A Podcast to the Curious - The M.R. James Podcast

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... dedicated to the Weird Fiction and Ghost Stories of M.R. James.

A Podcast to the Curious - The M.R. James Podcast

Oxford/London, UK


    • Dec 18, 2024 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 55m AVG DURATION
    • 106 EPISODES

    Ivy Insights

    The A Podcast to the Curious - The M.R. James Podcast is a fantastic podcast that I continue to enjoy listening to. It has become a regular part of my day, and I can't go a day without listening to a new or old episode. What I really love about this podcast is the clear friendship between the hosts and the genuine niceness they bring to the show, despite it being about ghosts and supernatural stories.

    One of the best aspects of this podcast is the hosts' knowledge and passion for M.R. James' ghost stories. They provide insightful analysis and commentary on each story, which has helped me gain a deeper appreciation for James' work. They also have great chemistry with each other, making for an entertaining and enjoyable listening experience. Additionally, I appreciate their efforts in providing links and suggestions for further exploration of M.R. James' stories, such as Google Maps locations and DVD compilations.

    However, one downside of this podcast is that it has finished covering all of M.R. James' stories, so there may not be any more new episodes dedicated solely to his works. Nonetheless, the hosts have continued to produce new episodes on related topics and have done a great job keeping the podcast interesting and engaging.

    In conclusion, The A Podcast to the Curious - The M.R. James Podcast is a beautifully produced podcast with witty, intelligent hosts who provide fascinating insights into M.R. James' ghost stories. It has reignited my delight in these stories and has become one of my favorite podcasts. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in M.R. James or ghost stories in general.



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    Latest episodes from A Podcast to the Curious - The M.R. James Podcast

    Episode 99 – Curfew by Lucy M. Boston

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2024 55:57


    This episode Mike and Will examine Curfew by Lucy M. Boston, a childhood tale of haunted bells, unearthed coffins and post-Jamesian highjinx aplenty. Big thanks to Debbie Wedge for providing the readings for this episode. Show notes: Curfew by Lucy M. Boston – read by Robert Lloyd Parry (Youtube.com) The text of this story is […]

    Episode 98 – The Nature of the Evidence by May Sinclair

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2024 67:33


    M.R. James said that sex had no place in a ghost story. But was he right? This episode we attempt to answer this question and more, as we cover The Nature of the Evidence by May Sinclair, a tale from 1923 about a couple who just want to enjoy their wedding night. Is that too […]

    Episode 97 – Mark Gatiss’s Lot 249

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2024 59:34


    Hold on to your mummy! This episode Mike and Will discuss Mark Gatiss's recent Ghost Story for Christmas TV adaptation Lot 249, as well as the Arthur Conan Doyle short story it is based on. Show notes: Watch it online! (BBC iPlayer) If you are in the UK you can watch it on BBC iPlayer […]

    Episode 96 – The Real and the Counterfeit by Louisa Baldwin

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2023 47:20


    This episode, Mike and Will grab their literary toboggans and gallop joyously out into the snow, only to be hit in the face by a terrifying fictional snowball in the form of Louisa Baldwin's The Real and the Counterfeit! Big thanks as ever to Debbie Wedge for providing the readings for this episode. Looking for […]

    Episode 95 – The Weird of the Walfords by Louisa Baldwin

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2023 60:48


    Who would win in a fight between a man and a bed? Find the answer to this question and more in our new episode on The Weird of the Walfords by Louisa Baldwin! Also, if you like emotionally-repressed Victorian husbands, you will not leave disappointed. Show notes: Louisa Baldwin (1845–1925) (Wikipedia) Louisa was a member of […]

    Episode 94 – Exploring Eleanor Scott with Vicky Margree and Dan Orrells

    Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2023 43:09


    This episode we speak with two experts to better understand Eleanor Scott and her story Randall's Round, Dr Vicky Margree and Prof Dan Orrells. We discuss what's known about Eleanor Scott, her time at Oxford University in the early 1900s and the role of gender, folklore and imperialism in her writing. Vicky is a specialist […]

    Episode 93 – Count Magnus Awakens

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2023 48:56


    A BBC Ghost Story for Christmas is thankfully as traditional as quaffing eggnog and leaving out a carrot for Rudolph. And what a treat, as this year Count Magnus made the Black Pilgrimage onto our screens.  But has Mark Gatiss been naughty or nice? We give you our verdict. Show notes A recent interview with […]

