I. Don't. Like. Spiders. You could have said, as an aside, the arachnid in the art was foreshadowing, not just for atmosphere. Please consider disclaimers in the future......Tsk tsk, tsk 🤬😵😨🤬 (😁)
I love some of these lines and incorporate them into my daily vocabulary, e.g., a pretty girl does not “stress me out”, rather, she “preys inwardly on my mind”.
That reminds me, I endeavored to pen a horror story months back with a lead antagonist named "Chase Girlskowtz". Later I was mournful to realize I had actually written a HORRIBLE story.
Fabulous story and well read as ever, sir. M R J is absolutely one of the best at horror, even today. PLEASE consider Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad 🙏❤
Open question? Why does James stuff work so well? He would have considered the question vulgar - "no thinking gentlemen! No thinking". Despite this lot going on lol. I think the secret might be that England has TWO "old religion's" both of which are perhaps not as true as what the vicar peddled...but more potent! Here in the west Highlands our bogeys and beasties are less scary. Difficult to be scared 😨 of ghosts with the same surname as you. Also back in the day Presbyterianism was so strong it scared them! My late great grandfather told me a story heard in childhood. An old local farmer encountered the 👻 of a fully armed clansman whilst walking on a lonely road. He angrily castigated the ghost (in Gaelic of course so he would understand) "....why are ye walking about man? Get back to the kirk yard. And stop behaviour 😤 more fitted to a Romish apparition!" The ghost vanished.
I'd be interested to hear what others have to say, but I'd agree that James does a very good job of evoking the ancient pagan religions and the ruins and vestigial remains of the apparatus of more brutal times scattered across the British landscape. As L.P. Hartley said "the past is a foreign country", and it's noticeable (this story is actually a good example) the way James places a remove between his time of writing and the past he is actually writing about. In "The Ash Tree" we have James' modern-day, nostalgic introduction, then a narrative that goes back a couple of hundred years, then forward a bit, but always in the distant(ish) past. James doesn't seem to find much terror in haunted telephones and the like; his horror is of the dim and distant past, for the most part, as befits an antiquarian. A semi-related point, but in this story by James (and others read on this channel) we can see that Edwardians were wrestling with the then-not-so-very-long-ago barbarism of the witch trials in the same way we, today, might wrestle with the excesses of imperialism. To most young people living now I would suppose the notion of witches and witch trials is so far in the past it seems like "Game of Thrones" fantasy, whereas for James and his contemporaries the cruelty of the witch trials appears to have been in the cultural memory enough to have felt still raw. At the very least, it appears to have been a fashionable talking point for people of their generation to denounce their less-enlightened ancestors. Of course, the tension there is that, writing around the time of Darwin etc., they were also trying to resist the harsh light science would throw on superstition. As for why we still like James et al now, I think gaslight and candle is often more scary than electric light, and the absence of modern technology creates tension for the modern audience. I have read a few decent tales about haunted computers and mobile phones, but these old stories require us to imagine ourselves without today's technologies and, effectively, vulnerable.
@@EnCryptedHorror thanks for the response and the interesting comments. I agree that we forget how close the Victorians were to things like the witch trials and the civil war's. Think they also used them as ways of talking about issues of their own day - such as the empire. I have just never "bought" the "only Christmas entertainments" idea. No spoilers...but in the one with the whistle, irony is piled on irony as well as spookyness. If you know how to look. Looking forward to the next story.
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I. Don't. Like. Spiders.
You could have said, as an aside, the arachnid in the art was foreshadowing, not just for atmosphere.
Please consider disclaimers in the future......Tsk tsk, tsk 🤬😵😨🤬
(😁)
Great story, never tire of hearing it✊😊
Thanks Julie 🙏
M. R. James, always a good choice! 👍
I love some of these lines and incorporate them into my daily vocabulary, e.g., a pretty girl does not “stress me out”, rather, she “preys inwardly on my mind”.
Haha! I agree - my quotidian vocabulary has expanded immeasurably since the inception of this podcast.
Good old MR has a lovely way with words, doesn't he?
Masterful narration of this extraordinary,chilling story.Thank You Jasper.
