I recently finished The Castle of Otranto, and Corathon's right; it's not very good. It reads like a bad Shakespeare pastiche, actually, with all the tropes dialed up: mistaken identity, long-lost family, comedy-relief servants, star-crossed lovers, etc.
I do believe that Otranto is the source of one now-cliche trope though: the door that opens for no apparent reason, followed by a sudden draft that blows out the lamp.
I do believe that Otranto is the source of one now-cliche trope though: the door that opens for no apparent reason, followed by a sudden draft that blows out the lamp.