Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto turned architecture into horror’s greatest weapon

Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto turned architecture into horror’s greatest weapon

What does a haunted castle look like? Perhaps you imagine a ramshackle or imposing structure with towers, pinnacles and undefined spaces hidden in the shadows; some of its “prickly” gothic details picked out by moonlight. Threateningly ill-defined buildings, enough for our imagination to fill in the gaps, seem to be the ideal catalyst to spark terror. Ever since the publication of Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto on Christmas Eve 1764, the…