JES18

The Castle of Otranto

by Horace Walpole

Published 1 June 1901
The Castle of Otranto is a 1764 novel by Horace Walpole. It is generally regarded as the first Gothic romance, initiating a literary genre which would become extremely popular in the later 18th century and 19th century. Walpole, publishing under a pseudonym, claimed the novel was a translation of an Italian romance dating back to the time of the Crusades.