I get serious shivers every time I read or hear this story. You make it extra shivery. Awesome sauce! ❤❤❤
James never disappoints. Well read & creepily atmospheric Mr LeStrange. I am subscribed.
Super! Thanks for subscribing and welcome to the channel.
Lovely, a new story to listen to later!
Great to hear! Hope you enjoyed it.
Great story and narration! This one is good and creepy.
The background noise, sounds, and music are awesome!
Thanks!
Amazing
Jason does it again! I chase after your tales like a fanatic and have left you a message on Patreon today.
Thank you! So glad you're enjoying the stories.
That reminds me, I endeavored to pen a horror story months back with a lead antagonist named "Chase Girlskowtz". Later I was mournful to realize I had actually written a HORRIBLE story.
One of my favorites from M. R. James. Good narration as always.
Thank you, Marty! Much appreciated :)
Fabulous story and well read as ever, sir.
M R J is absolutely one of the best at horror, even today.
PLEASE consider Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad 🙏❤
I'm hoping to do an M. R. J. maybe for Christmas Eve. Just deciding whether this or "The Mezzotint"...
1754 w/rattling windows & no sleep 🤔
😨😨😨😬😬😬💀💀💀☠☠☠🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Open question? Why does James stuff work so well? He would have considered the question vulgar - "no thinking gentlemen! No thinking". Despite this lot going on lol.
I think the secret might be that England has TWO "old religion's" both of which are perhaps not as true as what the vicar peddled...but more potent!
Here in the west Highlands our bogeys and beasties are less scary. Difficult to be scared 😨 of ghosts with the same surname as you. Also back in the day Presbyterianism was so strong it scared them!
My late great grandfather told me a story heard in childhood. An old local farmer encountered the 👻 of a fully armed clansman whilst walking on a lonely road. He angrily castigated the ghost (in Gaelic of course so he would understand) "....why are ye walking about man? Get back to the kirk yard. And stop behaviour 😤 more fitted to a Romish apparition!" The ghost vanished.
I'd be interested to hear what others have to say, but I'd agree that James does a very good job of evoking the ancient pagan religions and the ruins and vestigial remains of the apparatus of more brutal times scattered across the British landscape. As L.P. Hartley said "the past is a foreign country", and it's noticeable (this story is actually a good example) the way James places a remove between his time of writing and the past he is actually writing about. In "The Ash Tree" we have James' modern-day, nostalgic introduction, then a narrative that goes back a couple of hundred years, then forward a bit, but always in the distant(ish) past. James doesn't seem to find much terror in haunted telephones and the like; his horror is of the dim and distant past, for the most part, as befits an antiquarian.
A semi-related point, but in this story by James (and others read on this channel) we can see that Edwardians were wrestling with the then-not-so-very-long-ago barbarism of the witch trials in the same way we, today, might wrestle with the excesses of imperialism. To most young people living now I would suppose the notion of witches and witch trials is so far in the past it seems like "Game of Thrones" fantasy, whereas for James and his contemporaries the cruelty of the witch trials appears to have been in the cultural memory enough to have felt still raw. At the very least, it appears to have been a fashionable talking point for people of their generation to denounce their less-enlightened ancestors. Of course, the tension there is that, writing around the time of Darwin etc., they were also trying to resist the harsh light science would throw on superstition.
As for why we still like James et al now, I think gaslight and candle is often more scary than electric light, and the absence of modern technology creates tension for the modern audience. I have read a few decent tales about haunted computers and mobile phones, but these old stories require us to imagine ourselves without today's technologies and, effectively, vulnerable.
@@EnCryptedHorror thanks for the response and the interesting comments.
I agree that we forget how close the Victorians were to things like the witch trials and the civil war's. Think they also used them as ways of talking about issues of their own day - such as the empire. I have just never "bought" the "only Christmas entertainments" idea. No spoilers...but in the one with the whistle, irony is piled on irony as well as spookyness. If you know how to look.
Looking forward to the next story.
Blackwood often uses paganism in his tales, but not with such subtle strokes as James and though I enjoy both, James is far more to my taste.
@@bobbymarcum772 you can't beat m r james