I indeed loved The Castle of Otranto, but it was the style of the writing that actually took me. Each and every page of the tale was littered with gorgeous descriptions of the characters places and events. All of the characters when introduced are underscored with some description, title or other qualifier. Nothing stands alone and that keeps the characters dynamic. Not only does it make for a more interesting read, but in a a way the descriptions become almost lyrical or even poetic. This creates a more interesting avenue in which to engage the story. The characters come to life with some trait revealed, such as the "hated boy" or "Isabella, whom every incident was sufficient to dismay", creating a three dimensionality that would otherwise take a much longer form to build.
With the characterization done every few lines the story itself is able to be expanded upon. Though there is relatively little that actually happens in Castle of Otranto, what does happen is in a vivid detail that comes through almost tangibly. Not only that, but it builds suspense through the use of repetition that further pulls the reader in, just so they can try and finally get whats going on.
AS we said in class all these things are clearly definitive attributes of the Gothic form, but what wasn't touched on is the fact that it works. This sort of writing elicits a reaction no matter what. Even those who may have felt bored to tears were frustrated at the pace, which was of course frustration was the point. When something like Gothic functions so well, and becomes reliable that's when it becomes a tool for messages. Often stories that are experimental or those that try hard to be different, lose their message, but the Gothic style is something that becomes a patent tool and functional innovation always has me impressed.
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