The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793) is a novel by Eliza Parsons. Employing themes common to the popular genre of Gothic fiction, Parsons crafts a chilling tale of murder and mystery that remains uniquely entertaining to this day. Referred to as a "horrid" novel in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, The Castle of Wolfenbach was recognized as a terrifying precursor to such classics as Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), often considered the quintessential Gothic novel. Orphaned as a young girl, Matilda Weimar is raised by her uncle, a domineering figure whose attentions soon turn abusive. Left with no choice, Matilda flees with her trusted servant Albert. They arrive after some time in the harsh countryside at the cottage of Pierre and Jaqueline, who have only one bed and no food to offer. Desperate, Matilda and Albert make their way to the haunted Castle of Wolfenbach, where caretakers Joseph and Bertha offer to give them shelter. Although they seem hesitant, the caretakers reveal that the Count was a terrible man who left his wife and children to die in captivity and advise their unexpected guests to be gone by morning. As night falls, Matilda hears strange sounds coming from inside the castle, and sneaks up into the tower to investigate. There, she encounters a woman and her servant, who are surprised to find a stranger in their midst. Sensing their sympathy, Matilda recounts the story of her life. The next day, after Matilda and Albert have left for France, the castle burns to the ground-but its mystery remains. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Eliza Parsons' The Castle of Wolfenbach is a classic of British horror fiction reimagined for modern readers.

The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793) is a novel by Eliza Parsons. Employing themes common to the popular genre of Gothic fiction, Parsons crafts a chilling tale of murder and mystery that remains uniquely entertaining to this day. Referred to as a "horrid" novel in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, The Castle of Wolfenbach was recognized as a terrifying precursor to such classics as Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), often considered the quintessential Gothic novel. Orphaned as a young girl, Matilda Weimar is raised by her uncle, a domineering figure whose attentions soon turn abusive. Left with no choice, Matilda flees with her trusted servant Albert. They arrive after some time in the harsh countryside at the cottage of Pierre and Jaqueline, who have only one bed and no food to offer. Desperate, Matilda and Albert make their way to the haunted Castle of Wolfenbach, where caretakers Joseph and Bertha offer to give them shelter. Although they seem hesitant, the caretakers reveal that the Count was a terrible man who left his wife and children to die in captivity and advise their unexpected guests to be gone by morning. As night falls, Matilda hears strange sounds coming from inside the castle, and sneaks up into the tower to investigate. There, she encounters a woman and her servant, who are surprised to find a stranger in their midst. Sensing their sympathy, Matilda recounts the story of her life. The next day, after Matilda and Albert have left for France, the castle burns to the ground-but its mystery remains. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Eliza Parsons' The Castle of Wolfenbach is a classic of British horror fiction reimagined for modern readers.

The whole affair is certainly very strange: often has the Marquis vowed to apply either to the Count or courts of justice; but the letters we received were never written by her, we could adduce no actual proofs of his guilt, and she continually warned us to take no steps without her permission. Thus, in a most unaccountable manner we are prohibited from doing her justice, whilst all the world believes her dead: he lives chiefly at Vienna, a dissipated life; though from my friend I hear he is at times gloomy, and apparently unhappy: this gentleman however believes my sister and her child dead, nor dare I undeceive him.

The whole affair is certainly very strange: often has the Marquis vowed to apply either to the Count or courts of justice; but the letters we received were never written by her, we could adduce no actual proofs of his guilt, and she continually warned us to take no steps without her permission. Thus, in a most unaccountable manner we are prohibited from doing her justice, whilst all the world believes her dead: he lives chiefly at Vienna, a dissipated life; though from my friend I hear he is at times gloomy, and apparently unhappy: this gentleman however believes my sister and her child dead, nor dare I undeceive him.

