Insane! A British guy in the 1700s made up a story and called it a lost ancient text. 

Set in ~1000 AD Italy, Prince Manfred and his wife know their house is cursed. When their sickly son dies on his wedding day, Manfred sees the end of his line. In desperation, he seems to entrap his son's would-be-wife into marriage. Isabella escapes, and on the way to seek sanctuary at a church she meets a mysterious youth, a meeting which fulfills the prophecy. 

This short novella has ghosts, giants, princesses, princes, monks, a silly maid, and a great villain in the form of Prince Manfred. Super weird but entertaining, 4/5 stars for how the grown men act on this story. For shame!

I have a terrible tendency to take these classics too seriously and only realise belatedly —— wait, was that meant to be funny? 

With that new perspective on mind, this story is suddenly a lot more enjoyable, where you just gotta roll with the punches and enjoy the ride. 

It's a fascinating read to see how much Gothic romances have evolved, yet remained the same, since the og. The atmosphere and setting was really well set up with its long winding secret passageways and haunting castles. 

The plot twists are also absurdly fun, even if the characters are all so frustrating and irritating to read. I'm surprised not to have heard or seen any notable theatre adaptations of this, because I feel like this could be a really fun play. Especially with all the servants' dialogue. -- Actually, all of the dialogue in this story is great. 

Then, googling more about Walpole I have also learnt to appreciate the themes of the story more. Truly fascinating the way these characters and their motivations, wants and fears parallel Walpole's life. 

Wouldn't reread, but pls hit me up when they need someone put on this play lol. 

OG review: 1.5 stars
Boring and misogynistic and just a bad story lol. It gets half a star for starting with a giant helmet crushing someone - top tier supernatural event. If you don’t have to read this, don’t. 

Also the audiobook on Spotify is absolutely hilarious in how bad it is. 
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Updated Review after reading for gothics class
Ok idk why I hated this the first time I read it but it is anything but boring. This is an absolutely chaotic and wild ride that reads like a soap opera. There’s gigantic ghosts and curses and prophecies and a lot of hilarious “we are related” reveals. I do 100% still agree with myself that Walpole has never met a woman in real life (apart from possibly a servant woman because Bianca is the best character) but honestly this is a romp. Go in with minimal expectations (and read it physically do NOT read an audiobook you will miss all the sneaky lil references) and I think you’ll have a good time. 

Read a second time for Romantic Period Gothic Fiction and Revolution. 

This is the worst book I have ever read