'The Cavern of Death' A great short Gothic novel from 1794. Young Sir Albert just wants to marry his true love, Constance, but she's being forced to marry an elderly baron. Then, to make it worse, his best friend, Lord Frederic, is in love with Constance too and wants Albert to murder the baron so he can marry her. The novel's climax, in the haunted cavern of death, features a skeleton, a bloody sword, a phantom, and a couple fairly gruesome deaths. 'Edgar; Or, the Phantom of the Castle' A fun, short novel from 1798. Young Edgar's father has been mysteriously murdered and his uncle takes over the castle. When Edgar refuses to marry his cousin, the hideous Lucretia, his uncle plots to murder him. He has to flee an army of assassins and survive long enough to discover the truth behind his father's murder. Kind of a gothicized Hamlet. 'The Animated Skeleton' An example of tongue-in-cheek Gothic from 1798. A bizarre mix of dark humour and horror. 'The Castle of Ollada' A pretty formulaic novel, but if you like Radcliffe and Walpole, it's likely right up your alley. The first novel by Francis Lathom, who later wrote the Midnight Bell. 'The Midnight Bell (Midnight Bell)' One of my personal favourites of all Gothic novels. The story of young Alphonsus whose mother implores him to flee home after his father is murdered, lest his uncle murder him too. He travels and meets a lot of interesting characters and falls in love, before finally solving the mystery of the bell that tolls at midnight every night and solving his father's murder. 'The Necromancer (Necromancer)' One of the seven horrid novels mentioned in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. Critics frequently criticize The Necromancer for having a completely incoherent plot, but it is precisely its bizarre narrative structure that makes it so engrossing and so enjoyable. Don't worry about the plot -- it doesn't really matter -- just get wrapped up in the incredibly Gothic atmosphere and the richness of Teuthold's prose. 'Gondez the Monk: A Romance of the Thirteenth Century' 'Italian Mysteries: Or More Secrets Than One' Not sure why Halfvalue doesn't list this book for sale, as it's available on the publisher's website (www.valancourtbooks.com). A very long, and often very funny terror novel which greatly resembles Radcliffe's style in Romance of the Forest and Mysteries of Udolpho, minus the 200 pages of landscape descriptions. Very enjoyable read. 'The Mystery of the Black Tower' Same story with this book...it is in print at www.valancourtbooks.com. Originally published in 1796, this is one of the best historical Gothic novels. Set in the time of Edward III, where the young peasant Leonard seeks to win fame in the wars and earn the love of Emma. But along the way, he'll find out that he's not who he thinks he is, and he'll have to avenge his father's murder. |