Audible, out now

Some people don’t take literary rejection very well – no matter what the century…

The idea behind this new Audible collection, produced by Bafflegab (the force behind The Scarifyers, Baker’s End, and, perhaps more pertinently, the recent adaptation of Blood on Satan’s Claw) is to take stories by M.R. James that were written over a century ago, and retell them for contemporary times. This could have been done by simply “filing the serial numbers off”, changing a gender or two, and throwing in some contemporary references – or by taking the core concepts and the characters that James created, and weaving a fresh story that hits some of the same beats, but which resonate for modern listeners. It’s no spoiler to say that all four stories in this set – adapted by Stephen Gallagher, AK Benedict, Jonathan Barnes and Mark Morris – live up to their illustrious forebears.

Only one of this quartet adapts the same story as Neil Brand’s collection of James tales that were broadcast just before Christmas last year, and it’s the opener, Casting the Runes. Stephen Gallagher is an experienced hand at audio drama (if you can get hold of copies, check out his SF material for Piccadilly Radio), and he instantly draws you into the world of Dr Edward Dunning and his partner, Dr Jo Harrington. Jo pens what she believes will be an anonymous peer review of Anton Karswell’s poorly written paper – but somehow Karswell finds out it was her, and he’s not the sort of person who takes a slight like that lightly. A very spooky Underground journey and a visit to the sort of place that most believe to be urban myth, but isn’t, feature before some visceral horror.

If you know the original, you’ll recognise the skill with which Gallagher incorporates the beats but he never forgets that he’s writing a story set in the 21st century rather than the 20th, and I suspect I’m not the only one who will experience a frisson as the ramifications of that fall into place in the final few minutes…

Tom Burke, Anna Maxwell Martin and Reece Shearsmith star, with strong support from Kelly Campbell, Jack Lane, David Benson and Georgie Grier. Simon Barnard’s direction and Simon Robinson’s sound design blend well with Edwin Sykes’ music (any chance of a separate release for these scores?) to create the mounting tension required, as well as the necessary disconnects.

Verdict: The original was chilling enough; what’s done with it here ratchets that up considerably. 10/10

Paul Simpson

Order a copy of The Conception of Terror here