“Returning home from a visit to a client late one summer’s evening, antiquarian bookseller Adam Snow takes a wrong turning and stumbles across the derelict old White House. Compelled by curiosity, he approaches the door, and, standing before the entrance feels the unmistakable sensation of a small hand creeping into his own, ‘as if a child had taken hold of it’.”

Japanese Ghost, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)

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

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

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

The Ghost Kohada Koheiji, by Katsushika Hokusai

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

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

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!