One of M. R. James' most celebrated stories, in which an unfortunate academic falls foul of an aggrieved occultist. As his sense of dread grows, he discovers that he is not the first person to have fallen victim to the man's evil spell... The story starts at 00:01:25

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00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:25 Casting the Runes
00:58:00 Credits, thanks and further listening

Montague Rhodes James (1862–1936) was a medievalist and scholar, and is probably the best known and most celebrated English ghost story writer of the 20th century, although he actually began composing supernatural tales in the late Victorian era, beginning with 'Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book' (1893). He was born in Kent, but spent most of his childhood in Suffolk, a county which features prominently in many of his stories, including 'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad'. Several of James's protagonists also reflect his own antiquarian interests, with academics and historians featuring regularly. James published four volumes of ghost stories in his lifetime: '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 Stories' (1925).

During a long academic career which encompassed several positions at King's College, Cambridge, and Eton College, M. R. James developed a tradition of reading his ghost stories aloud to a group of friends, most famously on Christmas eve, and the majority of his published stories were first heard in that setting.

'Casting the Runes' was first published in 1911 as the fourth story in 'More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary', James' second collection of supernatural tales. It has gone on to be one of his most anthologised stories, inspiring adaptations on television and radio, as well as a celebrated British horror film, 'Night of the Demon' (1957), the only cinematic presentation to date of a story adapted from the works of M. R. James.

Recording © Bitesized Audio 2023.