Moon Mausoleum
An online magazine about the paranormal, haunted and macabre. We collect the ghost stories from all around the world as well as review horror and gothic media.
One of James’s lesser-known but fascinating tales — set at Christmas, it’s presented as a series of letters about a disturbing Punch and Judy show, a mysterious disappearance, and a spectral visitation on Christmas Eve. It first appeared in print in the June 4, 1913 issue of the magazine Cambridge Review. It was published again in 1919 as part of the anthology A Thin Ghost and Others.
“An Episode of Cathedral History” by M. R. James, published in 1914, is an example of gothic horror that blends scholarly intrigue with supernatural dread. The story unfolds in an English cathedral town where the renovation of an old cathedral disturbs a long-forgotten tomb. This disturbance unleashes an ancient, malevolent entity that wreaks havoc on the town. It has often been deemed a vampire story. The story’s strength lies in its ability to evoke a palpable sense of unease, using the cathedral’s history and the unsettling presence within its walls to explore themes of hidden evil and the consequences of uncovering dark secrets.
“Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance” is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James first published when he included it in his 1911 collection More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. The story is set in the late summer in England, when Mr Humphreys, arrives in Wilsthorpe. He has recently inherited an estate from his uncle, who died a mysterious death and the history of the strange maze and temple next to his new home.
“A View from a Hill” is a short ghost story by M.R. James, first published in 1925. In June, an academic named Fanshawe travels to the English countryside to spend his summer vacation at the home of his friend Squire Henry Richards.
Fanshawe finds a couple of binoculars, made by a man who died in mysterious circumstances some years earlier. Through the binoculars, Fanshawe is able to see objects which no longer exist.
A traveler in Sweden stumbles upon the history of a mysterious and ominous figure, Count Magnus. Written by M.R James and published in 1904.