M.R. James - Casting the Runes read by Michael Hordern

[@grahamguest142]

This story was used as the basis for the 1958 film 'The Night of the Demon' ... really worth a watch, all the more so because it's in black and white.

[@thedativecase9733]

yes it is a pretty good movie well worth watching.

[@jackiewhite4204]

Thanks.

[@stephenhill8991]

One of my favourites...still scary.

[@martinwhitfield1362]

@@stephenhill8991 It's in the trees ! It's coming !

[@BigMick393]

My favourite film. Big fan of M R James.

[@sara-lorrainegannon8320]

M RJames is unsurpassable in the composition of ghost stories!no excessive gore,simply dread,profound terror born in the mind and soul,each soul-stirring story is a scholarly work of art devoid of scurrility:Michael Horderns' voice is an excellent accompaniment!!Thank You!!

[@lazydog67]

A true classic, one of James's most famous. I don't think anyone else but Michael Horden could tell it as effectively.

[@stephenhill8991]

Echo that.

[@lyndonbrown6999]

Lloyd Parry does a splendid job !!

[@artmoss6889]

I became familiar with "Casting the Runes" because of my interest in old time American radio shows. Abridged versions of the story appeared on popular programs like "Suspense," and "Escape." It's a real treat to hear the unabridged story read by such a marvelous narrator.

[@j.taylor3670]

Wow! What a marvelous reading! What a marvelous story! I listened on a stormy December afternoon. Thank you so much.

[@stephenhill8991]

Nobody read M.R James stories like Michael Horden. Both he and James were masters at what they did.

[@anne321]

Excellent reading by the equally excellent Michael Hordern. Thanks for sharing

[@TRHARTAmericanArtist]

Thank you Mr. Goddard for this upload. It is truly a treat to be able to enjoy this.

[@trixietru]

This was one in a book of English Short Stories, that was a set text for English in my first year of high school, when I was 11. Needless to say, it scared the daylights out of me. So many horror stories today are such a letdown, but M R James never disappoints. It is now midnight and I am just settling down under the covers, lights off......Let’s begin

[@antonboludo8886]

Tales to tremble by?

[@chriscollins3531]

@Andrew Phillips Sounds about right in England. I was 11 when I started secondary school.

[@maisiesummerfield265]

​@@chriscollins3531 11 is the age when children start secondary school in the UK and this despite the educational psychologists suggesting 13 as a better age but the 1944 Education Act enshrined 11 and the 11+ exam differentiating abilities and streaming them into Grammar, Secondary and Technical schools. Private schools though kept to 13 and the entrance exams

[@chriscollins3531]

@@maisiesummerfield265 I know. I'm British.

[@maisiesummerfield265]

@@chriscollins3531 but not everyone knows about the background of our educational system carefully constructed to maintain the status quo

[@rattyrachel4316]

I would bypass a box of chocolates to hear Michael Hordern read a grocery list.

[@paddymeboy]

Well put!

[@karehhartig7287]

Lol ❤ very good !

[@RapunzelinOttawa]

Thanks for posting. There are several readings of this M.R. James story out there, but this is the best technically, and well, it's hard to find fault with Michael Hordern!

[@paulgoddard]

To me Michael Hordern will always be the best narrator of these stories. :)

[@waningmooncancer9628]

​@paulgoddard HI 👋, from Ohio. I listened to this a while back and forgot to leave a comment 🙃. Excellent tale and narration, I enjoyed every minute. Just an FYI, if you like strange tales, check out a book called The Weird, by husband and wife Vandermeer. Got it back in 2011 with no regrets. I'm not very well informed, but the name Michael Hordern kept ringing a faint bell in the back of my mind. Turns out he was in Theater of Blood, an excellent horror movie starring Vincent Price. If you haven't seen it, I hope you do decide to give it a try. Take care, enjoy your summer ☀️

[@robp4037]

​@@paulgoddardagreed! I have these on cassette and have listened to them thousands of times. Every word of delivery memorized!

[@chuchura56]

What a spooky tale, so wonderfully told. I came upon it by accident and couldn't move till I heard the last of it. Thank you for uploading it.

[@lesliegordon2313]

Anyone seen the 1968 Omnibus presentation of Whistle and I'll Come, directed by Jonathan Miller and starring Hordern? If not, check it out. It's on You Tube. Without a doubt, the best adaptation of a James story. Even after all these year, it is spine-tingling.

[@jon780249]

Horden’s voice was a wonderful instrument. James is a masterful writer. The two together….what a treat!

