I grew up in East Sheen , adjacent to Well Lane, and as you'll know, M.R.James went to school close by, at Temple Grove School. His ''A School Story'' has a Well in it...East Sheen was so different then, the large country houses have been demolished, all but Percy Lodge, but mum lives in an 1850's cottage terrace that James would doubtless have known, and I like to think that James as a child would have walked or ridden by in a horse drawn vehicle en route to his school. Love his stories.
So glad I found you. Love old english houses, love the english haunts, folk lore, ghosts, spirits and architecture of the past, this is right up my alley. Thank you!!
Agreed! I discovered James’s stories 3 years ago when I got Covid for the first time and ended up with Long Covid. After seeing a couple of the videos made of two of his stories I was hooked and read them in their entirety. Blood and guts don’t scare me. Give me psychological horror any day!
Just back from my usual Sunday walk at Great Livermere - and now very much enjoying this documentary. Its a place with a special and mysterious atmosphere no doubt. And when I travel, I always take my pocket sized version of MRJ’s ghost stories with me. The language, the wit, the atmosphere - they always comfort me and remind me of my beautiful Suffolk home county.
A very unexpected and welcome treat for Christmas and very well done. I always read and watch and listen to M.R. James as much as possible at this time of year - and indeed during the rest of the year - as he feels as much a traditional part of the Yuletide festivities as Santa or mince pies. I have stayed up until almost dawn to enjoy this in the wee small hours. It was delightfully researched, produced, presented, and directed. My congratulations to Chris, Ursula and Jason. I am sure Monty would approve. Thank you so much.
What a fantastic find , ! this post popped up on my youtube menu, I love the 1968 short film ' Whistle ,,,,,,,' and also ' A warning,,,,,,,,,,,,' two of my all time favourite films, both so well made and genuinely 'eerie', absolute classics along with the 1961 film 'The Innocents' by Henry James.. Thank you so much for posting ! it made a great antidote to the utter drivel that passes for Christmas television I've had to endure ( at a relative's house) Thank you again !!! )
I think you are right Chris, he wrote cleverly about things he had some experience of. Though his stories were fictional, they drew from the life experience and paranormal awareness of M.R. James, which made his stories so real, so detailed…so convincing and so credible. No surprise to me is the depth of history and rich opportunity of East Anglian legends and ghost stories, entwined with fact and embroidered with rumor, imagination and James’s narrative skill.
@@HauntedEarth The image at 31:12 ..I woke in middle of night while watching this after falling asleep.. incredibly eerie, and definitely goes with the story. Beautifully made documentary, Thank you .
Superbly well done, and how appropriate that it should be shown on Christmas day, what a nice touch! I have been a reader of James's work for much of my life, and some years of my childhood were spent in East Anglia; I well understand the other worldly feel of the place, central to so many of James's stories. You might be aware of a recently published book by Simon Loxley, called "A Geography of Horror," which is about the ghost stories of M.R.James and the East Anglian landscape. I doubt that it will tell you anything you don't already know, but it is really well researched and written, and so a very worthwhile read. Thank you, and all who were involved in this production, for this labour of love, and I'm sure that this is only the first of several watchings!
This was superb! 😲👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏😊👍👍 A brilliant, top quality production 😄 M.R James was a great giant of the ghost story genre and naturally one of my favorites 😊
This is excellent. I'd like to know who wrote the music, it's appropriately haunting. I'm from Essex, I went to the Plume library in Maldon on a school trip, many years ago. I must go back there.
Fantastic doc, Chris & Co! Especially after viewing your location investigation vid some days prior. That thick coastal fog is a character unto itself - it reallly sets the tone. Props to Ursula on her lovely wardrobe, as well as successfully pulling off several well-heeled strolls along the beach, across dunes, dirt & grass, & down many a country lane & path without a single, on-camera misstep! Love the haunting piano toward the end. And way to go, Eddie, for your powerful, show-stopping portrayal of the silent, hulking haint - the brooding menace that stalks his mark quite literally to death. Quality content, Mr. H; bravo!
The subtitles are a scream! It took me ages to realise that emma james is supposed to be M R James. And the description of the coast road with its line of old furs (firs). Keep it up, subtitler, you’ll win an Oscar!
