Episode 63 – Christmas Re-union by Sir Andrew Caldecott
A Podcast to the Curious - The M.R. James PodcastShow Notes
Ho ho ho! We have a festive cracker of an episode for you this month (literally), as Mike and Will explore Sir Andrew Caldecott’s M.R. James-inspired tale, ‘Christmas Re-union‘.
A big thank you to Tony Mears, who provided the readings for this episode. Check out his bands new track ‘A Hypothermia Banquet‘ on Bandcamp!
Story notes:
‘Christmas Re-union’ by Sir Andrew Caldecott (gutenberg.net.au)
The collection in which this story appears can be read online at Project Gutenberg Australia.
Sir Andrew Caldecott (wikipedia)
Andrew Caldecott was a big cheese in the Colonial Office for much of this life, only starting to publish ghost stories after he retired. You can find out more about his career at britishempire.co.uk.
Stories I Have Tried to Write by M.R. James (mrjamespodcast.com)
Not familiar with the M.R. James essay from which Caldecott took his inspiration for this story? We put out a full reading of it back in 2011 which you can listen to online!
Ghost story reviews: Not Exactly Ghosts (Tychy)
An interesting review and commentary on the volume in which this story appears.
Christmas Re-union (Anibalan.com)
An essay on this story, and on Sir Andrew Caldecott in general.
The Great Smog of London (wikipedia)
The characters express a lot of concern about fog in this story. When you read about the Great Smog of December 1952 you will understand why!
Sir Roger de Coverley (wikipedia)
This famous country dance, mentioned in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, also makes an appearance in this story.
More from A Podcast to the Curious - The M.R. James Podcast
This episode Mike and Will examine Curfew by Lucy M. Boston, a childhood tale of haunted bells, unearthed coffins and post-Jamesian highjinx aplenty.
M.R. James said that sex had no place in a ghost story. But was he right? This episode we attempt to answer this question and more, as we cover The Nature of the Evidence by May Sinclair, a tale from 1923 about a couple who just want to enjoy their wedding night. Is that too much to ask? Apparently, yes.
Hold on to your mummy! This episode Mike and Will discuss Mark Gatiss’s recent Ghost Story for Christmas TV adaptation Lot 249, as well as the Arthur Conan Doyle short story it is based on.
This episode, Mike and Will grab their literary toboggans and gallop joyously out into the snow, only to be hit in the face by a terrifying fictional snowball in the form of Louisa Baldwin’s The Real and the Counterfeit!
Who would win in a fight between a man and a bed? Find the answer to this question and more in our new episode on The Weird of the Walfords by Louisa Baldwin! Also, if you like emotionally-repressed Victorian husbands, you will not leave disappointed.