M. R. James 1 hr 24 min read

'You remember you were puzzled when I told you I had heard something from the owls', so begins a letter recounting the discovery of five strange jars, and the small magical people they reveal.

M. R. James's 1922 book, the great ghost-story writer's only children's fantasy, is a charming and gently eerie tale. Whimsical, imaginative, delightful. Read it for a rare warm-hearted James, a boy's discovery of enchanted ointments that let him see fairies and talking animals, from the acknowledged master of the English ghost story.

In its time

Published in 1922, during the 1920s, the pulp era proper.

Reading it

1 hr 24 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).