The Wedding Knell: A Victorian Horror Story

Written by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Narrated by Lorraine Ansell

In The Wedding Knell, Mrs Dabney (a woman who married and was widowed twice) is going to be marrying Mr. Ellenwood, a 65 year old who had been attracted to Dabney in the past. When Mrs. Dabney enters the church for the wedding, the bell let out a deep knell, usually reserved for funerals. The bell continued to ring until the groom arrived. The groom arrived with a funeral precession, and claimed that Mrs. Dabney's youth was given to other husbands, and he was forced to live an unhappy life because he couldn't have her. Now that he was finally asked to marry her, there was nothing left for him but old age and death, so he stated "Let us be married; and then to our coffins!". Though shocked, she continued with the marriage, and they would let their love last for eternity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: B7 Media
• Release date: Nov 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781906577520

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and biographer. His work centres on his New England home and often features moral allegories with Puritan inspiration, with themes revolving around inherent good and evil. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, Dark romanticism.

Reviews for The Wedding Knell

[Susannah Mandel · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I like a lot of Hawthorne's Gothic stories, but, wow, IDK about this one. Its apparent theme, "Old People Having Sex Is The Real Horror!", is just... It hasn't aged well. No pun intended.