Gormenghast (novel) adaptations, including film, live theatre, radio performances, television serials, and an opera. Gormenghast (novel) Gormenghast is a fantasy novel by British writer Mervyn Peake, the second in his Gormenghast series. It is the story of Titus Groan, 77th Earl of Groan and Lord of Gormenghast Castle, from age 7 to 17. As the story opens, Titus dreads the pre-ordained life of ritual that stretches before him. To Titus, Master of Ritual Barquentine and his apprentice Steerpike are the embodiment of all he wants to rebel against. An important sub-plot involves Titus at school, where he encounters the professors, especially Bellgrove,
Boy in Darkness Peake’s story is nothing short of phenomenal". Boy in Darkness Boy in Darkness is a novella written by Mervyn Peake. It was first published in 1956 by Eyre & Spottiswoode as part of the anthology "Sometime, Never: Three Tales of Imagination" (with other stories by William Golding and John Wyndham). A corrupt version of "Boy in Darkness" was published both in an anthology, "The Inner Landscape" (1969), and separately in 1976 with an introduction by Peake's widow, Maeve Gilmore. Referring to the corrupt text, she wrote that "although the Boy in "Boy in Darkness" is assuredly Titus Groan, [Peake] did