I am thinking...early in the documentary, that due to his interest into the old writings, the old testament, Apocryphal texts, made him question all manner of life, after life, what has been, what will come. And who are still lingering....? That's where I am curious also. I have had one very distinct encounter with a spirit, not a nice one, caused sleep paralysis for me in a friends house at an old house in Cincinnati, and a couple of other maybe residual haunting's that I experienced throughout my lifetime, so far...Not a fanatic, but the older I get I miss books, I can't wait to read all of his books now!! Just like the lady from Chicago on here, I feel your awe, I am in awe now too. Can't wait to read M R James ghost stories!! 👻😱😻
I know right?! There’s some awesome docs in M.R. James…..why anyone needs to watch this one ….from the basic as hell mistakes they made…..yea a waste of time 🤷🏼♀️🙄
The interjections by the American woman are very questionable. They destroy the flow of the piece. If she claims to be an expert how come she hadn’t heard of James before? Also Poe is not a ghost story writer too. To include such elements is very questionable. Some lovely photography does not make up from the paucity of her insights. Thank heavens for the male narrator. The facts he gave are interesting and the readings were well presented.
An excellent production. There is a brilliant homage to M R James A camera team go to the martello tower researching and interviewing for a film with spooky consequences.Think its called a warning to the furious....
I'm quite a fan of M R James. His stories have a truly weird atmosphere about them which seems beyond fiction. Your theory - that his ghost stories were acts of catharsis to deal with supernatural experiences - makes sense. However, we'll never know.
If it wasn’t for M. R. James we wouldn’t have stories like The Conjuring, Insidious, The Ring, The Grudge, The Fog, Poltergeist, The Shining, The Amityville Horror, The Haunting of Hill House, and countless other ghost stories by multiple authors from around the world.
What ARE you even blather about?! So you think he was somehow THE FIRST author of ghost stories or even close to being 1 of the first? LMFAO 🤡 pMy god….just how much don’t you know about 19cent literature? 🤷🏼♀️😂🙄 sorry dear but there were lots of writers of ghost stories and supernatural stories starting in the 18th century…..like a 130 years BEFORE MR James wrote his….. Sheridan Le Fanu? Helllooooo? Irish writer of the most gorgeous and sublime ghost stories starting in the 1830s…..James HIMSELF stated many times that Le Fanu was THE master of the ghost story. And I could go on and on AND ON listing awesome writers of stories of the supernatural……do you realize I hope the exquisite literary works you’ve missed? What I wouldn’t give to have spread unread in front of me …..and to revel in them again. Alas I started reading Le Fanu when I was 12 in 1983……
only complaint - when people are speaking the music is loud. the music should be lower in the mix. It's really distracting and if it wasn't for the subs, i'd be lost.
I think that people don't really touch on the real secret of James's ghost stories. Namely that England actually has two "old religion's". Deep in the psychological DNA of the English is the fear that what the vicars offered wasn't enough. This may be increasingly irrelevant now....but not for HIS first readers or his generation. Perhaps part of his secret was tapping into the fear that some things were not entirely dead. And Were more potent.
m r james was to intelligent to believe in ghosts himself. his stories show this clearly. the ghosts he invented are not ghostly but materialy. more living corpses than spectres. for example : the ash tree, martins close. his stories are perfect constructed, brillant works of art, not the confessions of a delusional believer.
So the narrators are forcing their opinion of James' belief in the supernatural despite his statements to the contrary. That is quite disingenuous. This is not a documentary, it is a rewrite of history.
I grew up in East Sheen , adjacent to Well Lane, and as you'll know, M.R.James went to school close by, at Temple Grove School.
His ''A School Story'' has a Well in it...East Sheen was so different then, the large country houses have been demolished, all but Percy Lodge, but mum lives in an 1850's cottage terrace that James would doubtless have known, and I like to think that James as a child would have walked or ridden by in a horse drawn vehicle en route to his school.
Love his stories.
So glad I found you. Love old english houses, love the english haunts, folk lore, ghosts, spirits and architecture of the past, this is right up my alley. Thank you!!
