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Gothic Classics: The Castle of Otranto and The Old English Baron
GOTHIC CLASSICS: THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO AND THE OLD ENGLISH BARON (an Omnibus) by Horace Walpole and by Clara Reeve (Haunted Library of Horror Classics, Volume #9)
• with introduction to the book by Robert McCammon
• with biography, reading list, and discussion questions by series editor and author Eric J. Guignard
• with annotations by series editor and author Leslie S. Klinger
An omnibus of two related classics of Gothic Fiction.
In "The Castle of Otranto"—named as history’s "First Gothic novel"—Manfred, the lord of the castle of Otranto, has long lived in dread of an ancient prophecy: it's foretold that when his family line ends, the true owner of the castle will appear and claim it. In a desperate bid to keep the castle, Manfred plans to coerce a young woman named Isabella into marrying him.
In "The Old English Baron”—written as a reaction to Otranto from a female author's point of view—Isabella refuses to yield to Manfred's reprehensible plan. But once she escapes into the depths of the castle, it becomes clear that Manfred isn't the only threat. As Isabelle loses herself in the seemingly endless hallways below, voices reverberate from the walls and specters wander through the dungeons. Otranto appears to be alive, and it's seeking revenge for the sins of the past.
• with introduction to the book by Robert McCammon
• with biography, reading list, and discussion questions by series editor and author Eric J. Guignard
• with annotations by series editor and author Leslie S. Klinger
An omnibus of two related classics of Gothic Fiction.
In "The Castle of Otranto"—named as history’s "First Gothic novel"—Manfred, the lord of the castle of Otranto, has long lived in dread of an ancient prophecy: it's foretold that when his family line ends, the true owner of the castle will appear and claim it. In a desperate bid to keep the castle, Manfred plans to coerce a young woman named Isabella into marrying him.
In "The Old English Baron”—written as a reaction to Otranto from a female author's point of view—Isabella refuses to yield to Manfred's reprehensible plan. But once she escapes into the depths of the castle, it becomes clear that Manfred isn't the only threat. As Isabelle loses herself in the seemingly endless hallways below, voices reverberate from the walls and specters wander through the dungeons. Otranto appears to be alive, and it's seeking revenge for the sins of the past.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1764
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142 people want to read
About the author
Horace Walpole
1,489 books287 followersHoratio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford — also known as Horace Walpole — was an English art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician. He is now largely remembered for Strawberry Hill, the home he built in Twickenham, south-west London where he revived the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian successors, and for his Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto. Along with the book, his literary reputation rests on his Letters, which are of significant social and political interest. He was the son of Sir Robert Walpole, and cousin of Lord Nelson.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 2, 2022
Gothic Classics by Horace Walpole and Clara Reeve is a 2022 Poisoned Pen publication.
Poisoned Pen Press has been releasing some of the more obscure British Crime Library mysteries in digital format, which is just awesome. I’m so happy these mostly forgotten gems have been saved, reformatted into digital form, and is reaching new audiences. Like their work with mysteries, there is an audience for horror classics that have also been out of print or forgotten over time.
This collection contains two old Gothic classics:
The Castle of Otranto and The Old English Baron.
Anyone with an interest in Gothic literature, in all its various melodramas, will have heard of at least one of these stories. I think it’s great that the publisher placed these two early Gothic novels together in one book, the reason being that they are connected by style and format. Clara Reeve, the author of ‘The Old English Baron’, claimed her novel was the literary offspring of ‘The Castle of Ontranto.” Both novels combine romance with a ‘contemporary novel’ and sports the ridged rules of Gothic literature.
The Castle of Ontranto has been deemed the first Gothic novel- though some will argue it might be a precursor-so that alone should give it a place in history.
