The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

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   Number 1: 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 3 – The Mezzotint (this very podcast) We dedicated a whole episode to the original story all the way back in October 2011! Fast forward to 31:30 to hear Will’s alternative ending suggestion that bears an uncanny resemblance to the plot alterations made in the Mark Gatiss adaptation! Interview with Mark Gatiss (Evolution of Horror Podcast) The excellent Evolution of Horror podcast recently featured an interview with Mark Gatiss talking about making The Mezzotint. The image that accompanied this episode includes elements of ‘Mycroft Holmes post stamp‘ by iMontage (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0), ‘Abbey Manor House‘ by David Luther Thomas (CC BY-SA 2.0) and ‘Picture frame‘ by Sailko (CC BY 3.0).

   January 02, 2022·42min
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   Number 2: 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: The Clock Strikes Twelve (Ash Tree Press) If you want to read this story, your best bet is to pick up the Ash Tree Press ebook of The Clock Strikes Twelve, the H.R. Wakefield collection that contains this story. H.R. Wakefield (Wikipedia) You can read some biographical information about Wakefield himself on Wikipedia. The Edda (Wikipedia) The quote that starts this story is liberally adapted by Wakefield from part of these 11th-century Icelandic works. The Folk Horror of H.R. Wakefield (whenchuchyardsyawn) This excellent article by Jason Lineham analyses both Lucky’s Grove and another Wakefield tale called the The First Sheaf from a modern folk horror perspective. The Disney wolf (Wikipedia) The intimidating wolf that adorns one of the Christmas lights was presumably based on the wolf from the Disney short film Three Little Pigs (1933). He does look a bit intimidating actually!

   December 21, 2021·59min
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   Number 3: Episode 1 – Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook

   In Episode 1 your hosts Will Ross and Mike Taylor discuss M.R. James’s first published ghost story, Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook, in which crocodiles are purloined, religious pimping staffs brandished, sinister tomes examined and unholy terrors unleashed on an unsuspecting scholar in the darkest depths of rural France. Also in this episode: Mike grumbles bitterly about carnival folk while Will insults Bury St. Edmonds before whipping out his Testament of Soloman and scrawling a cock and balls in the margin. Show notes & links: Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook (in .pdf format) Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges at Wikipedia Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges on GoogleMaps A picture of the famous crocodile! Study Guide at LitGothic.com Ghosts & Scholars Website

   September 21, 2011·59min
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   Number 4: Episode 38 – The Game of Bear

   An episode of two parts this week. In part one, Will and Mike open their box of James ephemera to play the “dreadful Game of Bear”. We only have the opening pages of this unfinished tale, but fortunately three leading Jamesians have tried to finish the story. Big thanks to Kirsty Woodfield who returns to read for us this week. In part two, we speak with Antonia Christophers and Noel Byrne of theatre company Box Tale Soup about their brilliant new production of Casting the Runes. They have just finished their run at the Edinburgh Fringe and will be in Cheltenham from 8-11 October. Show notes: The Ghost and Scholars text of Game of Bear and Rosemary Pardoe’s notes can be found here. The stories written by Helen Grant, Jacqueline Simpson and Clive Wright were published in G&S Newsletter #15. It’s now unavailable, but Rosemary has very kindly offered to send listeners a electronic copy if they get in touch by email. We didn’t get chance to talk about the amazing music in Box Tale Soup’s Casting the Runes, by musician Dan Melrose. Finally, picture credit. Not sure why the US military stores pictures of bears, but there you go.

   August 25, 2014·1h
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   Number 5: Episode 3 – The Mezzotint

   Episode 3 sees us tackle ‘The Mezzotint’ by M.R. James and delve into the world of sinister collectable artwork of a kind not often featured on the Antiques Roadshow. In this episode: Terror! Art! Golf! Alternative endings! How NOT to choose a babysitter! Mike gets all sentimental about his university days. Will moans a lot and bellows “In your FACE Cambridge!” Many thanks to our excellent reader Rob Douglas and to Stephen Gray of Thin-Ghost.org for providing the monstrous mezzotint photo above. Links: Hauntography: The Mezzotint Read the excellent commentary on ‘The Mezzotint’ by Tom at Freaky Trigger, including an interesting mezzotint-as-comic-strip interpretation. Art in Horror Fiction Interesting exploration of how art has been used as a plot device in horror fiction. Golf as a Metaphor in the Ghost Stories of M.R. James An extended essay looking at the role golf plays in various M.R. James stories, namely ‘Oh Whistle…’, ‘The Mezzotint’ and ‘The Rose Garden’. Topographical Drawings at the British Library The British Library contains a large collection of topographical drawings of the kind Mr. Williams curated. Canterbury College, Oxford James refers to the setting as ‘Canterbury College’, which existed up until the disillusion of the monasteries in the 16th Century but not at the time this story is set. Annesley Hall, Nottinghamshire Anningley Hall in Essex is not a real place. However there is an Annesley Hall in Nottinghamshire, built in the 13th Century and with a fairly spooky past of its own!

   October 20, 2011·34min
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