03-06
01:10:04

Episode 82 – Echoes from the Abbey

This week Will and Mike don their warmest Christmas jumpers for dinner with Dr James and the troubled incumbents of Medborough Abbey, in the company of Sheila Hodgson. What could be more seasonal than a cracker, eh?  Oh the fun that tumbles out when it goes snap! Paper hat, plastic keyring, lighthearted message of impending […]

12-24
01:01:16

Episode 81 – The Demoniac Goat by M.P. Dare

This episode Mike and Will brace themselves for the ‘appalling stench of goat, cordite, sulphur, and burning human flesh’ in M.P. Dare’s The Demoniac Goat. Lovely! Also in this episode we speak to actor Robert Lloyd Parry and publisher Brian J. Showers about ‘Ghosts of the Chit-chat’, their soon to be published new anthology of […]

12-03
01:33:22

Episode 80 – The Sundial by R.H. Malden

This Halloween Mike and Will stroll out into the garden to take a look at The Sundial by R.H. Malden. But who is that lurking in the bushes? Thanks to Kirsty for providing excellent readings for this episode! Show notes: Nine Ghosts by R.H. Malden (Project Gutenberg Australia) Malden only wrote one volume of ghost stories, […]

10-30
01:06:35

Lily Villon

I've always been terrified of this tale, and I had to listen to this scene twice during this telling - Aaahhhh!! 😰

12-19 Reply

David Moskowitz

finally a cross over podcast with Jim Moon! I love both of these podcasts.

05-08 Reply

Shane Bromham

My personal favourite story by M.R James. interesting to hear your thoughts on the overall story. 👍

03-26 Reply

Shane Bromham

Very glad to have found this podcast! Time to sit back and relax with a nice drink; cider cup do?

03-26 Reply

Mohd. Abdus Salam

great stories. horror yet so much more

01-09 Reply

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