Melmoth the wanderer

After striking a deal with the Devil, Sebastian Melmoth spends his extended lifetime searching the world for someone to take his place in the Faustian bargain. Written in 1820 by an Anglican priest, this Gothic novel consists of several tales-within-a-tale. Enthusiasts of the brooding melodrama include Balzac, Poe, Dostoyevsky, and Baudelaire.