M.R. James (1862-1936) was provost of King's College, Cambridge and Eton College. He was a highly regarded scholar and academic but is today remembered for his ghost stories which are considered among the finest in the genre.

His short novel for children "The Five Jars" is a bewitching fairy tale in the form of a letter to a young friend telling of the writer's strange experiences after discovering a box containing five jars with labels which indicate the mysterious powers of their contents.