    Episode 92 – Randalls Round by Eleanor Scott

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2022 67:34


    This episode Mike and Will explore freaky folk-dance, village-based villainy and Cotswold chicanery in Eleanor Scott's awesome Jamesian folk-horror tale Randalls Round! Big thanks to Kirsty Woodfield for providing the readings for this episode. Show notes: Eleanor Scott (The Haunted Library) This article contains some biographical information as well as plot summaries of the stories […]

    Episode 91 – Let Loose by Mary Cholmondeley

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2022 74:08


    In the first episode of Season 4 tm, Mike and Will are delighted by Let Loose by Mary Cholmondeley, a tale of crypts, clergymen and crikey, what is that in the dog's mouth? Big thanks to Jim Moon for allowing us to use extracts from his excellent reading of the story. You can listen to […]

    Episode 90 – Right Through My Hair by Noel Boston

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2022 62:23


    Join Will and Mike for haunted cathedrals, lecherous minor canons and hair-based horrors in Noel Boston's ‘Right Through My Hair'! Big thanks to Debbie Wedge for providing the readings for this episode. Show notes Noel Boston (The Haunted Library) Biographical information about Noel Boston is a bit hard to find online, but there is an […]

    Episode 89 – Cushi

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2022 43:51


    Open your hymn books to episode 89, as we're back in church for Christopher Woodforde's “Cushi”: a tale of capering cats, sabotaged surplices and vengeful vergers. Don't lose your head! Show notes: Christopher Woodforde studied at Peterhouse, Cambridge before becoming an Anglican priest. He was later Fellow and Chaplain at New College, Oxford, and Dean […]

    Episode 88 – Canon Alberic’s Scrap-Book Revisited

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 22, 2022 90:11


    Join Mike and Will for a special 10th anniversary (give or take a few months) special in which your now-aged hosts look back over a decade of M.R. James podcasting and return to the story that started it all, Canon Alberic's Scrapbook! You can listen to when we originally covered this story all the way […]

    Episode 87 – Mark Gatiss’s The Mezzotint

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 2, 2022 41:42


    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 […]

    Episode 86 – Lucky’s Grove by H.R. Wakefield

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2021 58:09


    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: […]

    Episode 85 – The Tudor Chimney by A.N.L. Munby

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2021 60:47


    This episode Mike and Will grab their torches and disappear up ‘The Tudor Chimney' by A.N.L. Munby. But what is that shape moving up above? Meh, it's probably nothing. Thanks to Debbie Wedge for providing the readings for this episode! In this episode, we also mention Will's new project DarkOxfordshire.co.uk, which explores the darker side of Oxfordshire's […]

    Episode 84 – Bosworth Summit Pound

    Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2021 51:56


    Ahoy there listeners!  Be grabbin' yer nautical gear for a  cruise on the high seas of Leicestershire, with LTC Rolt and his story Bosworth Summit Pound.  (Enough.  It's set on a canal – ed) What terrors might await us on England's peaceful inland waterways? And just who digs a canal tunnel under an ancient graveyard […]

    Episode 83 – A Room in a Rectory

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 6, 2021 70:04


    This episode Will and Mike hitch up their cassocks, pack their prayer books and head to ‘Southshire' to open ‘A Room in a Rectory' by Sir Andrew Caldecott! Big thanks to Kirsty who provided the readings for this episode, and to Garry Platt who provided the photo that accompanies this episode. You can see more of […]

    Episode 82 – Echoes from the Abbey

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 24, 2020 61:16


    This week Will and Mike don their warmest Christmas jumpers for dinner with Dr James and the troubled incumbents of Medborough Abbey, in the company of Sheila Hodgson. What could be more seasonal than a cracker, eh?  Oh the fun that tumbles out when it goes snap! Paper hat, plastic keyring, lighthearted message of impending […]

    Episode 81 – The Demoniac Goat by M.P. Dare

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2020 93:22


    This episode Mike and Will brace themselves for the ‘appalling stench of goat, cordite, sulphur, and burning human flesh' in M.P. Dare's The Demoniac Goat. Lovely! Also in this episode we speak to actor Robert Lloyd Parry and publisher Brian J. Showers about ‘Ghosts of the Chit-chat', their soon to be published new anthology of […]

