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) and it marked only the second filmed adaptation of the book; with the first being made and broadcast in 1986. Andrew Davies, the screenwriter who adapted "Pride and Prejudice" for the BBC, was commissioned to write the script for "Northanger Abbey". He had previously written an adaptation of the novel for Weekend Television in 1998. It was optioned by Harvey Weinstein for Miramax Films and drafts from other writers were added, before the project was abandoned. Davies told "The Daily Telegraph's" Hugh Davies that "Northanger Abbey" was much more straightforward to adapt than "Pride and Prejudice", which was "quite a