The Animated Skeleton

Book excerpt: Set in France during the Dark Ages, where the good Count Richard has mysteriously disappeared and the usurper Albert and his evil wife Brunchilda reign tyrannically in his place, The Animated Skeleton is a masterpiece of Gothic horror. Brunchilda has marked out the unfortunate peasants Jacquemar and Grodern for her vengeance, but her plots will be foiled by the animated skeleton that haunts the castle, a skeleton which just may hold the key to Richard's fate A bestseller when first published in 1798, The Animated Skeleton features an unusual blend of horror and dark comedy unlike any other Gothic novel. This edition, the first in more than two centuries, includes a new foreword and notes to put the novel in context for modern readers.