February 8th, 2010 Japanese Ghost, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)

Japanese Ghost, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)

February 8th, 2010 Rokurokubi (Long-necked Demon), attributed to Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)

Rokurokubi (Long-necked Demon), attributed to Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)

February 8th, 2010 One Hundred Stories of Demons and Spirits, by Kitagawa Utamaro (1754-1806)

One Hundred Stories of Demons and Spirits, by Kitagawa Utamaro (1754-1806)

February 8th, 2010 The Ghosts of Togo and His Wife, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)

The Ghosts of Togo and His Wife, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)

February 8th, 2010 The Ghost Kohada Koheiji, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)

The Ghost Kohada Koheiji, by Katsushika Hokusai

February 8th, 2010 Edward Kelly and John Dee raising a ghost, 19th century

Edward Kelly and John Dee raising a ghost, 19th century

February 8th, 2010 Mitsukini Defying the Skeleton Spectre, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, c.1845

Mitsukini Defying the Skeleton Spectre, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, c.1845

February 8th, 2010 Christopher Lee and M.R.James

Christopher Lee playing M.R. James

Apparently Christopher Lee, the high priest of horror cinema, is also a fan of ghost stories. Not only did he play M.R. James in a BBC adaptation of four of the stories, but he also actually met James. He was examined by him whilst he was a scholar studying at Cambridge.

I gleaned this snippet from the dust jacket blurb to The Times Anthology of Ghost Stories, a collection of the winners of a ghost story competition run by The Times in 1974 (which also interestingly contains the first work by Julian Barnes published in a book), for which Lee was one of the judges. I can’t find any other references to the event, and Lee’s biographies on the net don’t mention that he was at Cambridge at any point, but it’s a nice image!

February 8th, 2010 Free audio recording of F. Marion Crawford’s The Upper Berth

You can download a free audio book recording of the classic ghost story “The Upper Berth” by F. Marion Crawford here. Put it on your MP3 player and make sure you listen to it in the dark as you’re walking home on your own…. It’s one of my favourite ghost stories, and I still get a slight shiver down the spine thinking about it.

February 8th, 2010 The shortest horror story ever?

Apparently, the first story to claim this title appeared in the December 1948 edition of Thrilling Wonder Stories, one of those brilliant pulp sci fi mags with garish bug eyed monsters and big breasted space maidens on the cover. Fredric Brown’s two sentence story goes:

“The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door…”

But I prefer Ron Smith’s 1957 story, titled A Horror Story Shorter by One Letter Than the Shortest Horror Story Ever Written, which goes:

“The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a lock on the door…”