''The Mysterious Warning, a German Tale'' is a novel by the English

gothic novel Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...

ist

Eliza Parsons Eliza Parsons (née Phelp) (1739 – 5 February 1811) was an English Gothic novelist, best known for ''The Castle of Wolfenbach'' (1793) and ''The Mysterious Warning'' (1796). These are two of the seven Gothic titles recommended as reading by a ...

. It was first published in 1796 and is one of the seven "horrid novels" lampooned in Jane Austen's ''

Northanger Abbey ''Northanger Abbey'' () is a coming-of-age novel and a satire of Gothic novels written by Jane Austen. Austen was also influenced by Charlotte Lennox's '' The Female Quixote'' (1752). ''Northanger Abbey'' was completed in 1803, the first ...

''.

Dear creature! How much I am obliged to you; and when you have finished Udolpho, we will read the Italian together; and I have made out a list of ten or twelve more of the same kind for you. Have you, indeed! How glad I am! What are they all? I will read you their names directly; here they are, in my pocketbook. ''
Castle of Wolfenbach ''The Castle of Wolfenbach'' (1793) is the most famous novel written by the English Gothic novelist Eliza Parsons. First published in two volumes in 1793, it is among the seven "horrid novels" recommended by the character Isabella Thorpe in J ...
'', '' Clermont'', ''
Mysterious Warnings ''The Mysterious Warning, a German Tale'' is a novel by the English gothic novelist Eliza Parsons. It was first published in 1796 and is one of the seven "horrid novels" lampooned in Jane Austen's ''Northanger Abbey''. Dear creature! How much ...
'', ''
Necromancer of the Black Forest ''The Necromancer; or, The Tale of the Black Forest'' is a Gothic novel written by Karl Friedrich Kahlert under the alias Lawrence Flammenberg and localized by Peter Teuthold that was first published in 1794. It is one of the seven 'horrid novel ...
'', ''
Midnight Bell ''The Midnight Bell'' is a gothic novel by Francis Lathom. It was first published anonymously in 1798 and has, on occasion, been wrongly attributed to George Walker. It was one of the seven "horrid novels" lampooned by Jane Austen in her novel ...
'', ''
Orphan of the Rhine ''The Orphan of the Rhine'' is a gothic novel by Eleanor Sleath, listed as one of the seven "horrid novels" by Jane Austen in her novel ''Northanger Abbey''. Subtitled "A Romance" it was published in four volumes by the sensationalist Minerva P ...
'', and ''
Horrid Mysteries ''The Horrid Mysteries'', subtitled "A Story From the German Of The Marquis Of Grosse" is a translation by Peter Will of the German Gothic novel ''Der Genius'' by Carl Grosse. It was listed as one of the seven "horrid novels" by Jane Austen in ...
''. Those will last us some time. Yes, pretty well; but are they all horrid, are you sure they are all horrid? —''Northanger Abbey'', ch. 6

Subtitled "a German Tale" it was first published in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

by the sensationalist

Minerva Press Minerva Press was a publishing house, noted for creating a lucrative market in sentimental and Gothic fiction in the late 18th century and early 19th century. It was established by William Lane (c. 1745–1814) at No 33 Leadenhall Street, Lond ...

and contains many familiar gothic tropes, including dark family secrets,

incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity ( marriage or stepfamily), ado ...

, seduction, and ghostly apparitions.

Editions

*1824, London: S. Fisher *1835, London: Joseph Smith *1968, London: Folio Press *2007,

Valancourt Books Valancourt Books is an independent American publishing house founded by James Jenkins and Ryan Cagle in 2005. The company specializes in "the rediscovery of rare, neglected, and out-of-print fiction," in particular gay titles and Gothic and hor ...

Footnotes

18th-century British novels 1796 novels Novels by Eliza Parsons 1790s fantasy novels British Gothic novels Incest in fiction {{18thC-gothic-novel-stub