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