M. R. James was one of the finest English-language ghostwriters ever published. These short stories are not only classics of their genre, but are outstanding examples of beautifully paced, understated terror and sociological horror, reaching to the dark expanse of the unconscious mind.

Volume 2 of Tales of the Supernatural features the stories "The Ash Tree", "A View from a Hill", "The Tractate Middoth", and "Canon Alberic's Scrapbook".