The Castle of Otranto

In The Castle of Otranto, the usurper Manfred tries to solidify his position by marrying the young Isabella and producing another male heir. When Isabella's father appears in the guise of the Knight of the Gigantic Sabre, Manfred's plans are foiled. The Castle of Otranto purported to be a translation of an Italian story of the time of the crusades. In it Walpole attempted, as he declared in the Preface to the Second Edition, "to blend the two kinds of romance: the ancient and the modern." Crammed with invention, entertainment, terror, and pathos, the novel was an immediate success and Walpole's own favorite among his numerous works.