The Castle of Otranto is a macabre tale that revolves around a haunted castle. Manfred, the lord of Otranto, finds his son, Conrad, smashed by an enormous helmet on his wedding day. It is soon revealed that according to an ancient ambiguous prophecy Conrad's death might have been an ominous event that signifies the end of his lordship. To rectify the situation Manfred decides to marry his son's bride despite having a wife. Will Manfred plot succeed? Is he indeed a true prince of the castle?
Walpole got the inspiration for this bizarre story from a dream. He gave his novel a very authentic embellishment using the plan of Strawberry Hill castle for the set in the novel. He also went as far as to make a believable spoof in the Preface to the first edition that the novel was recovered and translated from an old Italian manuscript. Not as culturally present and talked about a title as other Gothic classics like Frankenstein or Dracula, Otranto became the cornerstone text of the genre. The echoings of Otranto are even noticeable in more contemporary gothic tales such as Toni Morrison's Beloved where a building is more than a location but an entire mysterious entity in itself.
The Legend Classics series: 
 Around the World in Eighty Days 
 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 
 The Importance of Being Earnest 
 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 
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 The Hound of the Baskervilles 
 Frankenstein 
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 Three Men in a Boat 
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 Dracula 
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 Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 
 Heart of Darkness 
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 The Turn of the Screw 
 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 
 Emma 
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 A Selection of Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe 
 Grimm Fairy Tales 
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 Gulliver's Travels 
 The Castle of Otranto 
 Silas Marner 
 Hard Times
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