A review by hartd
Casting the Runes by M.R. James

This story was recommended in a Reddit thread of the scariest things people had ever read. I am wimpy and it seemed tame compared to a lot of the other suggestions, so I read it. Also, I love the Legendary Pink Dots song of the same name, but I still don't know the relationship between this story and the song (if there is one).

It's pretty creepy, but not all that scary by modern standards, and the distancing effect that is present in so much old speculative fiction made it a little bit challenging to read - every part of the story is second- or thirdhand.

I sort of shipped the main victim and the brother, and I'd be really surprised if I were alone in that thought.