The patron saint - if that's the right word; perhaps guiding spirit? - behind these witty and literate ghost stories is M.R. James (1862-1936). He is primarily known as The Pierpont Morgan Library and at similar august homes of learning as a redoubtable scholar and bibliographer. To many more devotees around the world, though, he is generally acclaimed as the author of some of the most economical, clearly focused, concise, and elegant ghost stories every written. Only the English language serves this genre so well, and James's English craft is at the top of anyone's short list of favorites.

"Monty" James enjoyed a long and happy professional relationship with the Morgan Library. He did so, in a sense, only in spirit: he never crossed the Atlantic, and he feared that he would not survive crossing New York's streets. His name was much in evidence when the 150th anniversary of Pierpont Morgan's birth was celebrated several years ago. His work on medieval manuscripts was the focal point of an exhibition held in 1987, and that exhibition gave birth to a strange offspring - a contest for ghost stories connected in some way with the Morgan Library and written in a Jamesian style.

This book contains the seven winning stories. Will they make you pleasantly uneasy late at night? Will they make your scalp prickle disturbingly? You'll just have to read them to find out, won't you?