The Tale of Terror / A Study of the Gothic Romance

Otranto contains underground vaults, ill-fitting doors with rusty hinges, easily extinguished lamps and a trap-door

But with all its faults The Castle of Otranto did not fall fruitless on the earth. The characters are mere puppets, yet we meet the same types again and again in later Gothic romances

of Otranto is significant, not because of its intrinsic merit, but because of its power in shaping the destiny of the novel.