auntie_terror's review
4.0
This is not a book for people with more modern tastes in horror. And even for those used to classic ghost and horror stories, this might be a book of interest, but not of actual fright.
The Castle of Otranto is a family tragedy, brought upon the protagonists by the misdeeds of their forbears. It is strong in te expression of Christian faith and ideals, and offers a surprising insight into what was frightening to the author's contemporaries.
Vathek is an orientalist tale and feels as if taken out of 1001 Nights. Here again, the failures of humans directly lead to their destruction and misfortune.
Nightmare Abbey is a satire on the "Gothic Novel" genre and my favourite in this collection. It is simply hilarious in the overuse of speaking names, exaggerated gestures, absurd coincidences and great lamentation. Brilliant.
The Castle of Otranto is a family tragedy, brought upon the protagonists by the misdeeds of their forbears. It is strong in te expression of Christian faith and ideals, and offers a surprising insight into what was frightening to the author's contemporaries.
Vathek is an orientalist tale and feels as if taken out of 1001 Nights. Here again, the failures of humans directly lead to their destruction and misfortune.
Nightmare Abbey is a satire on the "Gothic Novel" genre and my favourite in this collection. It is simply hilarious in the overuse of speaking names, exaggerated gestures, absurd coincidences and great lamentation. Brilliant.
lileuw's review
3.0
Ok, so this is my best friend's favourite book. Well, Nightmare Abbey is. Unfortunately, I couldn't get an edition without Castle of Otranto and Vathek so here we are! Nightmare Abbey is definitely the saving grace of this book, as the other ones are horrible and I want to gauge my eyes out because I wasted my time on them. Yes, they are that bad. Believe me.
Review on Nightmare Abbey:
This was utterly, incredibly ridiculous, and I loved it!! If you want a short story that has brooding main characters, mermaids, ghosts, love and despair, this is the book for you! Do take it with a grain of salt and you will giggle the entire time. I can see why he loved it so much!! :)
If you want my review on Castle of Otranto you can read it hear (spoiler alert IT"S BAD): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21977636-the-castle-of-otranto
Review on Vathek: Boring.
Review on Nightmare Abbey:
This was utterly, incredibly ridiculous, and I loved it!! If you want a short story that has brooding main characters, mermaids, ghosts, love and despair, this is the book for you! Do take it with a grain of salt and you will giggle the entire time. I can see why he loved it so much!! :)
If you want my review on Castle of Otranto you can read it hear (spoiler alert IT"S BAD): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21977636-the-castle-of-otranto
Review on Vathek: Boring.
vg2's review
3.0
Quite a mixed bag:
The Castle of Otranto - 3*
Vathek - 2*
Nightmare Abbey - 4*
The standout story was definitely the last one, ‘Nightmare Abbey’, playing on gothic and romantic tropes to comic effect, with an amusing cast of side characters and a satisfying ending. ‘The Castle of Otranto’, dubbed the original gothic novel, was interesting and engaging, if a little flat at the end, but the collection as a whole was let down by ‘Vathek’, which felt messy, drawn-out and lacking in atmosphere.
The Castle of Otranto - 3*
Vathek - 2*
Nightmare Abbey - 4*
The standout story was definitely the last one, ‘Nightmare Abbey’, playing on gothic and romantic tropes to comic effect, with an amusing cast of side characters and a satisfying ending. ‘The Castle of Otranto’, dubbed the original gothic novel, was interesting and engaging, if a little flat at the end, but the collection as a whole was let down by ‘Vathek’, which felt messy, drawn-out and lacking in atmosphere.
beckydouglas's review
2.0
Unfortunately, I don't think I could have been more than 20 pages into Nightmare Abbey before it started to annoy me. It's a Gothic topical satire, laughing at the Romance movement and metaphysics. Sadly, this hasn't aged well and I found the jokes irritating rather than funny. Since the novel has only the scarcest trace of a plot, there isn't much else to hold it up.
