Midnight
It has sometimes been supposed that the more fantastic titles in this catalogue were figments of Jane Austen 's imagination , but the identity of each of the seven stories may be established beyond question . Two of the stories -- _ The Necromancer of the Black Forest _ , a translation from the German , and _ The Castle of Wolfenbach _ , by Mrs. Eliza Parsons -LRB- who was also responsible for _ Mysterious Warnings _ -RRB- -- may still be read in _ The Romancist and Novelist 's Library _ -LRB- 1839-1841 -RRB- , a treasure-hoard of forgotten fiction . _ Clermont _ -LRB- 1798 -RRB- was published by Mrs. Regina Maria Roche , the authoress of _ The Children of the Abbey _ -LRB- 1798 -RRB- , a story almost as famous in its day as _ Udolpho _ . The author of _ The Midnight Bell _ was one George Walker of Bath , whose record , like that of Miss Eleanor Sleath , who wrote the moving history of _ The Orphan of the Rhine _ -LRB- 1798 -RRB- in four volumes , may be found in Watts ' _ Bibliotheca Britannica _ . _ Horrid Mysteries _ , perhaps the least credible of the titles , was a translation from the German of the Marquis von Grosse by R. Will . Jane Austen 's attack has no tinge of bitterness or malice . John Thorpe , who declared all novels , except _ Tom Jones _ and _ The Monk _ , `` the stupidest things in creation , '' admitted , when pressed by Catherine , that Mrs. Radcliffe 's were `` amusing enough '' and `` had some fun and nature in them '' ; and Henry Tilney , a better judge , owned frankly that he had `` read all her works , and most of them with great pleasure . ''