Chris , Ursula , that was fantastic. The music beautiful. Thank you ❤❤❤❤
Oh my goodness, what a great documentary! Thank you! It's much appreciated!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks, Dolly.
Just when I thought there'd be no MR James Christmases anymore! Very well done. It's a great loss that MR James wrote so few of these amazing tales!
I love M.R.J. Thank you!
Thirty-plus is a fairly impressive output.
Agreed! I discovered James’s stories 3 years ago when I got Covid for the first time and ended up with Long Covid. After seeing a couple of the videos made of two of his stories I was hooked and read them in their entirety. Blood and guts don’t scare me. Give me psychological horror any day!
Always read or watch the old BBC adaptations of his stories at this time of year especially... Enjoyed watching this too Chris. Thanks
Thanks, Mike!
I love this! The atmosphere is amazing, and the editing is superb! Another brilliant production!
As always appreciated, Lorraine :)
Just back from my usual Sunday walk at Great Livermere - and now very much enjoying this documentary. Its a place with a special and mysterious atmosphere no doubt. And when I travel, I always take my pocket sized version of MRJ’s ghost stories with me. The language, the wit, the atmosphere - they always comfort me and remind me of my beautiful Suffolk home county.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Filmchick. I love the East Anglia region and MRJ!
Merry Christmas Mr. Halton. Love your material
Thank you...a breath of fresh air . All the best for the new year ✌
And you too, Helen :)
Merry Christmas Chris and all the team. Great documentary as always. Cheers
Thank you :) And a great Christmas to you too!
Excellent! I learn much. Many Thanks! DaveyJO in Pennsylvania
Thanks, DaveyJO :)
What a superb piece of work. Kept me riveted all the way through. Brilliant.
Many thanks, Peter!
Thank you Chris for another great post! Very best for Christmas and the New Year!
Thank you! Have a great holiday!
Delightful and well written. Is the accompanying music made up of original compositions? Quite entertaining!
Absolutely excellent.Thank you for uploading. Merry Christmas!🎄
Thank you, Toeka! Happy New Year to you!
A very unexpected and welcome treat for Christmas and very well done. I always read and watch and listen to M.R. James as much as possible at this time of year - and indeed during the rest of the year - as he feels as much a traditional part of the Yuletide festivities as Santa or mince pies.
I have stayed up until almost dawn to enjoy this in the wee small hours. It was delightfully researched, produced, presented, and directed. My congratulations to Chris, Ursula and Jason. I am sure Monty would approve. Thank you so much.
Thanks, Jack, really appreciated.
What a fantastic find , ! this post popped up on my youtube menu, I love the 1968 short film ' Whistle ,,,,,,,' and also ' A warning,,,,,,,,,,,,' two of my all time favourite films, both so well made and genuinely 'eerie', absolute classics along with the 1961 film 'The Innocents' by Henry James.. Thank you so much for posting ! it made a great antidote to the utter drivel that passes for Christmas television I've had to endure ( at a relative's house) Thank you again !!! )
Merry xmas Chris and Crew. Great production as always
Thanks, Red. Appreciated very much :)
thanks for a welcome christmas treat,,,,,i admire your work.happy christmas
Thanks, David! Happy Christmas!
Excellent work Mr. H. and Mr. Figgis.
Thanks, Chris as always!
I think you are right Chris, he wrote cleverly about things he had some experience of. Though his stories were fictional, they drew from the life experience and paranormal awareness of M.R. James, which made his stories so real, so detailed…so convincing and so credible. No surprise to me is the depth of history and rich opportunity of East Anglian legends and ghost stories, entwined with fact and embroidered with rumor, imagination and James’s narrative skill.
Thank you, Red.
@@HauntedEarth The image at 31:12 ..I woke in middle of night while watching this after falling asleep.. incredibly eerie, and definitely goes with the story.
Beautifully made documentary, Thank you .
Outstanding as always. You really leveled up your documentaries.
Happy Christmas Chris.
Thank you! Happy Christmas :)
I have just discovered your channel, great documentary on the fascinating M.R James thank you, subscribed.
Awesome, thank you!