[@paulgilson2347]

Wish the mystery and imagination version of this still existed, Night of the Demon was a good version and probably one of my favourite Horror films. This was great too, really got into it.

[@chazbrennan9632]

Hordern used to laugh when people pointed out in interviews that he was often cast as professors, wizards, and wise men: 'I am, sadly' he said, 'a bear of very little brain.'

[@AlexGreeneHypnotist]

And yet he was more recognised for Paddington than for Pooh ... This is the voice I hear when I'm reading any of Monty's stories.

[@christosvoskresye]

Americans are suckers for British accents.

[@Johnconno]

@@AlexGreeneHypnotist Uncle Monty? 💐

[@hermione9445]

Excellent narration ..and story .💕💕💕

[@chazbrennan9632]

This is unusual for a James story: the protagonist (or one of them) manages to escape his horrible fate. It has a largely urban setting: trams, trains, men distributing flyers, and the centre of London; the women are helpful and intelligent, the men are often married, there's an exciting, almost detective story sense of urgency and the final encounter on the train to Dover is like a Conan Doyle story. All in all, nearly a thriller. I think it could bear another film treatment.

[@baruchben-david4196]

Another one where the protagonist survives. "Oh, whistle and I'll come to you, my lad."

[@paulgoddard]

I love all M R James short ghost stories but this one has to be my favourite. I enjoyed the adaption "Night of the Demon" but I thought the ITV modern day remake was disappointing, however, I know someone who did really like it. My all time favourite adaption of this story was by a small theatre company called "Box Tale Soup" and there were only two actors plus a life size puppet of Karswell.

[@russhurst6730]

@@baruchben-david4196 I may be in a small minority but I found that to be a great tale and likely my personal favorite from the writing I've partaken by the author

[@zhouzhang9102]

A view from a hill is another. Also Abbot Thomas's Treasure, and quite a few others, actually.

[@vlera8447]

All astute and excellent observations but I think the Tractate Middoth has some of the same elements. I find Runes especially interesting in that the author has his characters collaborating to fight evil, as in Holmes. There is also a female character with a significant intellectual role. James did love his libraries which is the scholar's 2nd home.

[@vlera8447]

This story never fails to entertain me in whatever adaptation performed. Thank you so much.

[@jenford7078]

Wonderful reading!

[@richardwilliams5387]

Hordern was my first narrator of James' work. And despite hearing many since his voice is my hear canon of the stories. His "Count Magnus" reading is fantastic.

[@arabellacox]

All I can think of is Paddington!! Love this mans voice.

[@johnbryant8603]

Thank you very much. Is a very nice service, and page. I look forward to exploring your venue. 🙏🏽♥️🇲🇽

[@KeithDec25]

SUBERB READING! I never really took notice of Hordern as an actor in the old British movies-sometimes you take solid craftsmanship for granted...Hordern has a new fan and besides seeking out his other radio performances-I will try to revisit his movie/tv appearances as well. Many thanks for the posting!

[@paulgoddard]

Thank you for your comment :) I like Michael Hordern as an actor and narrator. He was the main character in an adaptation of "Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" by the BBC in 1968, directed by Jonathan Miller renamed as "Whistle and I'll Come to You". I have linked the video if you haven't seen it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4rNpat-fc-NZpI

[@7554EdwardG]

I also was never really enamoured by Hordern as an actor but listening to his storytelling voice alone is a revelation. He is just perfect for these stories.

[@7554EdwardG]

Carey, so long since I first saw the TV series that I never realised that Michael Hordern did the voice. I looked up episode 1 of the TV series after Michael Bond's passing recently and was really taken with the reading of Paddington's voice. I love the way Hordern gently stresses the "darkest" in "Darkest Peru"! Brilliant. A great legacy to both writer and actor.

[@KeithDec25]

MANY THANKS! Caught up with his performance as the "absorbed" prof and the whistle...You wait for the twinge and actor, plot and craftsmanship do not let you down...The unseen and the brief intrusion into our lives can scare the hell out of you instead of nauseating...

[@paddymeboy]

Easily underrated, he could play any type of part in any type of thing from Shakespeare to Paddington.

[@kafkatrap6812]

As people have pointed out it's the basis for the film Night of the Demon, but it's also the idea behind Sam Raimi's film Drag me To Hell... "Soon, it will be you who comes begging to me."

