The Signature of MR James

In an age where electronic text holds dominion, the art of handwriting is slipping away. Still, practically everyone uses a written signature, and can appreciate this lingering inky calling card in others. Montague Rhodes James' unique autograph is no exception.

This faint impression attached to a photo records a shard from the man nearly eight decades after his death. Like James, it appears reserved, studious, and outwardly unassuming. But look closer. Is there something more?

Everyone will see a different Jamesian hallmark in the same signature. Literary horror is always delivered through one's own inimitable mental topography. The spectral tales within Ghost Stories of an Antiquary may be the same in every volume, but not in every mind. This inescapable subjective net extends to perceptions of the weird authors themselves. Much like James' novel horrors, it's the uncertainty filling our heads that creates the mystique.

-Grim Blogger