"A School Story" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James, first published in his 1911 collection More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary.
| "A School Story" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by M. R. James | |
 | |
 Text available at Wikisource | |
| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Horror |
| Publication | |
| Published in | More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary |
| Publication type | Book |
| Publisher | Edward Arnold |
| Publication date | 1911 |
Plot summary
editTwo men are discussing the folklore of the private schools they attended. One, who attended a school near London around 1870, tells of a Latin teacher named Mr. Sampson who kept an engraved Byzantine coin from Constantinople that he would show his students. During a Latin grammar exercise, The narrator's friend McLeod gives the teacher a strange message in Latin which translates to "remember the well among the four yews", though he doesn't know why he wrote it. Mr. Sampson appears confused and unnerved by the message. Following the incident, McLeod is taken ill.
Around one month later, when the class are writing conditional sentences, another paper shows up translating to "If you don't come to me, I'll come to you". Sampson is visibly worried, and abruptly leaves the class. The narrator notes that there are 16 boys in the class, but 17 pieces of paper have been placed on Sampson's desk; the mysterious message is the only one written in red ink. The narrator keeps the mysterious piece of paper, but later finds that it has become blank.
The following night, McLeod sees a horribly thin, wet, corpse-like man sitting on Sampson's window-sill and beckoning to Sampson, but when he returns with the narrator the figure is gone. Sampson is missing the next day, and is never heard from again. Years later, a body is found - with Sampson's engraved coin - in the death-embrace of a second body, in a well that sits amongst yew trees.[1][2]
Adaptations
editOn 27 October 1932, Vincent Curran read from "A School Story" during an interval on Regional Programme Midland.[3]
On 28 November 1980, a reading of "A School Story" by Michael Bryant aired on BBC One's Spine Chillers programme.[4]
On 1 January 1998, BBC Radio 4 aired "A School Story" as part of its programme The Late Book: Ghost Stories.[5]
On 24 January 2004, BBC 7 broadcast Ghost Stories by MR James: A School Story.[6]
On 29 October 2008, BBC Radio 7 broadcast an adaptation of "A School Story" read by Benjamin Whitrow as part of its Ghost Stories programme.[7]
References
edit- ^ James, M.R. (1993). Collected ghost stories (Repr. ed.). Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth. p. 100. ISBN 1853260533.
- ^ James, M.R. (1993). Collected ghost stories (Repr. ed.). Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth. p. 101. ISBN 1853260533.
- ^ "Interval, during which VINCENT CURRAN will read from the Studio". Radio Times. No. 473. 23 October 1932. Retrieved 29 April 2025 – via BBC Genome Project.
- ^ "Spine Chillers". Radio Times. No. 2, 976. 22 November 1980. Retrieved 29 April 2025 – via BBC Genome Project.
- ^ "The Late Book: Ghost Stories". Radio Times. No. 3, 855. 20 December 1997. Retrieved 29 April 2025 – via BBC Genome Project.
- ^ "Ghost Stories by MR James: A School Story". Radio Times. No. 4, 166. 24 January 2004. Retrieved 29 April 2025 – via BBC Genome Project.
- ^ "MR James Ghost Stories A School Story". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 29 April 2025 – via BBC Genome Project.
External links
edit
The full text of A School Story at Wikisource- An omnibus collection of James's short fiction at Standard Ebooks
A School Story public domain audiobook at LibriVox- Full text of "A School Story"
- "A School Story" title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- A Podcast to the Curious: Episode 9 - A School Story
- Cast of Wonders: Episode 172 - A School Story
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