Thursday, May 13, 2021

The Spectre Bridegroom

The Spectre Bridegroom is a gothic tale by Washington Irving. Published in 1819, it was inspired by a German legend. It's tagged "horror" because of the gothic atmosphere, but it's not "horror" as many would define that word. You can read it online here or have it read to you at the bottom of this post. It begins,
On the summit of one of the heights of the Odenwald, a wild and romantic tract of Upper Germany that lies not far from the confluence of the Main and the Rhine, there stood many, many years since the castle of the Baron Von Landshort. It is now quite fallen to decay, and almost buried among beech trees and dark firs; above which, however, its old watch-tower may still be seen struggling, like the former possessor I have mentioned, to carry a high head and look down upon the neighboring country.

The baron was a dry branch of the great family of Katzenellenbogen, and inherited the relics of the property and all the pride, of his ancestors. Though the warlike disposition of his predecessors had much impaired the family possessions, yet the baron still endeavored to keep up some show of former state. The times were peaceable, and the German nobles in general had abandoned their inconvenient old castles, perched like eagles’ nests among the mountains, and had built more convenient residences in the valleys; still, the baron remained proudly drawn up in his little fortress, cherishing with hereditary inveteracy all the old family feuds, so that he was on ill terms with some of his nearest neighbors, on account of disputes that had happened between their great-great-grandfathers.

The baron had but one child, a daughter, but Nature, when she grants but one child, always compensates by making it a prodigy; and so it was with the daughter of the baron.
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16 comments:

  1. This sounds like a good read. I always enjoyed his tale of "The Headless Horseman"

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  2. ...there has always been a lot horror to go around and there still is.

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  3. I thought I knew the title. I forgot about it being a story. I read that a long long time ago. Haven't seen the film though. Maybe when I get back from my walk I will check it out. Happy Thursday.

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    1. This is just an audio book, not a film. It'd make a fun movie, though :)

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  4. I actually love being read to. Enjoyed this very much. Have a nice day.

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  5. Since it was s short audio--I took the fun ride! Giggled out loud at his fear of having goblin grandchildren--LOL!

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  6. I like Washington Irving's writings,so will definitely read this later. Thanks! Valerie

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    1. I hope you enjoy it. I like his writings, too.

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  7. Wow, that´s a very British accent! Oh, I need to get a new phone to have audibles.

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    1. I've never tried them on my phone. I use a laptop for all my audio/video stuff, but I can't move around the house with that lol

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  8. I wish I had time for this, but I don't. It sounds very good.

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    1. I was glad the read-to-me option was only 30 minutes long. Some of the audio books last for _hours_ lol

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