A Ghost Story for Librarians

My husband, also a librarian and a voracious reader, recently introduced me to M.R. James, a Victorian writer known for his elegant ghost stories. His work, in my husband's words, is "not big on fright, but remains treasured for its rich evocation of atmosphere. Even now, in the short story 'The Tractate Middoth,' one feels a chill of recognition with the disappearing book, the musty smell, the difficult patron. ... [L]ibrarians are not uncommon fixtures in stories of the supernatural. Perhaps the most famous literary representative of our profession was Mr. Jonathan Harker, who made the ill-advised career move to organize the library of Count Dracula." I hope you'll enjoy this story as much as I did.