The Mezzotint

This article is about the original story by M R James. For the 2021 television adaptation, see The Mezzotint (film).

"The Mezzotint" is a ghost story by English writer M. R. James, included in his 1904 collection Ghost Stories of an Antiquary.

"The Mezzotint"
Short story by M.R. James
"The Mezzotint" was published in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary in 1904
Text available at Wikisource
Country	England
Language	English
Genre(s)	Horror
Publication
Published in	Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
Publisher	Edward Arnold
Media type	Print (hardback)
Publication date	1904

Plot summary

Mr. Williams, the curator of a university art museum (implied to be Oxford), receives a mezzotint from an art dealer. The very disturbing engraving changes each time Mr. Williams and the colleagues he enlists look at it. In the end, it is suggested that the nighttime engraving depicts a vengeful poacher named Gawdy, returning from the grave to kidnap and murder the infant heir of a Mr. Arthur Francis. Gawdy had been hanged for shooting a gamekeeper while poaching on Francis' land.^[1]

Publication

"The Mezzotint" was first published in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary in 1904, and again in The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James in 1931. It has been included in many anthologies.

Adaptations

On 21 May 1947, a radio play adaptation of "The Mezzotint" by Ashley Sampson starring Martin Lewis as Dennistoun aired on the BBC Home Service.^[2]

On 14 October 1954, a television adaptation of "The Mezzotint" by Tony Richardson aired on BBC Television.^[3]

In 1959, "The Mezzotint" was adapted into an episode of the horror anthology television series 13 Demon Street titled "The Photograph".

On 20 August 1968, a reading of "The Mezzotint" by Howieson Culff aired on BBC Radio 4 as part of its Story Time programme.^[4]

On 2 May 1978, the CBS Radio Mystery Theater aired The Figure in the Moonlight, a loose and uncredited adaptation of "The Mezzotint" by Roy Winsor.^[5]

On 21 November 1980, an adaptation of "The Mezzotint" told by Michael Bryant aired as an episode of the British children's supernatural television series Spine Chillers on BBC1.^[6]

On 25 December 1986, a televised reading of "The Mezzotint" by Robert Powell aired on BBC Two as part of its Classic Ghost Stories programme.^[7]

In 2006–2007, Nunkie Theatre Company toured A Pleasing Terror round the UK and Ireland. This one-man show was a retelling of two of James's tales, "The Mezzotint" and "Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book".

In 2006, a radio play titled "The Midnight House" by Jonathan Hall inspired by "The Mezzotint" was broadcast on BBC Radio 4.^[8]

In 2009, BBC Audio released Ghost Stories Volume Two, which included "The Mezzotint".

On 9 October 2009, a reading of "The Mezzotint" by Robin Bailey aired on BBC Radio 7 as part of its Classic Tales of Horror programme.^[9]

In 2018, a radio adaptation of "The Mezzotint" by Neil Brand aired on BBC Radio 4 as part of its The Haunting of MR James programme.^[10]

In 2021, "The Mezzotint" was adapted for television as The Mezzotint, written and directed by Mark Gatiss, as part of the A Ghost Story for Christmas series. The drama was made by Can Do Productions and Adorable Media for BBC Television and was broadcast on Christmas Eve 2021. Filming was completed in February 2021. As with most adaptations in the series, additional material was created which diverged from the story. A subplot was added tying Mr. Williams’s family to the events depicted in the mezzotint, leading to the appearance of a gory apparition. The adaptation also added female characters, with a subplot involving a debate over whether or not the college should grant degrees to women.^[11][12]

In 2023, a reading of "The Mezzotint" by Sam Dale aired on BBC Sounds as part of its Classic Stories: Tales for Christmas programme.^[13]