A School Story
"A School Story" | |
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Author | 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[]
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[]
External links[]
- The full text of A School Story at Wikisource
- An omnibus collectino 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
- 1911 short stories
- Short stories by M. R. James
- Horror short stories
- Horror short story stubs
- 1910s short story stubs