The story is absolutely over the top and beyond the pale in terms of believability. There’s a haunted castle, an ancient prophesy, intense melodrama, and tragedy. This style is one that is utilized in many other popular novels - such as ‘Dracula’, as an example. The influence this novel provided to more accepted literary works, should give it some credence and is therefore undeserving of some of the shrill criticisms it endures today. But then there were criticisms long before now…
The Old English Baron, on the other hand, is an attempt by Clara Reeve to give the Gothic tales a more literary approach. Reeve felt the need to correct the issues she discerned in The Castle of Ontantro. She lays out her critique of TCOO in the preface of her book. Her opinion is that the use of supernatural elements is overdone in Walpole’s book, and her novel, while still adding those elements, are toned down so that they are more believable.
The result, unfortunately, is a dull book that doesn’t even have the entertainment value of ‘Ontrantro’.
Granted, these stories do not measure up to our present-day standards, which explains the poor marks by some modern readers. Yet, I feel it is unfair to judge these stories through a modern lens. This style of writing has, of course, fallen out of favor, but these novels still hold a place in the history of Gothic novels and I’m glad they have been re-released for the sake of prosperity, if nothing else.
Overall, while I agree with Reeve that the supernatural content of ‘Ontantro’ is overwrought and unbelievable, at least today we can find humor in it. The same can’t be said of The Old English Baron, but I’m glad we have both books available in one volume to compare and study.
A Bonus introduction by Robert R. McCammon is included.
4 stars for the preservation of these novels and for combining them into one volume.
3.5 stars for The Castle of Ontantro- which is, a re-read for me.
2 stars for The Old English Baron- as Reeve failed to ‘correct’ the failures of ‘Ontantro’ in my humble opinion.
Poisoned Pen Press has been releasing some of the more obscure British Crime Library mysteries in digital format, which is just awesome. I’m so happy these mostly forgotten gems have been saved, reformatted into digital form, and is reaching new audiences. Like their work with mysteries, there is an audience for horror classics that have also been out of print or forgotten over time.
This collection contains two old Gothic classics:
The Castle of Otranto and The Old English Baron.
Anyone with an interest in Gothic literature, in all its various melodramas, will have heard of at least one of these stories. I think it’s great that the publisher placed these two early Gothic novels together in one book, the reason being that they are connected by style and format. Clara Reeve, the author of ‘The Old English Baron’, claimed her novel was the literary offspring of ‘The Castle of Ontranto.” Both novels combine romance with a ‘contemporary novel’ and sports the ridged rules of Gothic literature.
The Castle of Ontranto has been deemed the first Gothic novel- though some will argue it might be a precursor-so that alone should give it a place in history.
The story is absolutely over the top and beyond the pale in terms of believability. There’s a haunted castle, an ancient prophesy, intense melodrama, and tragedy. This style is one that is utilized in many other popular novels - such as ‘Dracula’, as an example. The influence this novel provided to more accepted literary works, should give it some credence and is therefore undeserving of some of the shrill criticisms it endures today. But then there were criticisms long before now…
The Old English Baron, on the other hand, is an attempt by Clara Reeve to give the Gothic tales a more literary approach. Reeve felt the need to correct the issues she discerned in The Castle of Ontantro. She lays out her critique of TCOO in the preface of her book. Her opinion is that the use of supernatural elements is overdone in Walpole’s book, and her novel, while still adding those elements, are toned down so that they are more believable.
The result, unfortunately, is a dull book that doesn’t even have the entertainment value of ‘Ontrantro’.
Granted, these stories do not measure up to our present-day standards, which explains the poor marks by some modern readers. Yet, I feel it is unfair to judge these stories through a modern lens. This style of writing has, of course, fallen out of favor, but these novels still hold a place in the history of Gothic novels and I’m glad they have been re-released for the sake of prosperity, if nothing else.
Overall, while I agree with Reeve that the supernatural content of ‘Ontantro’ is overwrought and unbelievable, at least today we can find humor in it. The same can’t be said of The Old English Baron, but I’m glad we have both books available in one volume to compare and study.
A Bonus introduction by Robert R. McCammon is included.
4 stars for the preservation of these novels and for combining them into one volume.
