Ghosts of Cambridge Past
Robert Lloyd Parry, a performance storyteller specializing in weird tales, discusses his work editing three M.R. James-related anthologies for Swan River Press, with focus on the newest volume, Ghosts on the Cam (2026). Unlike previous collections, this anthology binds stories through their Cambridge setting rather than formal connection to James. Parry consulted archives across multiple locations to research the lives of marginal literary figures included in the volume. He identifies a tentative author for the pseudonymous “DNJ” but acknowledges the case remains open. The collection features multiple stories by Arthur Gray and Frederick Cowles, both with complex relationships to Cambridge University. Parry discusses how these writers, like James, mixed historical fact with supernatural fiction, and notes differences in their approaches—Gray’s subtlety versus Cowles’s grislier pulp tradition. The interview also addresses Barry Pain’s use of chloral hydrate and its potential influence on his dreamlike story “The Glass of Supreme Moments.”
Original article published on Swan River Press — AI-generated summary. Read the full article at the source.
