The Internet Archive is a treasure trove that sometimes gives up wonderful little delights: "Spukenswald" is one such gem. I found it while excavating the Christmas 1909 issue of a magazine called The Scrap Book. I wrote about this on Multo, but since my research into the provenance of the tale (which was unattributed in The Scrap Book) turned up something interesting, I thought I'd share it here, too.
[“Spukenswald is] a Grand Guignol romp that’s got all the fixings: a haunted castle, a magic talisman, a mysterious lady, a young man on a quest, wizards, revenants, robbers, even cannibals! ...
Although The Scrap Book presents the story as an anonymous “Ghost Story Translated from the German,” it’s actually an American-authored pastiche/spoof of the German gothic literature so popular in the early 19th century. Plus, it has some interesting connections to that great author of American gothic, Edgar Allan Poe.
Read all about "Spukenswald," its author Lambert Alexander Wilmer, and Edgar Allan Poe over on Multo. The post, of course, includes a link to the original story. Good bloody fun! Do enjoy.