3.5 stars for The Castle of Ontantro- which is, a re-read for me.
2 stars for The Old English Baron- as Reeve failed to ‘correct’ the failures of ‘Ontantro’ in my humble opinion.
April 8, 2022
An elegant omnibus of two classic Gothic novels, set in ancient castles and paving the way for future Gothic writing. This release is from a series developed to understand general horror and influence throughout history, the HAUNTED LIBRARY OF HORROR CLASSICS. First of all, these books are beautiful. Consistent appeal across volumes with annotations, reading list, notes, introduction, reading club discussion questions, and lots more. An excellent introduction to classics of literature that explore horror and dark themes.
November 8, 2021
An omnibus of two related classics of Gothic Fiction.
1st book is: "The Castle of Otranto", named as "The first Gothic novel," in which an evil lord seeks to avert an ancient foretelling by marrying his dead son’s fiancée in order to attempt birthing another male heir.
2nd book is: "The Old English Baron", which was written as a reaction to Otranto from a female author's point of view, in which a peasant boy, living in a royal family’s castle, begins to show his superiority, much to the enmity of those in “higher stations.”
(Books originally published 1764 and 1778, respectively.)
1st book is: "The Castle of Otranto", named as "The first Gothic novel," in which an evil lord seeks to avert an ancient foretelling by marrying his dead son’s fiancée in order to attempt birthing another male heir.
2nd book is: "The Old English Baron", which was written as a reaction to Otranto from a female author's point of view, in which a peasant boy, living in a royal family’s castle, begins to show his superiority, much to the enmity of those in “higher stations.”
(Books originally published 1764 and 1778, respectively.)
December 7, 2025
The Castle of Otranto was dogshit but The Old English Baron was entertaining. Both stories are dramatic
July 5, 2020
... a já si tak moc přál, aby to bylo dobrý :-(
October 16, 2025
The Castle of Otranto: 4 stars
This book was absolutely bonkers, but I enjoyed it. i was confused about some of it (the part where the giant helmet killed the son I had to go back and reread a few times) but also I can see how Gothic literature as we know it stemmed from this. Seems kind of like an in-between document, in that it almost reminds me of Arthurian stories, too, what with the knights coming back from the Crusades and the hilariously big statue of the saint that also performs . . . miracles? (If murder can be called that.) This story also just goes to show that men have been trash throughout the ages.
As for the characters, I loved Isabella, and was glad to see she got away. Matilda was so boring, a goody two-shoes. Theodore was by turns hilarious, gallant, and annoying.
I did hope for more ghosts.
The Old English Baron: 4 stars
First of all, love that this was written by a woman, in this era. I know women were writing at this time, but it still feels like a treat.
I found the book very funny (possibly sometimes when I wasn't meant to be). I love that humor can transcend time and circumstances, and we can laugh about these scenarios hundreds of years later. My favorite example:
It seems a serious moment (a man has just been stabbed several times), but Sir Philip calmly being like, "nope, you're not dying yet," just seems like something we'd see in a movie today.
The gay overtones between Edmund and William! I know part of it has to be how men related to each other in the medieval era but also, it sure sounded like those two were making a lifetime commitment to each other.
Edmund being the heir of Lovel was very predictable as soon as he appeared, but I still enjoyed the story. I have to wonder if this is a trope now because of stories like this (if it was one of the first), or if contemporary readers would also have known. The divine right of kings/nobility got a little heavy-handed, what with Edmund being so good a person and so devout that clearly he must be of a noble class and not actually a peasant.
Overall, I very much enjoyed this story, more than Otranto.
Edition: both stories were 4 stars, so keeping my rating there. I had a great time reading these, and liked that they were presented together with the context that The Old English Baron was written as a response to The Castle of Otranto. I'd be interested in reading more Gothic lit from this time now that I've read a couple of the earliest.