    Episode 80 – The Sundial by R.H. Malden

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2020 66:35


    This Halloween Mike and Will stroll out into the garden to take a look at The Sundial by R.H. Malden. But who is that lurking in the bushes? Thanks to Kirsty for providing excellent readings for this episode! Show notes: Nine Ghosts by R.H. Malden (Project Gutenberg Australia) Malden only wrote one volume of ghost stories, […]

    Episode 79 – The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2020 57:25


    Today we head to East Anglia for a round of golf in the company of enthusiastic James fan H.R. Wakefield. No whistling ‘ere though – you might just wake up something nasty… Wakefield published seven volumes of ghost stories between 1928 and 1961, but also wrote three detective novels and two non-fiction ‘true crime' studies. […]

    Episode 78 – Brother John’s Bequest by Arthur Gray

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2020 44:16


    This episode Mike and Will travel back to 16th century Cambridge to get acquainted with a rather unsavory guest at Jesus College in ‘Brother John's Bequest‘ by Arthur Gray. Booze, burials and bell-book-and-candle are the order of the day here, with a side order of spitting. Eww. Big thanks to Kirsty for providing the excellent […]

    Episode 77 – The Man with the Roller by E.G. Swain

    Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2020 62:14


    This episode Mike and Will put on their dancing shoes and head out to the lawn, only to encounter The Man with the Roller by E.G. Swain! Massive thanks to podcaster Jim Moon of hypnogoria.com for letting us use extracts from his reading of this story in the episode! You can listen to the full reading, as […]

    Episode 76 – How Fear Departed From the Long Gallery

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 29, 2020 58:00


    We liven up our social distancing by finishing off the Benson boys, with Fred's How Fear Departed From the Long Gallery.  Dirty Dick gets his comeuppance for a murderous deed, but can the ghosts of his victims be laid to rest? Trigger warning for gratuitous violence against children.  And yes, we do mean it this […]

    Episode 75 – The Traveller by R.H. Benson

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 9, 2020 58:54


    This episode explores some ecclesiastical terrors in R.H. Benson's ‘The Traveller'. It was ‘too ecclesiastical' for M.R. James, but will Mike and Will find something to enjoy in this tale of perturbed priests, creepy confessionals and historical haunting? Thanks to our reader for this episode Debbie Wedge! Show notes: Robert Hugh Benson (catholiceducation.org) Benson was ordained a […]

    travellers robert hugh benson
    Ep74 – Review of Martin’s Close on BBC4

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 6, 2020 33:17


    Excitement abounds in the podcast house as Big Santy C leaves us a new BBC Ghost Story for Christmas, courtesy of BBC4 and Mr Mark Gatiss!  Will and Mike offer their humble thoughts on this festive treat. Show notes: A clutch of reviews of Martin's Close, from the Radio Times, i, Metro, Telegraph and Warwick […]

    Episode 73 – Out of the sea by A.C. Benson

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2019 62:16


    This episode Mike and Will indulge in murder, moralising and supernatural goat-based mayhem in A.C. Benson's ‘Out of the Sea'. Big thanks to our reader for this episode Debbie Wedge, and don't forget to check out her M.R. James-themed t-shirt designs, ‘No diggin' ere‘ and ‘Barchestering‘! Notes: A.C. Benson (Wikipedia) A.C. Benson was one of […]

    Episode 72- By One, By Two and By Three by Adrian Ross

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 17, 2019 74:35


    Like a prodigal and slightly deranged friend, Will and Mike return to explore another author inspired by MR James.  This week we look at the story By One, By Two and By Three, by Adrian Ross. Show notes By One, By Two and By Three is widely published in ghost story anthologies, but you can […]

    Episode 71 – An Antiquary’s Ghost Story by Augustus Jessopp

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 21, 2019 45:19


    This episode Mike & Will kick off Season 3 with ‘An Antiquary's Ghost Story' by Augustus Jessopp! Scroll down for a full list of the ‘James Gang' authors we will be covering over the next 15 episodes. Big thanks to our reader for this episode, Debbie Wedge!   Show notes: Collected writings of Augustus Jessopp […]

    Episode 70 – Negotium Perambulans by E.F. Benson

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2019 65:12


    This episode Mike and Will grab their guidebook, pack their bucket and spade and head off for a terrifying trip to sunny Cornwall in E.F. Benson's ‘Negotium Perambulans'. Big thanks to Richard Crowest of the ‘Ghost Stories of E.F. Benson' podcast for giving us permission to use extracts from his reading of this story in […]

