The Castle of Otranto by Horace WalpoleMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book must be read in the knowledge that it is more than 250 years old. It is the original Gothic fiction. The story is somewhat gripping, although the dialogue is not punctuated as we would now expect, making you think twice about who is saying what at times. The spectre of the giant knight seems to fade away at the end, almost like the let-down from bad B-grade special effects but in literary form. I felt like every character actually liked to ball their eyes out every few minutes, too. But, taken in context, it is an enjoyable read. Only don't read the introduction and avoid checking the notes at every instance. Like many classic, the introduction, prefaces and notes are now longer than the story itself. It had to be read, and now it is done. If you are a fan of Gothic, then this is like what Evil Dead is to modern horror, or what Sherlock Holmes is to the modern detective story.
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