This book was absolutely bonkers, but I enjoyed it. i was confused about some of it (the part where the giant helmet killed the son I had to go back and reread a few times) but also I can see how Gothic literature as we know it stemmed from this. Seems kind of like an in-between document, in that it almost reminds me of Arthurian stories, too, what with the knights coming back from the Crusades and the hilariously big statue of the saint that also performs . . . miracles? (If murder can be called that.) This story also just goes to show that men have been trash throughout the ages.
As for the characters, I loved Isabella, and was glad to see she got away. Matilda was so boring, a goody two-shoes. Theodore was by turns hilarious, gallant, and annoying.
I did hope for more ghosts.
The Old English Baron: 4 stars
First of all, love that this was written by a woman, in this era. I know women were writing at this time, but it still feels like a treat.
I found the book very funny (possibly sometimes when I wasn't meant to be). I love that humor can transcend time and circumstances, and we can laugh about these scenarios hundreds of years later. My favorite example:
He [Sir Philip] thrust his sword through his [Lord Lovel's] left arm, and demanded, whether he would confess the fact? Lord Lovel enraged, answered, he would die sooner. Sir Philip then passed the sword through his body twice, and Lord Lovel fell, crying out that he was slain.
"I hope not," said Sir Philip, "for I have a great deal of business for you to do before you die . . ."
It seems a serious moment (a man has just been stabbed several times), but Sir Philip calmly being like, "nope, you're not dying yet," just seems like something we'd see in a movie today.
The gay overtones between Edmund and William! I know part of it has to be how men related to each other in the medieval era but also, it sure sounded like those two were making a lifetime commitment to each other.
Edmund being the heir of Lovel was very predictable as soon as he appeared, but I still enjoyed the story. I have to wonder if this is a trope now because of stories like this (if it was one of the first), or if contemporary readers would also have known. The divine right of kings/nobility got a little heavy-handed, what with Edmund being so good a person and so devout that clearly he must be of a noble class and not actually a peasant.
Overall, I very much enjoyed this story, more than Otranto.
Edition: both stories were 4 stars, so keeping my rating there. I had a great time reading these, and liked that they were presented together with the context that The Old English Baron was written as a response to The Castle of Otranto. I'd be interested in reading more Gothic lit from this time now that I've read a couple of the earliest.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2023
It was an outstanding idea to put these two books together into a single volume, one being the first true Gothic novel and the other being a critical response to it, the result being a lifelong feud between the authors.
Reeve’s story is intended as a response to Walpole’s, a critical alternative meant to tell something of the same story without using supernatural elements, which Reeve effectively viewed as cheating. Oh Clara, if you could only see what’s popular now.
I’ve read both novels before, but to read them in succession and together like this allows for greater comparison, and is also, from a marketing perspective, a fun and clever way to repackage and sell two books that a lot of readers already own.
As for the aforementioned comparison, it’s Walpole who comes out on top. For one, he wrote the story first, and Reeve uses his concept to interpret as she sees fit. And the supernatural element, so sneered are by Reeve, is welcome in the Gothic tradition and works well for the story.
Interestingly, Reeve might have done better to simply share her story without the comparison in the first place. It’s a good book in its own right and could stand on its own, and only suffers in comparison, not to mention the sneering criticism that accompanied it was offputting in nature.
Reeve’s story is intended as a response to Walpole’s, a critical alternative meant to tell something of the same story without using supernatural elements, which Reeve effectively viewed as cheating. Oh Clara, if you could only see what’s popular now.
I’ve read both novels before, but to read them in succession and together like this allows for greater comparison, and is also, from a marketing perspective, a fun and clever way to repackage and sell two books that a lot of readers already own.
As for the aforementioned comparison, it’s Walpole who comes out on top. For one, he wrote the story first, and Reeve uses his concept to interpret as she sees fit. And the supernatural element, so sneered are by Reeve, is welcome in the Gothic tradition and works well for the story.
Interestingly, Reeve might have done better to simply share her story without the comparison in the first place. It’s a good book in its own right and could stand on its own, and only suffers in comparison, not to mention the sneering criticism that accompanied it was offputting in nature.
