The brooding, introverted Count von O arrives in Venice during the carnival to escape from his duties and live incognito. However, after encountering an enigmatic Armenian stranger who makes an uncanny pronouncement, a bizarre chain of events unfolds, involving a Jesuit secret society, a ghostly séance, and a mysterious Sicilian magician, leading the Count to question his faith and morality. First serialized in 1787-89, this multilayered, fragmentary novel, which gave Friedrich Schiller a platform to expound his Enlightenment ideas on society and religion, has thrilled and engaged lovers of Gothic literature for over two centuries.