Monday 3 September 2012

Northanger Abbey - The Novels of Northanger (Part 2)

Welcome back to the Novels of Northanger everyone!

The Horrid Mysteries: A Story From the German Of The Marquis Of Grosse by Carl Grosse, and Peter Will

(no cover I'm afraid)
The hero of the tale, the Marquis of Grosse finds himself embroiled in a secret revolutionary society which advocates murder and mayhem in pursuit of an early form of communism. He creates a rival society to combat them and finds himself hopelessly trapped between the two antagonistic forces. The book has been both praised and lambasted for its lurid portrayal of sex, violence and barbarism.


The Necromancer, or The Tale of the Black Forest by Karl Friedrich Kahlert
"The hurricane was howling, the hailstones beating against windows, the hoarse croaking of the raven bidding adieu to autumn, and the weather-cock's dismal creaking joined with the mournful dirge of the solitary owl..."
"The Necromancer" consists of a series of interconnected stories, all centering on the enigmatic figure of Volkert the Necromancer. Filled with murder, ghosts, and dark magic, and featuring a delirious and dizzying plot that almost defies comprehension, "The Necromancer" is one of the strangest horror novels ever written.
The Orphan of the Rhine by Eleanor Sleath
(The only blurb I could find for this was a watered down telling of the book on Wikipedia and I don't want to ruin it for you all. Needleass to say there is drafty castles, elopements, evil gorgeous people...You know, the works ;))

The Midnight Bell by Francis Lathom
Young Alphonsus Cohenburg enters his mother's bedroom and finds her covered in blood. She tells him his uncle has murdered his father, and orders him to flee Cohenburg castle forever to save his own life

A disconsolate exile, Alphonsus wanders the earth seeking the means of survival, first as a soldier, then a miner, and finally as sacristan of a church, where he meets the beautiful Lauretta. They wed and establish a home together, and everything seems to promise them a happy future. But their domestic tranquillity is shattered, when a band of ruffians kidnaps the unfortunate Lauretta Alphonsus must solve the mystery of Lauretta's disappearance and the riddle of his mother's strange conduct. And when he hears that ghosts inhabit Cohenburg castle, tolling the great bell each night at midnight, the mystery only deepens....

The Italian by Ann Radcliffe
(again this isn't part of the official (if you like) 7 but it is mentioned)
From the first moment Vincentio di Vivaldi, a young nobleman, sets eyes on the veiled figure of Ellena, he is captivated by her enigmatic beauty and grace. But his haughty and manipulative mother is against the match and enlists the help of her confessor to come between them. Schedoni, previously a leading figure of the Inquisition, is a demonic, scheming monk with no qualms about the task, whether it entails abduction, torture—or even murder. The Italian secured Ann Radcliffe's position as the leading writer of Gothic romance of the age, for its atmosphere of supernatural and nightmarish horrors, combined with her evocation of sublime landscapes and chilling narrative.

And there we have it. I think some of these would make some smashing October reading don't you?  
If I have missed any of the novels mentioned in Northanger shout out and I will amend this ASAP, but I think I have got them as most are mentioned in the same passage of the novel.
"... but are they all horrid, are you sure they are all horrid?"
I think we are going to have to read them and find out.... 


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