The Castle of Otranto
1764. A prince's son dies beneath a giant helmet on his wedding day, and everything unravels. This is the premise that launched a thousand nightmares. Horace Walpole, writing from his Gothic Revival house after a spectral dream, created the template for every haunted castle, trembling heroine, and lurking dread that followed. The Prince of Otranto rules with iron desperation, haunted by prophecy and obsessed with producing an heir. His daughter Matilda and the unintended bride Isabella become trapped in his expanding cruelty. Walpole blended medieval romance with modern terror, inventing a genre that would consume literature, film, and the darker corners of the imagination. The prose feels antiquated, the emotions raw. Two centuries later, the castle still creaks.
