M.R. James is probably the finest ghost-story writer England has ever produced. These tales are not only classics of their genre, but are also superb examples of beautifully-paced understatement, convincing background and chilling terror. As well as the preface, there is a fascinating tail-piece by M.R. James, ‘Stories I Have Tried To Write’, which accompanies these thirty tales. Among them are ‘Casting the Runes’, ‘Oh, Whistle and I’ll come to you, My Lad’, ‘The Tractate Middoth’, ‘The Ash Tree’ and ‘Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook’ ‘There are some authors one wishes one had never read in order to have the joy of reading them for the first time. For me, M.R. James is one of these’. Ruth Rendell Stories include: Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook 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 A School Story The Rose Garden The Tractate Middoth Casting the Runes The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral Martin’s Close Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance The Residence at Whitminster The Diary of Mr Poynter An Episode of Cathedral History The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance Two Doctors The Haunted Dolls’ House The Uncommon Prayer-Book A Neighbour’s Landmark A View from a Hill A Warning to the Curious An Evening’s Entertainment There was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard Rats After Dark in the Playing Fields Wailing Well Stories I Have Tried to Write