Though the macabre ambience and supernatural events depicted in the book may have filled its 18th century audience with shock and horror, a quarter of a millennium later these elements merely inspire amusement in today’s reader. The Castle of Otranto still has some entertainment to offer the modern reader, but it’s definitely acquired a dull patina over the past two and a half centuries. He becomes determined to rectify this matter by divorcing Hippolita and taking Conrad’s bride Isabella for his own, though the union is decidedly against the young lady’s will. Naturally, all are horrified by this event, but it brings a special anguish to Manfred, for cruel fate has robbed him of his sole male heir. When the wedding day arrives, however, Conrad is crushed to death by a mysterious giant helmet which falls from the sky.
Manfred is less than satisfied with the fertility of his wife Hippolita, for she has only given him one son and one daughter, but the impending marriage of his son Conrad serves to reassure him that soon he will have grandchildren to carry on the family line.
The story takes place in the principality of Otranto, in Italy, where Prince Manfred is lord of the land and its castle. The book was successful enough, however, that when the second edition came out, Walpole admitted that was all hogwash and took credit for writing his own work. In the preface to the first edition of 1764, Horace Walpole claimed that this work was a translation of a recently discovered Italian manuscript dating back to around the 12th century. The Castle of Otranto is widely regarded as the first Gothic novel, and it definitely contains all the emotional melodrama, forbidden romance, spooky castle corridors, and supernatural happenings that one expects of that genre. A little rusty, but still manages to entertain
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