Superbly well done, and how appropriate that it should be shown on Christmas day, what a nice touch! I have been a reader of James's work for much of my life, and some years of my childhood were spent in East Anglia; I well understand the other worldly feel of the place, central to so many of James's stories. You might be aware of a recently published book by Simon Loxley, called "A Geography of Horror," which is about the ghost stories of M.R.James and the East Anglian landscape. I doubt that it will tell you anything you don't already know, but it is really well researched and written, and so a very worthwhile read. Thank you, and all who were involved in this production, for this labour of love, and I'm sure that this is only the first of several watchings!
Thank you Zhou for this sterling review. Really appreciated!
This was superb! 😲👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏😊👍👍 A brilliant, top quality production 😄 M.R James was a great giant of the ghost story genre and naturally one of my favorites 😊
Really pleased you enjoyed it. Thank you!
Chris this was so well made and enjoyable and accurate this is the best so far keep up the excellent work thanks this deserves a million views
Thank you, Paul. Appreciated.
This was exceptional ! I adore M.R James’s work and you reflected all aspects of his personality and skills as a writer .
Brilliant bit of work.👍
Thanks, Bernard!
Loved this. Thank you. I feel it's long overdue that we had another official biography, since none appear to be still in print or easily accessible.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks, Mark!
Hail to Thee, O Uploader! A beautiful and haunting documentary, inbued with an atmosphere not unlike that found in MR Janes’ best stories…
Glad you enjoyed it Paul. Thank you!
This is excellent. I'd like to know who wrote the music, it's appropriately haunting. I'm from Essex, I went to the Plume library in Maldon on a school trip, many years ago. I must go back there.
Thanks, Sue. I believe the composers are credited at the end of the video. I do love that old library. Happy New Year.
Wonderful documentary, thank you for sharing it.
Chris you look splendid in your outfit and act the part out well. You look like James Mason.
Who knows?? lol
😁 two Christmas gifts?! What s treat thanks Chris
Schhhhh! lol.
Fantastic doc, Chris & Co! Especially after viewing your location investigation vid some days prior. That thick coastal fog is a character unto itself - it reallly sets the tone. Props to Ursula on her lovely wardrobe, as well as successfully pulling off several well-heeled strolls along the beach, across dunes, dirt & grass, & down many a country lane & path without a single, on-camera misstep! Love the haunting piano toward the end. And way to go, Eddie, for your powerful, show-stopping portrayal of the silent, hulking haint - the brooding menace that stalks his mark quite literally to death. Quality content, Mr. H; bravo!
Thank you! So pleased you enjoyed.
The subtitles are a scream! It took me ages to realise that emma james is supposed to be M R James. And the description of the coast road with its line of old furs (firs). Keep it up, subtitler, you’ll win an Oscar!
You are a really silly fool, aren`t you? The subs are auto-generated by UA-cam.
Absolutely Beautiful! .....So Atmospheric
Thank you, Lesley. Happy New Year to you!
What a wonderful tribute to the man. Monty was unsurpassed.
Excellent presentation of a great writer!
Thank you kindly!
A very fine documentary on a wonderful author. I’ve been watching it twice and am sure I’ll watch it again.
No diggin' 'ere.
Pretty much sums up the warning in much of James' work.
Lol! Indeed!
Excellent!!
I am thinking...early in the documentary, that due to his interest into the old writings, the old testament, Apocryphal texts, made him question all manner of life, after life, what has been, what will come. And who are still lingering....? That's where I am curious also. I have had one very distinct encounter with a spirit, not a nice one, caused sleep paralysis for me in a friends house at an old house in Cincinnati, and a couple of other maybe residual haunting's that I experienced throughout my lifetime, so far...Not a fanatic, but the older I get I miss books, I can't wait to read all of his books now!! Just like the lady from Chicago on here, I feel your awe, I am in awe now too. Can't wait to read M R James ghost stories!! 👻😱😻
Just FYI, The ghost in the story "A warning to the curious" is WIliam Ager, not William Pager.
Wonderful.
Thank you! Cheers! Have a fantastic New Year!
MR James scared me to death as a child 😮
His tv stories gave me the chills, I have to say.
