Gothic classics

"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 ... One of the greatest of all Gothic novels, The Midnight Bell (1798) features a blend of fast-paced action and spine-tingling suspense, pervaded throughout by a tone of profound melancholy. This edition, the first in forty years, features a new introduction by David Punter, one of the world's foremost experts on Gothic literature."--Publisher's website.

The year is 1587. Conflicts with Scottish borderers and rampaging banditti threaten England's peace and security, and Queen Elizabeth orders Lord William de Mowbray to fortify his castle against the invaders. Meanwhile, within the castle, Lord William's daughter Rosalind has fallen in love with the orphan Edward and will do anything to avoid a forced marriage with the sinister Lord Rufus de Madginecourt. Incensed at learning of Rosalind's love for Edward, Lord William sends him to Flanders, where he arranges to have him unjustly imprisoned. With her Edward unable to protect her, can Rosalind withstand the combined persecutions of her father and Lord Rufus? Who is Allanrod, the mysterious Scottish freebooter who seems determined to possess her? And what is the bloodstained spectre clad in black armour the servants have seen haunting the castle grounds?