Snoozecast15 Loka 2025

The Castle of Otranto

Tonight, for the next in our October spooky sleep story series, we’ll read an excerpt from “The Castle of Otranto”, a novel by Horace Walpole. First published in 1764, it is generally regarded as the first gothic novel. Set in a haunted castle, the novel produced a new style that has endured ever since, and has shaped the modern-day aesthetic of the goth subculture.

Walpole wrote it at Strawberry Hill, his fanciful neo-Gothic villa, and pitched it as a “Gothic story” that fused chivalric romance with novelistic realism. Its startling images—a colossal helmet from the sky, moving portraits, doors that yield on their own—fixed the template later taken up by Clara Reeve, Ann Radcliffe, and beyond.

The first edition masqueraded as a Crusades-era manuscript “translated” by Walpole, a playful hoax that lent the tale mock-antique authority. Manfred’s name nods to Manfred of Sicily, a learned, charismatic king repeatedly excommunicated—apt echoes for a plot of usurpation and prophecy. In tonight’s excerpt, Princess Isabella flees the tyrant after he demands her hand on the very night his own son—her betrothed—dies beneath that impossible, fallen helmet.

— read by 'N' —

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(598)

An Accidental Sabbatical

Dear Snoozecast listener—hi, it’s Vee. I wanted to speak directly to you, because many of you have reached out over the past few weeks—some checking in, some offering kind words, and some understandab...

3 Joulu 20254min

Petit Trianon pt. 2

Tonight, we’ll continue with The Petit Trianon, adapted from An Adventure by Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain, first published in 1911. This episode is part of our Spooky Sleep Story series...

27 Loka 202517min

Petit Trianon pt. 1

Tonight, we’ll read the first half of The Petit Trianon, adapted from An Adventure by Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain, first published in 1911. This episode is part of Snoozecast’s 7th ann...

20 Loka 202528min

Good Wives ch. 24 Finale

Tonight, at long last, we’ll read the final chapter of “Good Wives” written by Louisa May Alcott titled “Harvest Time”. It’s hard to believe, but we have been reading this book for the first time as w...

17 Loka 202539min

The Willows

Tonight, as part of our annual Spooky Sleep Stories series, we’ll read the opening to the novella “The Willows”. It was written by Algernon Blackwood, and first published in 1907. Two friends drift d...

13 Loka 202556min

Phantasmagoria

Tonight, for our next Spooky Sleep Story, we’ll read Phantasmagoria, a narrative poem by Lewis Carroll first published in 1869. A polite Ghost drops in after midnight and proceeds to instruct his puzz...

8 Loka 202526min

The Haunted Orchard

Tonight, as part of Snoozecast's seventh annual spooky sleep story series, we’ll read “The Haunted Orchard” written by British author Richard Le Gallienne and published in 1912. Each October, our Spo...

6 Loka 202536min