Hi!

We got a full house today, so I apologize in advance.

The washer and dryer going.

The puppy is great and high energy.

And his three elder care siblings are not happy with his presence, so you may hear some

growling, barking, and God knows what else.

But I wanted to let you know that in two weeks on April 2nd, we'll be headed out of the

swells to a spooky ship with a spooky past and an even spookier present.

But today we've got a classic hunt by MR James.

Wikipedia tells us that English author Montague Rhodes James was born in 1862.

Though his work as a medievalist and scholar is highly regarded, he's best remembered for

his ghost stories, which some regard as among the best in the genre.

He redefined the ghost story for the new century by abandoning many of the formal gothic clichés

of his predecessors and using more realistic contemporary settings.

He summed up his approach in his foreword to the anthology Ghost and Marvels.

Two ingredients, most valued in the concocting of a ghost story are, to me, the atmosphere

and the nicely managed crescendo.

Let us then be introduced to the actors in a placid way.

Let us see them going about their ordinary business undisturbed by foreboding's pleased

with their surroundings.

And into this common environment, let the ominous thing put out its head, unobtrusably at first,

and then more insistently, until it holds the stage.

...