The Necromancer; or, The Tale of the Black Forest The Necromancer; or, The Tale of the Black Forest The Necromancer; or, The Tale of the Black Forest is a Gothic novel by Ludwig Flammenberg (which is a pseudonym for Carl Friedrich Kahlert) first published in 1794. It is one of the seven 'horrid novels' lampooned by Jane Austen in "Northanger Abbey", once thought not to exist except in the text of "Northanger Abbey". The novel consists of a series of lurid tales of hauntings, violence, killings and the supernatural featuring the adventures of Hermann and Helfried and the mysterious wizard Volkert the Necromancer, who has seemingly come back from
Northanger Abbey (2007 film) did not state what happened to them in the novel, but Davies believed Frederick would have seduced Isabella. During an interview with Marion McMullen from the "Coventry Evening Telegraph", Davies explained that the Gothic elements to the novel gave him inspiration to add dream sequences and fantasies to the script. He told McMullen, "I've been very faithful to the book, but one of the differences has been writing the scenes showing Catherine's fantasies. Catherine is a great reader of horror fiction – the gothic novel was fairly popular in those days, like a young girl today who would read a