David Collings

The death of two youths may be connected to a mysterious glass talisman that shows bizarre events.

A shepherd tells of well near which dwell three women and a man, who were 'bad 'uns' when they were alive, now reduced to 'flutterin' rags and whity bones', who 'hadn't much to call faces'.

Mr. Dillet buys a large doll's house, six feet long, a veritable musuem piece, complete with a Chapel, furniture, crockery, and glass. But he realizes it may be more than a meticulous piece of craft when he is awoken in the middle of the night by a peal from the house.

A mysterious pair of glasses reveal peculiar sights, including a gibbet, with something hanging from it, where none should be.

A man discovers a pamplet with the lines 'Than that which walks in Betton Wood, Knows why it walks or why it cries.' He learns of a crime committed by Betton Wood, and a subsequent curse.

A mysterious prayer book seems to open on its own.

An antique journal is purchased and found to contain extraneous sheets, one of which is labeled by a lawyer as 'The strangest case I have yet met.'

The tale tells the story of Paxton, an antiquarian and archaeologist who holidays in 'Seaburgh' and inadvertently stumbles across one of the three lost crowns of Anglia, which legendarily protect the country from invasion. On digging the crown up, Paxton is stalked by its supernatural guardian. Written a few years after the end of The First World War, 'A Warning to the Curious' ranks as one of M. R. James's bleakest stories.

While researching church history in Viborg, Denmark, the narrator's cousin stays in a Danish inn. While staying in Number 12, he notices that his room seems to grow smaller and his furniture sometimes vanishes. After hearing dancing next door, he assumes it comes from Number 13; however, upon discussing the matter with the inn-keep, he learns that there is no Number 13. He asks the inn-keep to visit his room at night. While talking, the protagonist...

This is the unabridged audio recording of M.R. James' excellent ghost story 'The Fenstanton Witch'. The author's stories were written with the purpose of being read aloud in the long tradition of spooky Christmas Eve tales. This highly-praised version, narrated by David Collings, is sure to scare and delight in equal measure.