Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories

M. R. James (1 August 1862 - 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge, and of Eton College. He also served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. Though James's work as a medievalist and scholar is still highly regarded, he is best remembered for his ghost stories, which some regard as among the best in the genre. James redefined the ghost story for the new century by abandoning many of the formal Gothic clichés of his predecessors and using more realistic contemporary settings. James held strongly traditional views about literature. In addition to ghost stories, he also enjoyed reading the work of William Shakespeare and the detective stories of Agatha Christie, but disliked most contemporary literature.