I’m currently reading Casting the Runes by M.R. James in preparation for my first steampunk project–making a hollow book to house my mp3 player. Montague Rhodes James (Montague is a fantastic name) was a Victorian ghost story writer. I do love the Oxford World’s Classics mini hardbacks but this is the second one I’ve read that had spoilers in the introduction. Dear Introduction Writers, I would like some background on the author, please, not your favourite bit in the book. Thank you, Someone Who Has Not, As Yet, Read the Book.

James could certainly write a blinding ghost story. ‘The Mezzotint’ is well-known and appears in many collections, but I haven’t come across a weak story in the collection. Malevolent spirits and objects that characters should have left well alone are the chief spooks of choice.

As for the project, I’m following the guidelines on this very helpful site and cutting out an extra hole for the earphone jack. I know some people will have a fit about destroying a book, but you can blame OUP because their Oxford World’s Classics Hardcovers are just the right size, 6.6″ x 4.6″/16.8 cm x 11.7 cm. I’m going to make a Victorian-style cover for it with a mad title like ‘Little Victoria and the Ghastly Motorized Velocipede of Darkmoor Manor’. Right now I’m trying to find an illustration to use as a template for the front cover. I’d like a black and white drawing of a little girl in Victorian garb, holding a magnifying glass. My husband’s looked all over and can’t find one… it doesn’t seem like an unreasonable request, though, so I’m going to keep looking.

[This is a post from a now-defunct blog. Original post date: August 17, 2007. The book turned out well for a first effort, though we couldn’t find the right sort of image, so it sits on a shelf with the other, intact, mini hardbacks.]