    Episode 69 – Smee by A.M. Burrage

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2018 58:04


    Seasons greetings listeners! For this special festive episode Mike and Will turn off the lights and dive into the wardrobe for a game of hide-and-shriek, courtesy of A.M. Burrage's Christmas classic ‘Smee'! Big thanks go to our reader this week Kirsty Woodfield. Also mentioned in this episode were ‘The Dead Room', the new Mark Gatiss […]

    Episode 68: The Death Mask by Mrs H.D. Everett

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 19, 2018 51:56


    Textaphobes beware!  This month Will and Mike tackle Henrietta Dorothy Everett's “The Death Mask”, a supernatural farce about termagant wives, gold diggin' husbands and menacing fabrics. Story notes: Monty writes,“Going back a few years I light on Mrs Everett's The Death Mask, of a rather quieter tone on the whole, but with some excellently conceived […]

    Episode 67 – Through a Glass Darkly conference report

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2018 73:54


    This episode it's conference report time! We've just returned from Through a Glass Darkly, an M.R. James conference which brought together authors, academics and fans in ghost-haunted York for a 2-day Jamesfest of epic proportions! The episode features interviews with: Conference organisers Paul M. Chapman, Theresa Dudley and Mark Jones, who told us about how […]

    Episode 66 – The Monkey’s Paw

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2018 70:06


    This month Mike and Will throw caution to the wind and make an ill-fated wish on “The Monkey's Paw” by W.W. Jacobs.  Best known in his own time for gentle tales of the sea and other comic stories, Jacobs is now perhaps most famous for this classic cautionary tale of cursed taxidermy, family tragedy and […]

    Episode 65 – The Story of the Moor Road

    Play Episode Listen Later May 15, 2018 52:07


    This episode Mike and Will return to the realms of the ‘psychic detective' in this tale from mother-son writing team Kate and Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard. Expect terror on the moors with malevolent earth spirits, coughing ghosts, ominous otters and even a bicycle chase scene! A big thanks to Rob Douglas, who provided the readings for this episode. […]

    Episode 64 – Featherston’s Story by Mrs Henry Wood

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2018 61:56


    Have you ever had a hankering for upping sticks and moving overseas, where one's limited means might stretch a little further and the wine flow more freely? This week Will and Mike head for the north coast of France in Featherston's Story, where Mrs Henry Wood shows us that expat life is not always baguettes, […]

    Episode 63 – Christmas Re-union by Sir Andrew Caldecott

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2017 56:08


    Ho ho ho! We have a festive cracker of an episode for you this month (literally), as Mike and Will explore Sir Andrew Caldecott's M.R. James-inspired tale, ‘Christmas Re-union‘. A big thank you to Tony Mears, who provided the readings for this episode. Check out his bands new track ‘A Hypothermia Banquet‘ on Bandcamp! Story […]

    Episode 62 – The Upper Berth by F. Marion Crawford

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 26, 2017 60:25


    Mike and Will take a cruise across the pond in the good ship Kamchatka – but who's hiding in The Upper Berth?  Joining us to narrate F. Marion Crawford's classic tale is reader Rupert Simons, who tells us that he's found a cheap cabin for his trip from The Hook to Harwich next week… Show […]

    Episode 61 – The Open Door by Margaret Oliphant

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 15, 2017 73:09


    This episode join Mike and Will as they don their kilts and sporrans and head north of Hadrian's wall for some Scottish horror (no, not the midges) as we explore ‘The Open Door' by Margaret Oliphant! Big thanks to Kirsty for chilling us to the bone with her readings for this episode. Show notes: Margaret […]

    Episode 60 – The Signal-Man by Charles Dickens

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2017 82:39


    We're back! This week Mike and Will descend gingerly into a gloomy railway cutting to investigate Charles Dickens' The Signal-Man.  Dickens dissects the harsh realities of life in industrial Britain, but can he also deliver a pleasing terror and a locomotive-sized Jamesian Wallop? (spoiler: yes, in spades) Show notes: Higham Station was the closest to […]

    Episode 59 – The Haunted and the Haunters by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2017 81:59