[@chazbrennan9632]

Michael Hordern was also the best Gandalf ever, in the 1979 BBC Radio version of 'The Lord of the Rings' with Ian Holm (Bilbo in the Jackson films) as Frodo. best Gandalf; best Frodo, best Samwise and best Smeagol.

[@colemarie9262]

Chaz Brennan that is also here on KZbin if you're interested. I found it looking for audiobooks and it really is a great version.

[@r_hills3641]

100% agree. And Samwise was played by Bill Nighy!

[@Johnconno]

@@r_hills3641 Dry, posh, celibate?

[@chazbrennan9632]

@@hannahreynolds7611 Also Estragon in the very first UK production of Waiting for Godot. Wonderful actor. Serkis' body work is amazing but it's Peter for the voice for me. All the way from the lowest growl to dreadful screeches of terror and pain.

[@northernlights6459]

A wonderful story, still has the power to chill, read by the incomparable Micheal Hordern.

[@airfona]

I loved The Green Man, a BBC 3 part mini-series, shown on Google. Michael Horndon was the senior Mr. Arlington.

[@clayhsieh1208]

Thanks for posting. I am also a big fan for Mr. Hordern. I love his radio play as Jeeves in BBC Jeeves and Wooster series.

[@paulgoddard]

I'm glad you enjoyed Michael Hordern's reading of this story. I've never heard any radio plays of Jeeves and Wooster, I will give it a listen :)

[@peterscrafton5212]

I believe that he was Sir Michael Hordern (for services to the theatre)

[@susanbeesley8299]

Oh goodness I’ve seen this story as a film I’m sure so chilling

[@nicholasgerrish6022]

There really isn’t a single bad M.R. James story……..

[@garydavis5359]

Stunning tale

[@antonphibes4924]

Nice thanks, didn't know this inspired the 1957 film; Night of the Demon.

[@nicholasgerrish6022]

I should add, that Hordern played a very good part in the BBC film of the 1960s, “Oh Whistle My Lad”. It is particularly atmospheric and just a little “Spooky”…… And of course, written but M.R James.

[@kashesan]

Love the ending line.

[@stephenwildsmith8594]

The finest readings of M R Names are equally from two - Sir Michael Hordern, as we have here, and then also Sir Christopher Lee. You cannot put them in first and second place in podium fashion. They are both excellent with their own unique deliveries.

[@karehhartig7287]

This is very true.

[@stephenwildsmith8594]

@@karehhartig7287 I would also add Robert Powell who made some fine readings of M R James kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4XQpGl-m5aGe7M

[@roymahendran8494]

Interestingly , when Christopher Lee was young and being interviewed at Eton College, the panel consisted of the very great M.R James - what a priceless encounter for the ages .

[@davindaire]

Thanks for this upload, Paul, and just in time for Halloween.

[@paulgoddard]

Thank you. I will try to upload a few other M.R . James ghost stories before Halloween

[@rideronthestorm4173]

"It's in the trees!.... It's coming!"

[@greatpower6063]

Ah yes the batchicken has arrived

[@lydiamarks8577]

Most enjoyable 👍👍

[@chadchadman5056]

Realized half way through this was the movie " night of the demon " !.....

[@paulgoddard]

Yes, I've seen "Night of the Demon" and really liked it. Thank you for reminding me, I'll have to watch it again :)

[@devindevon]

"It's in the trees... it's coming!"

[@EleanorPeterson]

Great stuff! I do hope there isn't an attempt to make a new, right-on film version of this classic for the smartphone and TikTok generation. It would lose its splendid sense of dread if 'the casting of runes' became 'the sending of texts' or 'the opening of e-mail attachments', and a grisly fate could be avoided by pressing 'delete message'. I like the pace of this story. The book is certainly of its time and is none the worse for that. The 1957 film 'Night of the Demon' was good too, and stayed relatively faithful to the plot (sort of). In a modern setting, though, things would be rushed to hold the attention of a fidgeting audience expecting instant gratification and incapable of looking up from its phone screens for more than ten seconds whilst searching for an explanation of the plot on Google, or updating Facebook pages with live-streamed 4K video of its bags of crisps and buckets of popcorn. I think what lends this story weight is the timescale. The doomed man has three whole months to squirm on the hook and contemplate his fate, and his persecutor is a properly nasty piece of work, relishing every second of his revenge. Just think... There used to be a time when a villain really was a villain; these days, even the most appalling conduct is excused and everyone is innocent of everything. It'd probably be hard to find a big-name Hollywood actor willing to play such a monster. Bad for his image. He'd want his character to be redeemed. Also, hating anything - even outright evil - isn't permitted these days, so all the bad stuff would have to go. The very IDEA of someone intentionally frightening children might give rise to mental trauma, and parents would be sure to sue... And audience focus groups would demand that the film have a bland, Disney-esque happy ending where the bad guy realises the error of his ways and repents - preferably in a church, preferably in the States. (And did I say 'his'? Oh no! Bad pronoun! That would never be allowed! Whither diversity?🙄) Sigh. I can think of quite a few people I'd like to hand an envelope (which may or may not contain a slip of paper marked with runes) to.

