Nightmare Abbey

<p><em>Nightmare Abbey</em> is a novella by Thomas Love Peacock first published in 1818 widely considered to be Peacock's most enduringly popular work. The narrative centres on Christopher Glowry a miserly widower his son Scythrop and a host of dismal-sounding servants in his family pile Nightmare Abbey. Recovering from an ill-fated love affair Scythrop dreams up various schemes to reform and regenerate the human species but misanthropy lurks around every corner and everything changes when a mermaid is spotted and a strange woman appears in his chamber.</p><p><br></p><p>Although fundamentally a Gothic novel and rich in allusion - from Pope to Dante Rossini to Mozart - <em>Nightmare Abbey </em>is at heart a satire as Peacock makes clear in the preface to a later edition in which he describes the characters - allusions to his friends - as 'status-quo-ites' 'morbid visionaries' 'romantic enthusiasts' and 'lovers of good dinners'.</p>