SOURCE: "Casting the Runes" by M. R. James  (More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911)

DESCRIPTION: "And this poor boy was followed, and at last pursued and overtaken, and either torn to pieces or somehow made away with, by a horrible hopping creature in white, which you saw first dodging about among the trees, and gradually it appeared more and more plainly. Mr Farrer said it gave him one of the worst nightmares he ever remembered, and what it must have meant to the children doesn't bear thinking of." ("Casting the Runes" by M. R. James)

NOTES: A sorcerer named Karswell removes those who oppose my by slipping them a piece of paper upon which runes are cast. The recipient begins to feel nervous, as if something is coming. Eventually the white creature appears and kills them.

HISTORY: This may be James's most famous story, having been made into a film, Night of the Demon (1957). (Thanks, Adam! You are right, of course.)