A School Story
A School Story | |
---|---|
by M. R. James | |
Country | England |
Language | English |
Genre(s) | Horror |
Publication date | 1911 |
"A School Story" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James, included in his collection More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary.
Plot summary[edit]
Two men are discussing the folklore of the private schools they attended. One tells of a Latin teacher named Mr. Sampson who kept a Byzantine coin that he would show his students. The narrator's friend gives the teacher a strange message in Latin which translates to "remember the well among the four yews",[1] though he doesn't know why he wrote it. Later another paper shows up translating to "If you don't come to me, I'll come to you",[2] and it visibly worries Sampson. Later at night the narrator's friend sees a man sitting on Sampson's window-sill, but when he returns with the narrator he's gone. Sampson is missing the next day. Years later a body is found - with Sampson's coin - in a well that sits between four trees.
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.
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 Podcast to the Curious: Episode 9 - A School Story
- Cast of Wonders: Episode 172 - A School Story