Eliza Parsons, nee Phelp, (1739-1811) was an English gothic novelist. She was born in Plymouth to a comfortable middle class family and moved to London when her husband's turpentine business was affected by the American War of Independence. The family's fortunes were further debilitated by a warehouse fire and when he died in 1790, Eliza was left alone with eight children. She turned to novel writing to support her large family and produced 19 two volume novels, many of which were in the romantic or gothic vein so popular at the time. Her work is generally agreed to be of varying quality, produced as it was out of financial necessity to meet popular tastes but her two most enduring works are The Castle of Wolfenbach in 1793 and The Mysterious Warning: A German Tale in 1796. Her other works include: The History of Miss Meredith (1790), Women as They Are (1797), Anecdotes of Well-Known Families (1798) and The Valley of St. Gothard (1799).

The whole affair is certainly very strange: often has the Marquis vowed to apply either to the Count or courts of justice; but the letters we received were never written by her, we could adduce no actual proofs of his guilt, and she continually warned us to take no steps without her permission. Thus, in a most unaccountable manner we are prohibited from doing her justice, whilst all the world believes her dead: he lives chiefly at Vienna, a dissipated life; though from my friend I hear he is at times gloomy, and apparently unhappy: this gentleman however believes my sister and her child dead, nor dare I undeceive him.

The good old Count Renaud is dead, and his will makes the degenerate Rhodophil his heir, disinheriting his other son Ferdinand, who has married against his father's wishes. Rhodophil promises to share his new riches with his younger brother and his wife Claudina, but Ferdinand hears a mysterious voice from beyond the grave, warning him to flee his brother and his wife to save himself from sin and death

Ferdinand obeys the supernatural warning and sets out to find fortune and adventure. In the course of his quest he will encounter a recluse in a ruined castle with a horrible secret, find himself captured and imprisoned by the Turkish army, and encounter one of Gothic literature's most depraved female characters, the monstrous Fatima. And if he survives all these dangers, Ferdinand must return to Renaud Castle to solve the mystery of the ghostly voice and uncover the terrible truth about his wife and his brother

This edition includes the unabridged text of the four volume 1796 edition, with a new introduction and notes by Karen Morton, and reproductions of illustrations from the 1796 and 1824 editions.

Matilda Weimar flees her lecherous and incestuous uncle and seeks refuge in the ancient Castle of Wolfenbach. Among the castle's abandoned chambers, Matilda will discover the horrifying mystery of the missing Countess of Wolfenbach. But when her uncle tracks her down, can she escape his despicable intentions?

One of the seven "horrid novels" named in Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey," "The Castle of Wolfenbach" is perhaps the most important of the early Gothic novels, predating both "The Mysteries of Udolpho" and "The Monk."

This edition reprints the complete text of the 1793 edition and includes a new introduction and notes by Diane Long Hoeveler, one of the foremost modern scholars of Gothic literature and feminism.

The whole affair is certainly very strange: often has the Marquis vowed to apply either to the Count or courts of justice; but the letters we received were never written by her, we could adduce no actual proofs of his guilt, and she continually warned us to take no steps without her permission. Thus, in a most unaccountable manner we are prohibited from doing her justice, whilst all the world believes her dead: he lives chiefly at Vienna, a dissipated life; though from my friend I hear he is at times gloomy, and apparently unhappy: this gentleman however believes my sister and her child dead, nor dare I undeceive him.

In her novel NORTHANGER ABBEY, Jane Austen mentions several Gothic novels by name. By the time the book saw print, these lesser works were already deservedly obscure (as, indeed, almost all disposable popular fiction soon becomes). For years they were assumed to be not simply fiction, but figments from a novel; but enterprising scholars managed to unearth copies of the original "shilling shockers." Eliza Parsons was a prolific and popluar writer at the end of the eighteenth century. Her works are generally forgotten, now, but two of them -- including THE CASTLE OF WOLFENBACH -- were immortalized in that list of seven "Horrid Novels" Jane Austen slipped into NORTHANGER ABBEY.