Showing results for "Mark James" in Literature & Fiction

A collection of four ghostly tales inspired by M. R. James: Casting the Runes, Lost Hearts, The Treasure of Abbott-Thomas and A View from the Hill.

M. R. James was the master of the uncanny. His classic supernatural stories have haunted readers and listeners for over a century and been adapted countless times for radio, TV and film. This collection features dramatisations of 12 of his most popular stories: The Mezzotint, Casting the Runes, The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral, A Warning to the Curious, Rats, Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come To You, My Lad, The Tractate Middoth, Lost Hearts, The Rose Garden, Number 13, Martin’s Close and Count Magnus.

Down on his luck and desperate for employment, Ezra Seton is offered only one job: to work in the house of a heartless bully, the very man who drove Ezra’s lover away. Gritting his teeth, Ezra takes the position. But neither the new job nor the master of house are close to what he expected. Still, he vows to keep his distance, no matter how difficult maintaining his composure in the face of relentless drollery becomes.

Oliver Autumnsworn should be dead. He was dead. But a deal with an ancient force brought him back—and now he’s repaying the debt the only way he knows how: by stealing for it. His latest job? Infiltrate an exclusive estate auction and steal a forgotten artifact. One last heist, and he’s free. Too bad Agent Maizie Galanos is already on the scene. She’s been chasing Oliver across continents, and every time she gets close, he vanishes like smoke. But tonight? She’s done playing games.

Before H.P. Lovecraft, Shirley Jackson, Stephen King and Anne Rice, Henry James wrote hair-raising stories that made horror a popular, sometimes controversial, widely-read literary form, and set the bar for all who followed. Stephen King considers James’ The Turn of The Screw one of the best horror novels ever penned.

Mark’s fourth novel in this gripping end-times series takes our characters through the fifth and sixth years of God’s wrath on an unrepentant, sinful world.

Following decades of deindustrialization, economic decline, income inequality, and political polarization, parts of America are a tinderbox. In Detroit, the match is lit when the local power company routinely shuts off the electricity of households behind in their monthly payments, even in the midst of an unusually brutal winter. Thousands of households resort to space and kerosene heaters, causing a spike in house fires and fire-related deaths.

Destroyed by the death of his former schoolmate yet unable to show it publicly, Giles Fullerton has taken to walking the streets of London in the middle of the night, the only time he can safely mourn the only person he's ever loved - until one chance meeting with a lamplighter changes everything.... Widower John Banks knows a thing or two about grief, and immediately recognizes a kindred spirit when he finally meets the gentleman he's admired from afar. And in fact, the two men discover shared passions and the possibility of a forever love - if they can overcome social taboos.

The sole survivor of his family’s gruesome murder years earlier, poor little Ned Lawton has struggled to put the dark events behind him. So, when a brash New York detective darkens his doorway demanding an interview, the wealthy young gentleman immediately shuts him out. But a rash of murders in America are mirroring of the London killings, and Patrick Kelly knows Ned might be the key to stopping the bloodshed.

Ready to embark on an epic literary adventure or maybe just learn what all the Ulysses buzz is about? Join your Ulysses80 team – Cliona O'Farrelly and Mark Sanford Gross – as we delve into James Joyce's Ulysses! Starting June 1st, 2025, we're reading "Ulysses In 80 Days," finishing August 19th. Expect insightful discussions on the journey, fun detours, and recaps of our weekly chats with scholars, cultural experts, authors, and more. Never feel alone or frustrated in your own Ulysses journey. Whether you're a curious newcomer, a literary hobbyist, or a devoted Ulysses fan, tune in and ...

Condemned for murder, Dez Moore awaits the hangman’s noose. Though he killed to defend a woman, the court shows no mercy, and, resigned, he attempts to make amends with his estranged sister. His letter bidding his sister good-bye falls into the wrong hands, and suddenly, he is facing another future - one that may exist, thanks to a man he doesn’t know. Once a poor mudlark, Carl Reis is a powerful businessman with an erratic impulse to save desperate people. When Dez’s letter comes to him, he takes an interest in the prisoner.

Two men imprisoned. One in body, the other in mind. Caught in the throes of passion with another man, scholar John Gilliam agrees to asylum treatment for perversion at the request of his worried parents. He intends to fake a cure then return to his normal life, but an attack on his person leads him down a darker path. Transferred to another facility, he is denied any devices by which he might harm himself - even books and writing materials. Half crazed by isolation John finds an unexpected friend in his caretaker, Sam Tully.

The "Randomness of Life" is never random. It had been the roughest day of Cooper’s life, the first morning of Tet. It was followed by years of broken promises, broken hearts, and eventually a couple of cracked ribs delivered by some boys who didn’t take kindly to his rough demeanor. He was struggling with life. Everyone saw it, but him. Police officer and helicopter pilot Cooper Gardner hadn’t seen the worst - or the best - the world still had to deliver.

Built from the bottom up: one perfect gentleman. Man about town Arthur Lawton spends his days pursuing entertainment, while shoeshine Joe Sprat labors to better his family’s lives. When an argument about nature versus nurture sparks a wager, Arthur swears to a friend he can turn this working man into a gentleman who will pass at a society function. Joe is happy to participate in the experiment for a fee, but receives more than he bargained for after moving into Lawton’s house.

Heartbroken after the death of his eccentric lover, Jenks is left to care for Mutt’s beloved pets on a lovely but isolated estate. With only the animals for company and rejected years earlier by his family when he left school to be with his lover, Jenks worries he’s fading from the world - until one misty morning when he discovers a half-drowned man on the bank of the river. And not just any man, but one who may have been the victim of an attempted murder. James Griffin is respectable and married...and has buried his true passion his entire life.

"Robinson Crusoe" is Daniel Defoe’s best and most popular novel. It is structured like an autobiography of the main character, depicting his castaway adventures on a lonely island for 28 years. Defoe’s novel abounds in detailed natural descriptions, moments of calm before the stormy action, and powerful character development.

Montague Rhodes James is cited as perhaps the greatest English writer of ghost stories, an opinion few would disagree with. Many of his elegant yet terrifying tales were created by discarding the prevailing gothic clichés and placing his characters and narrative in a realistic setting. Thereby the stories gained atmosphere and menace on a grand scale and he was famed as the originator of the antiquarian ghost story. Although story-telling and writing these 30 or so tales was a hobby, when published their effect transformed the genre and still chill the bones in our more modern times.

Stepping down from one of the many ancient faestones that adorn the luscious emerald-green landscape of the southern realm, the nine divines look on with intrigue as Kalu arrives in the world of man. Straight from a childhood nightmare, she is everything and more that has been sung about her in the folk songs: wonderful and awful, a less likely savior perhaps you will never find.

Elderly Lord Duffield suspects that his much younger wife is doing more than just hoity-toiting it with the high society of London, giving forth more charity with her favours than mere benevolence would suggest. While he's away inspecting his Indian tea plantations, he employs a Detective to shadow Lady Duffield, reporting on her social intercourses.