Lost Hearts (Fantasy and Horror Classics)
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Lost Hearts introduces Stephen Elliot, a young orphan sent to live with his reclusive and unsettlingly genial cousin, Mr. Abney, an antiquarian residing in a vast country estate. The idyllic setting quickly turns sinister as Stephen begins to glimpse eerie, small figures wandering the halls. He soon uncovers the horrifying truth about Mr. Abney's secret study: a scholar's ruthless, methodical pursuit of arcane power that requires the most terrible of sacrifices—the very "lost hearts" of innocent victims.
From the mind of M. R. James, the acknowledged master who redefined the ghost story for the 20th century and founded the 'antiquarian ghost story' genre, comes a chilling classic of scholarly terror.
This story is a quintessential example of James' genius for combining creeping dread, erudite scholarship, and utterly visceral horror. It is essential reading for fans of classic ghost stories and supernatural fiction, proving that the most terrifying evil is often the quiet, calculating malice of the intellectual.
M. R. James
Montague Rhodes James was born in 1862 at Goodnestone Parsonage, Kent, where his father was a curate, but the family moved soon afterwards to Great Livermere in Suffolk. James attended Eton College and later King's College Cambridge where he won many awards and scholarships. From 1894 to 1908 he was Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and from 1905 to 1918 was Provost of King's College. In 1913, he became Vice-Chancellor of the University for two years. In 1918 he was installed as Provost of Eton. A distinguished medievalist and scholar of international status, James published many works on biblical and historical antiquarian subjects. He was awarded the Order of Merit in 1930. His ghost story writing began almost as a divertissement from his academic work and as a form of entertainment for his colleagues. His first collection, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary was published in 1904. He never married and died in 1936.
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