October 23, 2025
I read The Castle of Otranto in combination with its response story (The Old English Baron by Clara Reeve) in one book called Gothic Classics. Loved The Castle of Otranto and didn’t at all care for The Old English Baron. It’s likely because it was hard for me to follow all of the characters and I could see the reveal coming from a mile away- likely contributing to why I thought this was 100 pages too long. Oddly enough, wish Otranto would have been longer. Overall, a liked the gay vibes in the Old English Baron and gave it a combined solid three stars after averaging the two together.
September 13, 2022
TL;DR Pairing the books is great, the books themselves are middling.
It's hard to give a star rating to classics, I've settled on four largely because I think these two books are put into perspective by being read together, and putting them in a single book was appreciated. The Old English Baron is such an obvious response to Otranto I can't imagine reading it separately. The 4 is really for the collection, I liked the pairing and though the mock interview at the beginning was fun and original. As for each novel contained within I'll obstain from giving them a rating as it's so hard to judge works written so long ago. I'll say only that the Old English Baron is truly a staggering improvement over Otranto and I liked it much more. My full thoughts below.
Otranto is much faster paced and often feels like a stereotypical soap opera with random plot twists and absurd reactions from characters. The language is of course dated and I would have written it off as a product of the time had Reeve not written the Old English Baron in the same time period and made it clear that novels from the time can easily be understood and well formatted.
The Old English Baron may be a tad too long but it's a massive improvement. The story is almost identical but the characters are more developed, the plot is paced better, the supernatural aspects feel more real, and overall the book is more engaging, though it could be a tad shorter. Reeve clearly spent a great deal of time thinking about Otranto and trying to improve upon its story, which did feel hastily written. It's still not a perfect book, the plot is weird in that while conflicts arise they never really seem to pose a significant problem to the protagonists. The book feels like a really drawn out resolution rather than a story with high stakes. You're waiting for an ax that never drops.
Together though they form an interesting duology that make their connection to later gothic works quite clear, and it is obvious why later authors wished to emulate and build off what is presented here.
It's hard to give a star rating to classics, I've settled on four largely because I think these two books are put into perspective by being read together, and putting them in a single book was appreciated. The Old English Baron is such an obvious response to Otranto I can't imagine reading it separately. The 4 is really for the collection, I liked the pairing and though the mock interview at the beginning was fun and original. As for each novel contained within I'll obstain from giving them a rating as it's so hard to judge works written so long ago. I'll say only that the Old English Baron is truly a staggering improvement over Otranto and I liked it much more. My full thoughts below.
Otranto is much faster paced and often feels like a stereotypical soap opera with random plot twists and absurd reactions from characters. The language is of course dated and I would have written it off as a product of the time had Reeve not written the Old English Baron in the same time period and made it clear that novels from the time can easily be understood and well formatted.
The Old English Baron may be a tad too long but it's a massive improvement. The story is almost identical but the characters are more developed, the plot is paced better, the supernatural aspects feel more real, and overall the book is more engaging, though it could be a tad shorter. Reeve clearly spent a great deal of time thinking about Otranto and trying to improve upon its story, which did feel hastily written. It's still not a perfect book, the plot is weird in that while conflicts arise they never really seem to pose a significant problem to the protagonists. The book feels like a really drawn out resolution rather than a story with high stakes. You're waiting for an ax that never drops.
Together though they form an interesting duology that make their connection to later gothic works quite clear, and it is obvious why later authors wished to emulate and build off what is presented here.
October 2, 2021
In the bonkers Castle of Otranto, the lord of the manner is trying to marry his poorly son off to get an heir to the family as soon as possible, only for him to die in ridiculous fashion on the morning of the marriage. So what does the bloke do? Demand he get his own marriage nullified to start tupping his intended daughter-in-law. She flees, of course, leaving a kindly lad behind who stood up for her at the death scene and helped her escape. Surely he's not going to fall in love with the princess of the house?
