Scarlett's Notebook

One of my favourite times of the year is nearly here: Halloween. Skulls, candles, scary films, spooky decor and knocking on strangers doors begging for sweets. What's not to like, right? 

I thought for the next few days that lead up to Halloween, i'll tell you about some of my favourite gothic books and why they're my favourite. They're  must-reads if you love creepy fiction! 

                          The Castle of Otranto


Title: The Castle of Otranto
Author: Horace Walpole 
Publication: 1764
Genre: Gothic, Horror
My Rating: ★★★★☆

Favourite Quote: "Satan himself I believe, is in the chamber next to the gallery."

I read this book a year ago at university for my 'gothic and romantic fiction' module. It was the first time i'd heard of both the author and the book, and i'm so glad it was on the reading list because it initiated my love for Gothic fiction. 

Written during the eighteenth century, it's regarded as the first ever gothic novel. Writers of this period wanted to revive medievalism which was associated with both exhilaration and terror. The author, Walpole, intended for The Castle of Otranto to ignite real fear in his readers. Despite this being a short book (roughly 125 pages), it's packed with action and gothic symbols and motifs.  

The Castle of Otranto follows the story of a family: Lord Manfred, a tyrant patriarchal ruler of Otranto castle; Hippolita, his dutiful wife; and Conrad and Matilda, their teenage children. The drama and action begin at the very start of the story, during Conrad's wedding to the beautiful and virginal Princess Isabella. Before the couple can make their vows, Conrad is crushed to death by a gigantic black-feathered helmet that appears to have fallen mysteriously from the sky. This is only the beginning of the supernatural events the unfurl within the castle. As the story progresses, servants begin to frantically shout of vanishing giants and pictures moving within their frames.

With his only son dead, Manfred dreads that the family curse is arising and so to assure his legacy, he schemes to divorce his wife and marry Princess Isabella himself. A horrified Isabella then flees the castle to a hidden underground passage. 

"The next transition of his soul was to exquisite villainy."

Manfred is the mercurial antagonist of the story with tendencies to completely ignore his family's caring and tender disposition. He's a domineering husband and obsessive father and plots for everything to go his way. He sacrifices everything for the sake of a male heir, only to realise that his daughter is not quite as hopeless as she first seems. Walpole shows the issues of power, inheritance and morality as Manfred's struggle to hold onto the castle grows weaker. 

The Castle of Otranto is a story of love, deceit, murder with a remarkable amount of action as the castle slowly comes alive around the characters. For example, whilst all this family drama is happening, at one point a giant hand appears and frightens everyone (because, of course, this kind of stuff is totally acceptable and not random at all.) There are constant mysteries underpinning the characters actions as well. I mean, why is Manfred so certain that the castle will fall out of his control? Who is the mysterious and charming boy who is capturing everyone's attention and, most importantly, what is the thing that's lurking in the castle? 

"... the figure, turning slowly around, discovered to Frederic the fleshless jaws and empty sockets of a skeleton wrapt in a hermit's cowl."

 I love this book in particular because Walpole manifested a good portion of fantasy, tragedy and tension with his diverse bunch of characters, very typical to the Gothic genre. The novel successfully incorporates all things gothic such as moving paintings, dark secret passages, eerie figures, squeaking doors and chilling noises, all of which served as an influence to Walpole's successors.

The relatively long preface in the first and second edition states that when this book was first written, it was looked upon as uncommon and unpopular among the educated people of Europe. Stories with dragons, damsels in distress and the literal knight in shining armour were perceived as naive and old-fashioned. Admirably, however, Walpole took on a great challenge of creating a new genre- combining old and modern romance with horror.

"...as he spoke those words, three drops of blood fell from the nose of Alfonso’s statue."

When discussing the book in class, many of my classmates noted how shockingly bad the writing is. I disagree though. Yes, the writing style may be simplistic, but I wouldn't call this "bad". I think it actually denotes how Walpole attempted to make his literature more accessible to everyone by opening it up to less educated people. Shouldn't everyone be entitled to read and enjoy a book? Furthermore, many people forget that this was the first gothic novel. Whilst the content of the story may seem predictable and the dingy dungeons, trapdoors and eerie objects coming to life might seem unoriginal, repetitive and comical, readers during the 18th century, aka the Romantic period, would never have imagined such scenes. How could they when the genre hadn't been created yet and they didn't have films to show or manipulate horror?

"she approached the door that had been opened, but a sudden gust of wind that met her at the door extinguished her lamp, and left her in total darkness."

 You've heard of Frankenstein, Dracula,  Stephen King and the Brontë's, books and authors who have been inspired by the Gothic genre. It's fair to say, The Castle of Otranto has a lasting impact on audiences and writers. 

I strongly recommend reading this book if you haven't already. It's weird, strange, dramatic and creepy, in other words exactly what a Gothic novel should be. 

Light a candle, dim the lights and give this history-shaping, creepy tale a read.