[@johnyohalem6507]

After Alistair Sim, Michael Hordern was the funniest man on the English movie stage. He is almost always an utter delight (the exception is Joseph Andrews, in which nearly everyone is terrible).

[@chazbrennan9632]

I heard him doing the butler Lane in a radio production of 'Importance of Being Earnest' and he has literally six completely impassive lines and every one of them is howlingly funny.

[@grim2449]

There used to be a video adaptation of this story, either by BBC or ITV. And it used to be on youtube. I think it was from the 70s. Does anyone have it, and it would be nice to have it uploaded before everything Ends.

[@cynthiahawkins2389]

Michael Hordern had just the perfect voice for these. And he adopted the mood, as all fine actors will...and usually round about two minutes in, I am enthralled and hostage to the story...

[@Nina5144]

Great narrator- no lisps or illl fitting teeth!

[@clivedavies5618]

"Night of the Demon" full movie starring Dana Andrews is available F.O.C on You Tube

[@AnneAndersonFoxiepaws]

This is the one that was supposedly about Aleister Crowley isn't it? The one that had that film about the demon and him slipping a written curse to the victim.

[@eamonngaines9887]

Perhaps a touch of Crowley but also a swipe at Montague Summers. He published serious scholarship (1st attempt at a critical edition of Aphra Behn, e.g.) but also a History of Witchcraft that is a bit fanciful. He also translated the Malleus Maleficarum, a classic witch-hunting text, which is as ridiculous as it sounds.

[@yohei72]

The story was written well before Crowley became prominent, so any resemblance is coincidental. I’ve just heard a theory that Karswell was based on a Cambridge colleague of James, whom he had professional and personal tensions with. Can’t remember the name. That said, the movie Karswell seems based heavily on Crowley.

[@hamez2192]

This came up in my search history despite having never searched it uhhh

[@chriscollins3531]

Good. Enjoy it.

[@cultofj3777]

I love the charcoal drawing, who is the artist?

[@alanhill5337]

👍

[@QuaesitorDei]

please recommend me similar audio drama. Wow! 🌹 ✝️

[@trixietru]

M R James was prescient His description of the slide show at the beginning makes one think of 3-D glasses and those ones that make you imagine you are somewhere else

[@yohei72]

I’ve always been a little confused by that description and have wondered if it was supposed to describe a very early film.

[@ilanawallach1302]

what is the reference to "buick" at the end? it sounds like a book or an author?

[@Krzyszczynski]

Thomas Bewick (1753-1828) was a noted wood-engraver who illustrated numerous books in his time. I don't know for sure if he ever did do an edition of The Ancient Mariner, but it's just the sort of commission he'd have been likely to be offered. As his career developed he progressed to writing, illustrating and publishing some famous works on natural history. They're still much admired today.

[@christosvoskresye]

Normally adaptations (which this is not) make stories worse, but I do like the 1979 movie version for what I think is a real improvement of which James himself would have approved: the runes were returned to Karswell just before he boarded a plane, which subsequently crashed, killing everyone on board. You don't use black magic to fight black magic; if you play by the devil's rules, you will always lose. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooeYpntvfchjadU

[@7554EdwardG]

Has the ending been cut-off? Sounds like it has! Great reading...

[@paulgoddard]

7554EdwardG Thank you for your comments. That is the way the story ends :)

[@7554EdwardG]

Cheers Paul, many thanks for the story telling postings. They are a quite addictive and a nice change from just music.

[@Johnconno]

Is this really about Crowley?

[@auntfanny3266]

According to my husband, who is a know-all on the subject, yes, it is.

[@baruchben-david4196]

I don't think so. There doesn't seem to be a lot of correspondence between the two.

[@paulgoddard]

jay see, I have no idea but I can see how the character of Karswell could be born out of Crowley.

[@AnneAndersonFoxiepaws]

Yes apparently it was.

[@Johnconno]

The telly version scared the shit out of me. That's a terrible drawing.