The 2008 HPLFF is proud to present the critically acclaimed one-man show performed by Robert Lloyd Parry showcasing the atmospheric retelling of two of the earliest and greatest tales by M R James - the master of the English ghost story.

In Canon Alberic's Scrapbook, a young Cambridge antiquary discovers the devil in the details of an old book in a medieval town in the French Pyrenees. In The Mezzotint a ghoulish revenge is enacted within a work of art, before the helpless eyes of a museum curator in Oxford . . .

A Pleasing Terror has been performed over 100 times since premiering in M R James old office in the Fitzwilliam Museum in December 2005. Many performances have been in venues closely associated with the author: Eton College, Great Livermere Church in Suffolk, the Fitzwilliam Museum, and the Provosts Lodge and Chapel of King's College, Cambridge.

Wonderful, magical storytelling. A pleasing reminder that the spoken word can be as spine-chilling as anything in the cinema... — The Daily Mail

A Pleasing Terror was nominated for the 2006 Dracula Society Hamilton Deane Award.

The performance is suitable for ages 13 and up and lasts approx 100 minutes including interval.