Ghost Stories of an Antiquary: The Compendium
Hardback, 144 pp, £22.99
An anthology of eight spine-chilling ghost stories by M.R. James by various artists.
It’s time to draw the curtains, curl up by the fire, and enter the sinister world of that master of the English ghost story, M.R. James. Just make sure that you’ve locked the back door... As an academic medieval historian (of the sort often featured in his stories), he turned his back on Victorian schlock-horror sensationalism, in favour of a subtler form of creeping shivers and uncanny fear that has guaranteed the endurance of his supernatural tales.
In the ninety years since his death, the spirit of M.R. James has inspired countless acts of homage, not just in literature (Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, Ruth Rendell), but in radio (Neil Brand, Mark Gatiss), television (Jonathan Miller, Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton), and film (Jacques Tourneur’s Night of the Demon).
Now Leah Moore & John Reppion have extended that influence into the graphic-novel form with Ghost Stories of an Antiquary: The Compendium, a collection of eight powerful adaptations of his most famous and spine-chilling tales. Reimagined in a wide variety of graphic styles by Aneke, Kit Buss, Al Davison, Meghan Hetrick, George Kambadais, Abigail Larson, Fouad Mezher, and Alisdair Wood, this anthology hauntingly evokes the singular dread of what James himself simply called “the ominous thing”...
North American release: TBC 2027.
In the ninety years since his death, the spirit of M.R. James has inspired countless acts of homage, not just in literature (Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, Ruth Rendell), but in radio (Neil Brand, Mark Gatiss), television (Jonathan Miller, Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton), and film (Jacques Tourneur’s Night of the Demon).
Now Leah Moore & John Reppion have extended that influence into the graphic-novel form with Ghost Stories of an Antiquary: The Compendium, a collection of eight powerful adaptations of his most famous and spine-chilling tales. Reimagined in a wide variety of graphic styles by Aneke, Kit Buss, Al Davison, Meghan Hetrick, George Kambadais, Abigail Larson, Fouad Mezher, and Alisdair Wood, this anthology hauntingly evokes the singular dread of what James himself simply called “the ominous thing”...
North American release: TBC 2027.
Leah Moore
Leah Moore is a comics writer based in Liverpool, UK. Together with her husband John Reppion, she has adapted works by Bram Stoker, H.P. Lovecraft and Lewis Carroll into comics, as well as writing original stories featuring such iconic characters as Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who and Red Sonja.
John Reppion
John Reppion is a comics writer based in Liverpool, UK. Together with his wife Leah Moore, he has adapted works by Bram Stoker, H.P. Lovecraft and Lewis Carroll into comics, as well as writing original stories featuring such iconic characters as Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who and Red Sonja.
Reviews
"A very well executed collection, well written and drawn."
— The Quietus
"[Leah Moore and John Reppion] offer graphic retellings of some truly terrifying tales, retellings that manage to capture the tactile nature of James' hauntings and horrors. Like James' own monsters, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary is lean, dwarfish and hairy. It's sure to keep you up at night."
— Pop Matters
"The use of artists with such differing visual approaches proves revelatory, providing the reader with new perspectives on much-loved favourites that bring a fresh sense of the macabre to each one."
— Broken Frontier
"Suitably creepy... Recommended for die-hard MR James enthusiasts, as well as for those perhaps just discovering his work."
— Exquisite Terror