'Look, my lord!  See heaven itself declares against your impious intentions!'

The Castle of Otranto (1764) is the first supernatural English novel and one of the most influential works of Gothic fiction. It inaugurated a literary genre that will be forever associated with the effects that Walpole pioneered. Professing to be a translation of a mysterious Italian tale from the darkest Middle Ages, the novel tells of Manfred, prince of Otranto, whose fear of an ancient prophecy sets him on a course of destruction. After the grotesque death of his only son, Conrad, on his wedding day, Manfred determines to marry the bride-to-be. The virgin Isabella flees through a castle riddled with secret passages. Chilling coincidences, ghostly visitations, arcane revelations, and violent combat combine in a heady mix that terrified the novel's first readers.

In this new edition Nick Groom examines the reasons for its extraordinary impact and the Gothic culture from which it sprang. The Castle of Otranto was a game-changer, and Walpole the writer who paved the way for modern horror exponents.

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Features

• A new edition of one of the earliest and most influential Gothic novels, the best introduction to the work that inaugurated a literary genre.
• Nick Groom's wide-ranging introduction explores the novel's Gothic context in the cultural movement that affected political and religious thinking before Walpole developed it as a literary style, helping to explain the novel's impact on contemporaries, its importance, and Walpole's pioneering innovations.
• Up-to-date bibliography and notes, drawing on the latest scholarship.
• Useful chronology of Walpole and the Gothic context.
• Appendix includes extracts from contemporary non-fiction by Walpole and Richard Hurd demonstrating the domestication of medieval Gothic for eighteenth-century readers that fed into The Castle of Otranto.

New to this Edition

• New introduction by Nick Groom.
• Up-to-date bibliography.
• Fuller chronology of Walpole and seventeenth/eighteenth century Gothic.
• New notes.
• An appendix with extracts from contemporary non-fiction relating to the domestication of medieval Gothic for eighteenth-century readers.
• Reset text.

ABOUT THE SERIES

For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Note On The Text
Select Bibliography
A Chronology of Horace Walpole
The Castle of Otranto, A Gothic Story
Appendix: Gothic Contexts
Explanatory Notes

Horace Walpole

Nick Groom has published widely for both academic and popular readerships, with particular interest in questions of authenticity and the emergence of national and regional identity. His books include The Gothic (2012) for the Very Short Introductions series, The Union Jack: the Story of the British Flag (Atlantic, 2006), and The Seasons: an Elegy for the Passing of the Year (Atlantic, 2013).

"If you're looking for the OG gothic novel, start here." -- The 20 Best Gothic Novels to Read on a Gloomy Autumn NightTown&Country