Fascinating
Love his tales.
Fascinating
Chris That Was A Absolutely Fantastic Video thanks Hope You Are OK Please Stay Safe From Blue
Thanks, Blue. Glad you enjoyed it!
Poe didn't write ghost stories. Most of his stories were not supernatural. They were psychological horror.
I know right?! There’s some awesome docs in M.R. James…..why anyone needs to watch this one ….from the basic as hell mistakes they made…..yea a waste of time 🤷🏼♀️🙄
The interjections by the American woman are very questionable. They destroy the flow of the piece. If she claims to be an expert how come she hadn’t heard of James before? Also Poe is not a ghost story writer too. To include such elements is very questionable. Some lovely photography does not make up from the paucity of her insights. Thank heavens for the male narrator. The facts he gave are interesting and the readings were well presented.
An excellent production. There is a brilliant homage to M R James A camera team go to the martello tower researching and interviewing for a film with spooky consequences.Think its called a warning to the furious....
The flattened trilby et, et, as by you in the nissen on that old WW2 base - was a look you later effected or was a ¿?
The wearing of a hat on film came later. But as an aside I have always enjoyed wearing hats. :)
Just watched Room 13. Certainly was a strange ending...
My favourite! And it was an odd fiinish. :)
I'm quite a fan of M R James. His stories have a truly weird atmosphere about them which seems beyond fiction. Your theory - that his ghost stories were acts of catharsis to deal with supernatural experiences - makes sense. However, we'll never know.
Thanks, Daryl!
If it wasn’t for M. R. James we wouldn’t have stories like The Conjuring, Insidious, The Ring, The Grudge, The Fog, Poltergeist, The Shining, The Amityville Horror, The Haunting of Hill House, and countless other ghost stories by multiple authors from around the world.
What ARE you even blather about?! So you think he was somehow THE FIRST author of ghost stories or even close to being 1 of the first? LMFAO 🤡 pMy god….just how much don’t you know about 19cent literature? 🤷🏼♀️😂🙄 sorry dear but there were lots of writers of ghost stories and supernatural stories starting in the 18th century…..like a 130 years BEFORE MR James wrote his…..
Sheridan Le Fanu? Helllooooo? Irish writer of the most gorgeous and sublime ghost stories starting in the 1830s…..James HIMSELF stated many times that Le Fanu was THE master of the ghost story.
And I could go on and on AND ON listing awesome writers of stories of the supernatural……do you realize I hope the exquisite literary works you’ve missed? What I wouldn’t give to have spread unread in front of me …..and to revel in them again. Alas I started reading Le Fanu when I was 12 in 1983……
@@6Haunted-Days I didn’t say he was the first you Smart A**. I said he revolutionized the genre for the modern day.
only complaint - when people are speaking the music is loud. the music should be lower in the mix. It's really distracting and if it wasn't for the subs, i'd be lost.
Boy this chap could play a guitar also, brilliant!
Thank you. Monty was haunted by something without much doubt.
Thanks, Michael :)
One minute in - a bloody advert!!
Very atmospheric , dare i say , Jamesian ?
I think that people don't really touch on the real secret of James's ghost stories. Namely that England actually has two "old religion's".
Deep in the psychological DNA of the English is the fear that what the vicars offered wasn't enough. This may be increasingly irrelevant now....but not for HIS first readers or his generation.
Perhaps part of his secret was tapping into the fear that some things were not entirely dead. And
Were more potent.
Quentin Tarantino's cousin
overly long intro very boring at the
start
m r james was to intelligent
to believe in ghosts himself.
his stories show this clearly.
the ghosts he invented are not ghostly but materialy. more living corpses than spectres.
for example : the ash tree, martins close.
his stories are perfect constructed, brillant works of art, not the confessions of a delusional believer.
Oh! okay ...
On the contrary M R James was too intelligent not to believe!
@@Robotina-e8u Sancta simplicitas.
@@RPe-jk6dv 😊
So the narrators are forcing their opinion of James' belief in the supernatural despite his statements to the contrary. That is quite disingenuous. This is not a documentary, it is a rewrite of history.
I love ghost stories but was never impressed with M R James.