“Lost Hearts” is my first foray into the writing of M R James. It won’t be my last. I am deeply surprised by how dark and evil this story was given the era in which it was written.

In the midst of good, proper, Edwardian culture, the plot revolves around a seemingly sane and rational practitioner of ancient blood rite magic on the children. It is what I imagine it would be like to read a testament from the likes of Jack the Ripper, but worse. It is shocking and disturbing and, for the horror fan, highly enjoyable and satisfying.

“On the night of which I am speaking, Stephen Elliott found himself, as he thought, looking through the glazed door. The moon was shining through the window, and he was gazing at a figure which lay in the bath.
His description of what he saw reminds me of what I once beheld myself in the famous vaults of St. Michan’s Church in Dublin, which possess the horrid property of preserving corpses from decay for centuries. A figure inexpressibly thin and pathetic, of a dusty leaden colour, enveloped in a shroud-like garment, the thin lips crooked into a faint and dreadful smile, the hands pressed tightly over the region of the heart.”

A young orphaned boy accepts an invitation from a distant cousin to come live with him. This cousin happens to be a Greek professor obsessed with pagan rituals who is extremely recluse and not known for his interactions with children. What a guy. Seems perfectly normal. Let’s all go live with him.

This story, while I do give it points for its creepiness fell flat for me. Something was off once I got to the end. I don’t know if it wasn’t long enough or maybe the stakes weren’t high enough for me. You’d think a twelve year old would be more afraid after seeing a decaying body, ghosts, and having something CLAW THROUGH HIS CLOTHES several times. I get the kid is inquisitive, but you’ve got more awareness than that at that age. That boy is lucky he didn’t get his heart eaten by Mr. Weirdo.

Rating: 3 Stars

2.5

a little lackluster

It's a shame social services weren't so much a thing like 200 years ago....

2.5

I found this story unexpectadly predictable (I rapidly assumed Mr.Aubrey had somehow killed the gipsy girl and the little boy, so it would be almost certain he would also want to kill Stephen).
M.R.James stories tend to be more unpredictable than this one, but yes, the final part I still didn't expect.