Xtreme Gothic Poems & Stories

Unknown -- Count Roderic's Castle, or, Gothic Times. A Tale. 1794.

Roderic the Hardy retires from public life because Astolpho, the new king, seems to be hostile toward him. With Roderic goes his son Rhinaldo, though Rhinaldo is in love with Isabel, the previous king's daughter, who is still at court. Rhinaldo finds adventure even in retirement, for while sheltering in a ruined mansion he encounters assassins, one of whom he kills and consequently is obliged to impersonate. There are exciting times at court too, some of them due to a villain named Rhodolpho, who among other outrages tries to rape Isabel. Quite a lot of the conflict is political, and in the end the usurper Astolpho is delivered into the hands of the rightful king Emmanuel, who is not, as people had supposed, dead. Roderic is not dead either, though he too was supposed to be so; on one occasion Roderic intended to assassinate Astolpho in his bed but found that his accustomed fealty had made him unequal to the task, and Astolpho, seeing him hover by the bedside, supposed himself to be receiving a ghostly visitation. With the political world in order, Rhinaldo and Isabel are free to marry.

William Child Green -- Abbot of Montserrat, or, The Pool of Blood. A Romance. 1826.

A young couple, Fernandez and Isabel have eloped in search of a priest to marry them. They find their way to Montserrat, an odd monastery set in banditti country. The young couple had fled Isabel's family who opposed the marriage because of an dispute with the father of Fernandez. After Fernandez's father lost the lawsuit his mother disappeared.
Montserrat is a troubling monastery. The monastery pays an annual protection fee to Roldan the banditti chief and Fernandez finds in a dying monk his long last father who finally gives his blessing to the marriage. They also find that the monastery a mysterious, nay evil monk named Obando. Obando has recently conjured up a demon who bargins for his soul in return for locating Obando's long lost brother, the position of Abbot, and the fair prize of Isabel.
In the figure of the banditti chief, Roldan, Obando discovers his long last brother. Roldan then captures Fernandez and Isabel, but the rough Obando forbids him to rape her. The company is released by Roldan's mistress, who is really Fernandez's missing mother.
Obando becomes the Abbot by murdering his predecessor, but he still fails to find the happiness he longs for. However his crimes bring the Inquistion and the banditti against the monastery. As the demon carries Obando away he repents midair and the demon drops him into the burning chapel. The monks remaining pray for Obando's soul. Fernandez and Isabel marry and Fernandez's mother comes to live with the happy couple.
-- Franz Potter