The Conception of Terror: Tales Inspired by M R James (2019)

The Conception of Terror: Tales Inspired by M R James

M R James + Various others

Bafflegab - 2019

Audible Original

 

A ghost story isn’t just for Christmas although there is something very right about a little M R James over the festive period.

This year Mark Gatiss gave us his annual Ghost Story for Christmas in the form of Count Magnus on BBC2 on the evening of December 23^rd.  A period adaption on a tight budget but still an amusing little chiller with Jason Watkins delivering the tortured goods.  I love these cosy, spooky treats and long may the tradition continue.

What I have also been listening to over the holiday period is Bafflegab’s; The Conception of Terror: Tales Inspired by M R James.  There is nothing comfortable about these adaptions, which are an altogether more unsettling experience.

First we have Casting the Runes, as adapted by Stephen Gallagher.  It stars Tom Burke, Reece Shearsmith and Anna Maxwell Martin and is perhaps my favorite of the four.  I’ve watched and listened to numerous versions of Casting the Runes, and each has been enjoyable and worthy of their telling but this may just be the best take on it so far.

Then we have Lost Hearts, adapted by A. K. Benedict and starring Rosa Coduri and Jeff Rawle. Entertaining enough but it kept reminding me of Netflix’s Archive 81 which cancelled out that Jamesian feel even though it predates that Netflix show. – Sorry, the issue is mine!

The Treasure of Abbot-Thomas, adapted by Jonathan Barnes and starring Pearl Mackie and Robert Bathurst was an excellent third tale with some lovely dialogue and a great sense of impending doom.

And finally, and only narrowly being pipped as the scariest, was A View from a Hill, adapted by Mark Morris and starring Alice Lowe and Andy Nyman.  That was chilling.  Nyman does terrified bloke better than anyone I've ever heard.

I have nothing but praise for every Bafflegab production I have ever listened to, and I think I’ve probably heard nearly all of them now.  The writing, the acting and the sound design are without fault.  The alterations to the stories, in order to modernise them, are always clever and organic.  I really can’t recommend them enough and should probably cover them here in the future.  An ideal excuse to play the CDs again.

This particular collection wasn’t available on CD for me to give them more of my money directly but was only available as an audible original.  That said, it’s going to stay in the digital library because all of these will be worth revisiting when I need a fix of the chills.

I’m quite new to audible and have enjoyed “reading” books when I’ve not had the time to sit and crack open the physical copy.  And there is no denying that with the right narrator it can transcend to an even greater experience – sadly the opposite is also true and there are a couple of things I’ve had to stop part way with an intention of revisiting them back in book form because the readings haven’t been appropriate.  Fortunately, M.R. James seems to be very well served with quality narration and also a lot of free downloads for audible members.  This winter I’ve listened to A warning to the Curious, Casting the Runes, Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You My Lad and The Ash Tree, all read by David Suchet, who is an absolute master at it.

In one medium or another, I’ve been dipping in and out of M R James stories all through the year starting off with revisits to the ITV Playhouse version of Casting the Runes (1979) and the granddaddy of them all: Night of the Demon (1957). There is a fascinating allure to M R James stories for me now where once I used to find them cold and a bit old fashioned. Now I think they are fashioned for the old… those nearer their end than their beginning, and that their appeal is to make us confront the inevitable. It’s a thought!

And here is another one; Although I have a copy of his Collected Ghost Stories on the shelf, and have done for years, I’m fairly certain I haven’t actually ever read an M R James short story for myself.  This would be very remiss of me were it not for the fact that, from what I understand, he only wrote them to be read in person at his little gatherings.  So maybe that’s OK then. After all, we aren't meant to read Shakespeare but rather watch it be performed.  Perhaps this is why M R James is so brilliantly served when he’s lifted off the page and becomes performance.

His works are cautionary tales for the telling that whisper to us about what is to come and what might be waiting for us on the other side. And if you don’t appreciate them just yet, then know that you will do one day.  They'll be waiting for you down the years.

Steve