Montague Rhodes James

Montague Rhodes James (1862–1936), commonly known as M.R. James, was an English medievalist scholar and one of the greatest masters of the ghost story genre. Born in Goodnestone, Kent, and raised in Great Livermere, Suffolk, he spent most of his academic life at Cambridge University, serving as Provost of King's College from 1905 to 1918, and later as Provost of Eton College until his death. He was also a distinguished biblical scholar and palaeographer, renowned for cataloguing medieval manuscripts.

James revolutionized ghost fiction by setting his stories in contemporary times rather than the gothic past, typically featuring quiet English villages, cathedral towns, and scholarly protagonists who inadvertently unleash supernatural forces through their antiquarian pursuits. His tales emphasize atmosphere, understated horror, and creeping dread over gore.

His major collections include Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904), More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911), A Thin Ghost and Others (1919), and A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories (1925). Among his most celebrated stories are "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad," "The Mezzotint," "Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book," "Casting the Runes," and "A Warning to the Curious," which remain classics of supernatural literature.