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The Ghosts of Schloss Therasburg - guest post by Catherine Cavendish



Do you love a good ghost story? Well, here's Catherine Cavendish, whose latest novel Waking the Ancients deals with ghosts, black magic, and a haunted villa, to give us some background to the story.



I have set a large part of Waking the Ancients in Vienna, Austria where many ghosts and restless spirits walk among the verdant parks and lavish palaces. But Austrian ghosts do not confine themselves too their nation’s imperial capital. They can be found in towns, cities, villages and the depths of the countryside all over this beautiful land.

If you wanted an isolated and hidden place to build your castle, you could do worse than choose the surroundings of Schloss Therasburg in Austria’s Niederösterreich region. It seems to deliberately make itself as difficult to find as possible, hidden away in the forest of the Waldviertal.

Using the village of Missingdorf as your base, you need to travel 1.25 miles before turning left onto a small road which you could easily miss. In such an isolated location, it is not hard to imagine restless spirits roaming the castle and its grounds, seeking revenge or ultimate rest. In winter, icy winds blast the moss covered stones, old trees bend and sway and whisper their secrets…




Since 1670, the Attems-Heiligenkreuz family have owned this castle and the current owner is certain he shares his home with a number of spirits who cannot - or do not want to – leave.

The first is a blond, curly-haired boy who has appeared to a number of members of the family and stands in a room before disappearing as swiftly as he appeared. He is believed to be a relation of the family, who died there, aged four, during World War II and who first appeared in spirit form during the 1950s. It is said that when his father – an avid table tennis player in his youth – died in the 1970s, all the ping pong balls (which were stored in a drawer) began bouncing around in there. This was repeated a number of times during that year.




One of the more recent Counts  - Maximilian - who died and was buried in 1939, loved nothing more than to gallop around the countryside, driving a carriage and horses. One night, it appears he drove the carriage right up to the castle and woke his grandson and his wife. They both heard the galloping of hooves and a yell. The noise stopped and they distinctly heard someone jump down from the carriage and rush into the castle, but when they peered out of their bedroom window mere seconds later, there was no sign of horse, carriage or driver. However, the day just happened to be the anniversary of his death.

Reports state that the current Count lives alone in the castle these days. He hears strange, inexplicable noises, although, for now at least, the apparitions have ceased appearing. But as he knows, it doesn’t mean they’re not still there. In the shadows…Waiting…





Legacy In Death
Egypt, 1908
University student Lizzie Charters accompanies her mentor, Dr. Emeryk Quintillus, on the archeological dig to uncover Cleopatra’s tomb. Her presence is required for a ceremony conducted by the renowned professor to resurrect Cleopatra’s spirit—inside Lizzie’s body. Quintillus’s success is short-lived, as the Queen of the Nile dies soon after inhabiting her host, leaving Lizzie’s soul adrift . . .
Vienna, 2018
Paula Bancroft’s husband just leased Villa Dürnstein, an estate once owned by Dr. Quintillus. Within the mansion are several paintings and numerous volumes dedicated to Cleopatra. But the archeologist’s interest in the Egyptian empress deviated from scholarly into supernatural, infusing the very foundations of his home with his dark fanaticism. And as inexplicable manifestations rattle Paula’s senses, threatening her very sanity, she uncovers the link between the villa, Quintillus, and a woman named Lizzie Charters.
And a ritual of dark magic that will consume her soul . . .
You can find Waking the Ancients here:


About the Author:


Following a varied career in sales, advertising and career guidance, Catherine Cavendish is now the full-time author of a number of paranormal, ghostly and Gothic horror novels, novellas and short stories. She was the joint winner of the Samhain Gothic Horror Anthology Competition, with Linden Manor. Cat’s novels include the Nemesis of the Gods trilogy - Wrath of the Ancients, Waking the Ancients and Damned by the Ancients, plus The Devil’s Serenade, The Pendle Curse and Saving Grace Devine. She lives with her long-suffering husband, and a black cat who has never forgotten that her species used to be worshiped in ancient Egypt. She sees no reason why that practice should not continue. Cat and her family divide their time between Liverpool and a 260-year-old haunted apartment in North Wales.

You can connect with Cat here:







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