Much of the book is written in dialogue form and the focus is clearly on the conversations of the characters rather than on the plot. Points are heavily laboured and repeated and this style, to me, was just annoying. The one redeeming aspect was the use of unusual and archaic words which often had me reaching for the dictionary - clearly this was intended to poke fun at the pretentious characters, but any excuse to learn a new word is a good one.
Favourite new words include:
atrabilarious - melancholy or irritable
jeremitaylorically - in the style of Jeremy Taylor (sadly I doubt I'll get a chance to use this one)
eleutherarch - chief of a fictitious society of free thinkers
cartilaginous - made of cartilage
Admittedly, one point made me laugh,
____
“Mrs Hilary hinted to Marionetta that propriety, and delicacy, and decorum, and dignity, etc., etc., etc., (1) would require them to leave the Abbey immediately.
(1) We are not masters of the whole vocabulary. See any novel by any literary lady.
___
but that was the high point. One laugh in a supposedly humourous book is a pretty low score. At least it was very short, but I kind of wish it had been shorter.
Much of the book is written in dialogue form and the focus is clearly on the conversations of the characters rather than on the plot. Points are heavily laboured and repeated and this style, to me, was just annoying. The one redeeming aspect was the use of unusual and archaic words which often had me reaching for the dictionary - clearly this was intended to poke fun at the pretentious characters, but any excuse to learn a new word is a good one.
Favourite new words include:
atrabilarious - melancholy or irritable
jeremitaylorically - in the style of Jeremy Taylor (sadly I doubt I'll get a chance to use this one)
eleutherarch - chief of a fictitious society of free thinkers
cartilaginous - made of cartilage
Admittedly, one point made me laugh,
____
“Mrs Hilary hinted to Marionetta that propriety, and delicacy, and decorum, and dignity, etc., etc., etc., (1) would require them to leave the Abbey immediately.
(1) We are not masters of the whole vocabulary. See any novel by any literary lady.
___
but that was the high point. One laugh in a supposedly humourous book is a pretty low score. At least it was very short, but I kind of wish it had been shorter.
wildfaeriecaps's review
4.0
I know that I wasn't supposed to be laughing out loud throughout this book, but here we are. It was flipping hilarious and I loved every soap-opera-esque, ridiculous, nearly incomprehensible moment of it. Not at all what I was expecting as a forerunner to the gothic novel, but wow.. that was a ride.
danawfaith's review
2.0
On one hand, as a writer and reader of gothic and fantasy fiction, I owe Horace Walpole my life for the impact Otranto had on literature.
On the other hand, I would literally rather die than have to read it again.
On the other hand, I would literally rather die than have to read it again.
likecymbeline's review
1.0
I always wanted to read this because of it's importance in kickstarting Gothic literature, but while I see how it ticks off a lot of boxes, possibly created a lot of boxes, I can't say it was the most enjoyable read. It's not the most well-structured, the prose is not beautiful and does not flow, the lower-class side characters are poorly accommodated in the story and fail to contribute to its betterment, and of course the idea that there's nothing more beautiful than a dead young lady is just... Well.
I also didn't expect this book to be so weird. A giant helmet falling on Conrad and dashing him to pieces. That's not really a spoiler because it happens at the start of the book. So weird. I can see where a lot of Gothic tales take off from this, what with shapeless/giant forces at play, a gloomy medieval castle, inappropriate/nigh-incestuous lust, Catholics, etc. But I could do with a little more beauty and a better-developed plot.
I also didn't expect this book to be so weird. A giant helmet falling on Conrad and dashing him to pieces. That's not really a spoiler because it happens at the start of the book. So weird. I can see where a lot of Gothic tales take off from this, what with shapeless/giant forces at play, a gloomy medieval castle, inappropriate/nigh-incestuous lust, Catholics, etc. But I could do with a little more beauty and a better-developed plot.
northernmonkey's review
4.0
Entertaining, dark and surprisingly comical. Not at all what I expected.