    This episode Mike and Will cover ‘The Haunted and the Haunters‘ by Charles Dickens's BFF, Edward Bulwer-Lytton. M.R. James considered this story essential reading, saying “Nobody is permitted to write about ghost stories without mentioning ‘The Haunted and the Haunters'.” (Some Remarks on Ghost Stories). Will it live up to our expectations? Our reader for […]

    Episode 58 – The Familiar by J Sheridan Le Fanu

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 27, 2017 112:13


    In this bumper episode we examine M.R. James's favourite story by his favourite author, ‘The Familiar' by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu! Praise doesn't get much higher than that, but is it all it is cracked up to be? If you are a fan of owls, diminutive, angry men in fur caps and incredibly long sentences, then […]

    Episode 57 – The White and the Black by Erckmann-Chatrian

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2016 60:00


    This episode Mike and Will pop across the channel for some booze-heavy French/German shinanigans in ‘The White and the Black' by Erckmann-Chartrian. M.R. James says this writing partnership “produced some quite first-class romances”, but this tale of murder and mayhem is no love story! Show notes: Erckmann-Chatrian (Wikipedia) About the authors Breisach, Germany (Wikipedia) About […]

    Episode 56 – A Relation of the Apparition of Mrs Veal by Daniel Defoe

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2016 78:22


    Happy Halloween listeners! In this bumper-bonus episode we talk about our first non-M.R. James ghost story, ‘A Relation of the Apparition of Mrs Veal‘, a fascinating early ghost story attributed to Daniel Defoe. We also interview Leah Moore and John Reppion about their recently-published graphic novel of ‘Ghost stories of an Antiquary‘. Finally, we are […]

    Episode 55 – A Vignette

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2016 60:30


    Nearly five years to the day that we released Episode 1, we are pleased to bring you ‘A Vignette', M.R. James's very last story! The episode also features readings from Robert Lloyd Parry and an exciting announcement about the future of the podcast! Show notes: A Vignette by M.R. James (adelaide.edu.au) A Vignette, read by […]

    vignette robert lloyd parry
    Episode 54 – Eton and Kings, part two

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 14, 2016 91:35


    In this epic feature-length James-fest, Mike and Will conclude their coverage of ‘Eton and King's', M.R. James's memoir of a life spent in two of the UK's most celebrated educational institutions. This part covers M.R. James's time as an undergraduate, Fellow, Dean and Provost at King's College, his somewhat unhappy stint as Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, […]

    Episode 53 – Jacqueline Simpson interview

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2016 41:31


    This episode Mike and Will interview folklorist Jacqueline Simpson about the influence of Scandinavian and English folklore on M.R. James's ghost stories, as well as Jacqueline's collaboration with Terry Pratchett on ‘Folklore of the Discworld'. Many thanks to Jacqueline for her hospitality! More about Jacqueline: Jacqueline Simpson on Wikipedia Dictionary of English Folklore by Jacqueline […]

    Episode 52 – Eton and King’s, part one

    Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2016 64:42


    It's back to school this week as Mike and Will pack their tuckboxes and top hats and join Monty for the first part of his memoir “Eton and King's: recollections, mostly trivial”.  How will James deal with the traditions and quirks of Eton?  Will he avoid a midnight wedgy?  And who exactly is the mysterious […]

    Episode 51 – M.R. James Conference 2016

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 31, 2016 65:12


    This episode Mike and Will report on the the M.R. James conference, aka ‘Haunted Studies: The Ghost Stories of M.R. James' and bring you interviews with a range of Jamesian luminaries present at the event. For more information on the conference, visit the conference website. People we interview in this episode: Dewi Evans (Acedemia.edu) Dewi, […]

    Episode 50 – A Night in King’s College Chapel

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 6, 2016 48:44


    This episode Mike and Will pack their sleeping bags and bed down for ‘A Night in King's College Chapel' by M.R. James. The episode also features an exclusive interview with James Drewett and Richard Svensson, creators of ‘Monsters and Miscreants' a new M.R. James-themed card game available to order now. You can also watch an […]

    Episode 49 – Twelve Medieval Ghost Stories

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 22, 2015 66:35


    What could be more worthy of a Christmas episode than a ghost story? Answer: twelve ghost stories!  This week Mike and Will find plenty of seasonal cheer in the scribblings of a 15th century monk from Yorkshire, whose collected tales of wandering spirits Monty transcribed in 1922.  Expect lashings of purgatorial terrors, a stocking-full of […]

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