The Complete Northanger Horrid Novel Collection

by Eliza Parsons, Ann Radcliffe, Karl Friedrich Kahlert

What came to be known as the Northanger Horrid Novels were seven early works of Gothic fiction mentioned in Jane Austen's book Northanger Abbey. Originally these works were thought to have been fake, made up by Austen to parody contemporary Gothic novels. However, more recent research revealed that the books were entirely real, sparking new interest in them. A total of nine early Gothic novels are mentioned in the text of Northanger Abbey, although only the first seven have become known as the "Horrid Novels". This collection contains all nine works, Castle of Wolfenbach (1793) by Eliza Parsons The Necromancer; or, The Tale of the Black Forest (1794) by Ludwig Flammenberg The Mysterious Warning, A German Tale (1796) by Eliza Parsons Horrid Mysteries (1796) by the Marquis de Grosse Clermont, A Tale (1798) by Regina Maria Roche The Midnight Bell (1798) by Francis Lathom Orphan of the Rhine (1798) by Eleanor Sleath The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) by Ann Radcliffe The Italian, or the Confessional of the Black Penitents (1797) by Ann Radcliffe This edition also includes a foreword and editor’s notes about each of the works. This material was NOT merely scanned from an ink-and-paper book, like many Kindle e-books are. All e-books offered by Di Lernia Publishers are hand-edited and hand-formatted.

Genres: Gothic, Classics, Fiction, Horror, 18th Century, Historical Fiction, Historical

3709 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 28, 2013

About the author

Eliza Parsons (née Phelp) (1739 – 5 February 1811) was an English gothic novelist. Her most famous novels in this genre are The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793) and The Mysterious Warning (1796) - two of the seven gothic titles recommended as reading by a character in Jane Austen's novel Northanger Abbey.

Reviews

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Castle of Wolfenbach: A German Story - Eliza Parsons,Diane Long Hoeveler Castle of Wolfenbach (1793) by Eliza Parsons: sort of a Nancy Drew openingI'm cross-posting my own review because eventually I hope to have read the entire horrible book, and I'd like to have all the sub-reviews collected.  Wow. So it's clear why this didn't remain a popular book for long. All of the creepy gothic stuff takes place at the beginning. Then there's a section of characters acting like normal (aristocratic) people and traveling and having large house parties, and crushing on each other, and oh, if I had read this book before reading Mansfield Park I would never have cast any aspersions upon Fanny. Mathilda is rather unusually perfect in every way, such that everyone who meets her is immediately smitten and keen to support her for the rest of her life; and, yeah, that's not the most unbelievable part. Hard to say what is, though. There's the way two different villains repent of the horrors they have done and are immediately forgiven by the only survivors. Or the way everyone talks in monologues that last for pages of dense paragraphs. Or the pirate who was planning to retire anyway, so he might just as well help Mathilda out...Really, there isn't a single believable bit in the whole book, neither in the story nor in the telling. To sum up: gruesome, and not in a fun way (unless you enjoy reading awful books, which apparently I do, if they're old enough). First of The Complete Northanger Horrid Novel Collectionpersonal copy.

[Challenger · Rating 3 out of 5]

BEWARE: This collection only includes Volume 3 out of 4 of Horrid Mysteries by the Marquis de Grosse (pseudonym for Carl Grosse), translated by P. Will.

This German Gothic novel (original title: Der Genius. Aus den Papieren des Marquis C* von G*) makes much more sense, and has a bit more depth, when you read it in its entirety! There are two English versions:

Horrid Mysteries, a 4-volume translation by Peter Will (4 vols, London: Minerva Press, 1796)
The Genius; or, The Mysterious Adventures of Don Carlos de Grandez, a 2-volume translation by Joseph Trapp (2 vols, London: Allen & West, 1796)

I would like to say that otherwise this collection of the Northanger Horrid Novels has been very useful as it collects these difficult-to-locate books together in an easy-to-read ebook. There is the occasional hiccup or mistake in the text, similar to when an epub is made from a scanned book, but nothing major. I have, however, read some of the included texts in another volume / format, so cannot confirm that there are not other mistakes or problems with this book.

[Kevin Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished The Mysteries of Uldopho. I can see why it was so popular at the time. A little overwrought at places. Much longer than I thought it would be (or prefer it to be). Some not-believable coincidences that tied everything together at the end. May eventually read some of the other books in this collection.

[Lorri · Rating 3 out of 5]

The collection contains a variety of gothic/horrid story types from adventurous men tracking down mysterious circumstances to vulnerable women trying to defeat evil forces and retain their virtue. For me, Francis Lathom's The Midnight Bell is a 5-star read and Eliza Parson's contributions: The Mysterious Warning, A German Tale and The Castle of Wolfenbach are 4-star reads. All the rest are 2-star reads, okay but not great.

[Lamprini · Rating 5 out of 5]

famous already read stories but what a collection to have!!!

[Gail Hoskins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of the nine gothic novels that Jane Austen mentions in her novel, Northanger Abbey. Some were pretty good. Some not so much.

[Joyce Reppenhaagen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very slow read.

I just could not get into the story line and found it boring. I don't really like this type of book.

[Eg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Longest Book Ever! Several of the stories are very similar...Lots of young women being kidnapped and taken to convents, men falsely accused of murder and bandetti in the woods.