Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Castle of Otranto (AmazonClassics Edition)

By: Horace Walpole
Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $16.00

Buy for $16.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Hours before his wedding, fifteen-year-old Conrad, heir to the house of Otranto, is crushed to death. His father, Manfred, Lord of Otranto, sees only one recourse to protect the family lineage. He will divorce his wife and marry the boy’s bride-to-be. Her wishes be damned.

When the fearful and resistant Isabella takes flight, Manfred follows in mad pursuit. But it is he who must outrun a greater fear: a curse cast on his family generations ago.

In 1764, with its wild-eyed tyrant, virtuous damsel, secret passages, and supernatural omens, The Castle of Otranto ushered in a new literary genre: the gothic novel.

Revised edition: Previously published as The Castle of Otranto, this edition of The Castle of Otranto (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

Public Domain (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Featured Article: What Is Gothic Fiction? A Genre Explainer


Some of the most popular and enduring novels and short stories are works of Gothic fiction, including Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. These creepy, creaky literary classics have the power to transport listeners to foggy moors and crumbling estates, where wolves howl in the night and shadows lurk in the hallways. But Gothic fiction is more than just cobwebs and candelabras.

What listeners say about The Castle of Otranto (AmazonClassics Edition)

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Classic Reading

Great story hopefully you will find it enjoyable too. The narration was really good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Meh

I mean, the only reason to do this is to understand all of the tropes that he created for the later authors – tropes that the later authors seriously improved upon. This is not a great work of literature it’s just a weird, rushed, archetype that you ought to be exposed to if interested in literature/Gothic fiction

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

This is an old book.

It's a short story written about a catastrophe happening to a family. It has ghost story elements wrapped in a mystery. Like I said in the headline it's old, uses antiquated words and might require a few reads.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent narrator

The narration does more than justice to the delightfully overwrought story. This was a pleasure to listen to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!