When I first read this story, and I reached the moment when the door opened and the hand reached out, I jumped! Only M. R. James ever made me jump when reading.
I've often felt that stories from M.R. James often saw someone being served justice. This maybe see to be deserved or as a result of an ill-thought out act. The story 'A Warning To The Curious' may be applied to many of the characters in other stories by this author. This is the times of year when I enjoy, I was going to say dust off butyou can't dust off books on a kindle, my M. R. James books. The first time I heard a story by this author was the Christmas dramatisations on BBC, and it was The Ash Tree, a very good story to begin. I thoroughly enjoyed how Christopher Lee told the story. When I read an M.R. James story I try to read it and imagine the voice of Christopher Lee. I like to savour the story and not read it in a rush. Michael Horden also has a lovely style and voice, reading these stories. I liked him in 'Whistle And I'll Come To You'. Thank you very much for uploading these videos.
Great story, all the more because the scary high-point is just a creepy arm grasping and a nasty laugh. It's all about the implication of what's happened, and the partly fictional historical research (Archbishop Jørgen Friis was the real Catholic prelate of Viborg until 1532.)
Can I just point out that the man in the drawing appears to have his trousers on back to front. His braces are on the front buttoning, the rear buttoning is single, not double. 😮