As wonderful as it might have seemed at the time, and as influential as it must have been since, read in 2021 it is clear it is a bludgeoning pile of hokum, with about as much subtlety as the actual cause of death. So we turn to the lesser-known of the two novels here, one which – as it was produced in riposte to Otranto – has often been published with it in the same two covers. And it's even worse – the plummiest of atrophied manners and mannerisms flood every sentence, the story takes a quarter of its running time to introduce anything even slightly Gothic, and when you see where the book is going it's a stronger man than I to deem it worthwhile concluding.
Eventually you do discover it's a (very dry) skeletons-in-the-closet kind of story, where the hero discovers that he has more claim to the mansion and named family he lives with than his foster father's own disagreeable children who have turned against him. He's half Hamlet, struggling to prove what befell people before he was cognizant of the destiny once in store for him, and half Cinderella, having to cope with wicked siblings (and ghosts) while being all pious and smiley.
Kudos to the book for giving us both these stories, but neither proved at all finishable for me – and word has it the Baron gets even worse the closer to the end it gets. The mind reels from such horrors.
As wonderful as it might have seemed at the time, and as influential as it must have been since, read in 2021 it is clear it is a bludgeoning pile of hokum, with about as much subtlety as the actual cause of death. So we turn to the lesser-known of the two novels here, one which – as it was produced in riposte to Otranto – has often been published with it in the same two covers. And it's even worse – the plummiest of atrophied manners and mannerisms flood every sentence, the story takes a quarter of its running time to introduce anything even slightly Gothic, and when you see where the book is going it's a stronger man than I to deem it worthwhile concluding.
Eventually you do discover it's a (very dry) skeletons-in-the-closet kind of story, where the hero discovers that he has more claim to the mansion and named family he lives with than his foster father's own disagreeable children who have turned against him. He's half Hamlet, struggling to prove what befell people before he was cognizant of the destiny once in store for him, and half Cinderella, having to cope with wicked siblings (and ghosts) while being all pious and smiley.
Kudos to the book for giving us both these stories, but neither proved at all finishable for me – and word has it the Baron gets even worse the closer to the end it gets. The mind reels from such horrors.
September 17, 2021
This is really difficult to review, the stories themselves deserve 5 stars but this edition is maybe a 2.5 if i'm feeling really generous.
Separated, the stories are absolute classics. Together they make no sense. Why these two? We'll never know as there's nothing in the book to say why these two were chosen.
The omnibus opens with a cringeworthy "interview" with Horace Walpole and a two prefaces of The Castle of Otranto before we get into the actual story. Then we get to The Old English Baron, again we begin with a preface and then straight into the story.
There are about the author sections for both Horace Walpole and Clara Reeve before suggested discussion questions for classroom use, which leads me to believe that this book is designed to be used in schools. The suggested further reading section was worth looking at though, and I do appear to own most of the books suggested!
All in all I'll stick to my separate copies of both these stories as this edition doesn't add anything to two absolute classics.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Separated, the stories are absolute classics. Together they make no sense. Why these two? We'll never know as there's nothing in the book to say why these two were chosen.
The omnibus opens with a cringeworthy "interview" with Horace Walpole and a two prefaces of The Castle of Otranto before we get into the actual story. Then we get to The Old English Baron, again we begin with a preface and then straight into the story.
There are about the author sections for both Horace Walpole and Clara Reeve before suggested discussion questions for classroom use, which leads me to believe that this book is designed to be used in schools. The suggested further reading section was worth looking at though, and I do appear to own most of the books suggested!
All in all I'll stick to my separate copies of both these stories as this edition doesn't add anything to two absolute classics.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Want to read
October 5, 2011Referenced in the explanatory notes at the end of The Romance of the Forest.
Want to read
November 24, 2015My copy is so old it doesn't even have an ISBN....this was the best comparative I could find...
April 9, 2022
3 stars
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews