"The Mezzotint" is a

ghost story A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature'' ...

by British writer

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...

, included in his first collection ''

Ghost Stories of an Antiquary ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' is a horror short story collection by British writer M. R. James, published in 1904 (some had previously appeared in magazines). Some later editions under this title contain both the original collection and its su ...

'' (1904).

Plot summary

Mr. Williams, the curator of a university art museum (implied to be

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

), receives a

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the '' intaglio'' family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzotint achieves tonali ...

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.

Television adaptation

"The Mezzotint" has been adapted for television as '' The Mezzotint'', written and directed by

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series ''Doctor Who'', '' Sherlock'', and '' Dracula''. Together with ...

, as part of the ''

A Ghost Story for Christmas ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' is a strand of annual British short television films originally broadcast on BBC One between 1971 and 1978, and revived sporadically by the BBC since 2005. With one exception, the original instalments were direc ...

'' 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.

References

External links

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Full text of "The Mezzotint"A Podcast to the Curious
Episode 3 - The Mezzotint Short stories by M. R. James Horror short stories 1904 short stories {{1900s-horror-story-stub