lordmongrove
Antediluvian
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- May 30, 2009
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Did the legendary master of terror M.R James ever meet a ghost himself? https://www.spookyisles.com/art-montague-rhodes-james/
’’What first interested me in ghosts? This I can tell you quite definitely. In my childhood I chanced to see a toy Punch and Judy set, with figures cut out in cardboard. One of these was The Ghost. It was a tall figure habited in white with an unnaturally long and narrow head, also surrounded with white, and a dismal visage. Upon this my conceptions of a ghost were based, and for years it permeated my dreams."
I'm watching this now (thank you!). Not convinced - there seems to be a lot of talk about 'oh, his stories are so convincing and he couldn't have talked about it in real life so he must have been psychic and seeing things...' Which seems to undermine James's ability as a writer, to make things up convincingly, wouldn't you say?The Haunting of M.R. James
Yes i would, he was the best ghost story writer ever, though the face seen through the gate may have been a real childhood event but that does not mean it was a ghost.I'm watching this now (thank you!). Not convinced - there seems to be a lot of talk about 'oh, his stories are so convincing and he couldn't have talked about it in real life so he must have been psychic and seeing things...' Which seems to undermine James's ability as a writer, to make things up convincingly, wouldn't you say?
I agree. He was the product of his upbringing, but I was not convinced by the programme into thinking that he was clearly 'psychic' or that he had actually seen the ghosts he wrote about. The narrator seemed to rather labour the point too. I think James was a very very talented writer with a spooky turn of mind, who was straddling two ages; the pre-modern, with its gas lamps and candles and the new modern age, which he didn't seem very keen on - and trying to keep the 'spirit' of his youth alive through stories.Yes i would, he was the best ghost story writer ever, though the face seen through the gate may have been a real childhood event but that does not mean it was a ghost.
Considering his position/reputation, would James have let the public know if indeed he had ever seen ghosts? Sadly, he would surely have been ridiculed, at least...
Ah yes, good point.I'm not sure... surge of interest in spiritualism with WWI?
I'm not sure... surge of interest in spiritualism with WWI?
It's so reductive to say "X couldn't possibly have written this without having seen it" it totally demeans the human imagination and the skill of writers, people do the same thing with Lovecraft as well.
I've not seen anyone claim that Tolkien actually met an ent but no doubt there's someone somewhere who thinks that.
And I think James would have been quite cross to hear that people think he couldn't have come up with the stories from his own imagination. There's an American review for one of my books where the reviewer says that I 'obviously' based it all on people I know, because 'you couldn't make it up!'It's so reductive to say "X couldn't possibly have written this without having seen it" it totally demeans the human imagination and the skill of writers, people do the same thing with Lovecraft as well.
I've not seen anyone claim that Tolkien actually met an ent but no doubt there's someone somewhere who thinks that.
Members of the Fortean forum immortalised in print!!There's an American review for one of my books where the reviewer says that I 'obviously' based it all on people I know, because 'you couldn't make it up!'
A bit like Tolkein hanging around with all them Elves and Hobbits on the outskirts of Birmingham.I'm watching this now (thank you!). Not convinced - there seems to be a lot of talk about 'oh, his stories are so convincing and he couldn't have talked about it in real life so he must have been psychic and seeing things...' Which seems to undermine James's ability as a writer, to make things up convincingly, wouldn't you say?
They thought he was a bit 'precious'.A bit like Tolkein hanging around with all them Elves and Hobbits on the outskirts of Birmingham.