The Black Monk; Or, the Secret of the Grey Turret

Book excerpt: Brandon Castle is full of mysteries and terrors Lonely candles give feeble light to the eerie chill of the castle's endless hallways. Winding staircases descend into damp crypts of discarded skeletons while rat-infested secret passages lead to satanic altars. Towering over the castle's dank moat is the mysterious Grey Turret. Filled with legends of shadowy ghosts and terrifying demons, its only door has been locked for centuries. Until now. Someone has discovered the key and wants the terrifying power locked away in the Grey Turret. Who dares to defy the legend of the Grey Turret? Agatha? Hungry for power, nothing can stand in her way Eldred? Her nervous brother, the perfect foil for a murderous plan? Sir Rupert? The brave knight suffering from a heartbreaking loss? Nemoni? The mysterious wild-man of the woods? The Black Monk? Aided by Satan's black magic, can he be stopped? Serialized in British newspapers throughout 1844, The Black Monk is an excellent example of the Victorian penny dreadful. Each week, eager readers would await the next penny's installment and The Black Monk delivered so many thrills and terrors that it became the mid-century's publishing phenomenon. This edition includes the unabridged text of the 1844 edition along with all 54 original illustrations and features a new introduction by Curt Herr, Ph.D. James Malcolm Rymer (1814-1884) was a major contributor to Victorian literature, yet remains largely unknown today. He wrote the first vampire novel in English, Varney the Vampire; or, The Feast of Blood, and the original Sweeney Todd novel, The String of Pearls. One of the most popular penny dreadful writers of the 1840s, his serialized novels are being rediscovered as excellent examples of mid-Victorian pop culture. Curt Herr, Ph.D. has prepared the critical editions of several Victorian Sensation novels, such as Ziska, Vendetta, Dene Hollow, and the notorious penny dreadful Varney the Vampire, or, The Feast of Blood. He teaches Gothic and Victorian Sensation fiction at Pennsylvania's Kutztown University.