The wind whistled through the slight crack beneath the sill and the wall. Emily, sitting across from the sagging ediface, could feel the breeze through her petticoats. It's sharp, chilling touch enveloped her soul. She sat in her aging parlour, the paper yellowing. When she was young, she could imagine the room as it once was. Vibrant. Comfortable. Now, she simply waited as she slowly wasted away. She was waiting for him to come.
But sigh, what was to be heard but an inalienable scream from the other room, followed by a sharp crash. Emily, upon hearing the terrifying sound, felt faint and clammy. A paleness fell over her countenance. In the following silence, Emily rose from her chair to examine the source. Her face full of horror, she peered around the door frame, only to see a broken window beyond. Puzzled by the scene before her, she slowly walked into the seemingly abandoned room, warily moving closer to the broken glass that covered the floor.
All at once she heard a voice behind her. Deeper than mortally possible, it startled Emily beyond conceivable reason. It said - Emily, beware the broken window. Beware the yellow canary as it enters the mineshaft. Beware the depths of hell...
_____________________________
Okay, that's about as good as I got. Now let's face it, I don't have a vague aging parlour, nor do I have petticoats. But what I do have is "The Castle of Otranto" by Horace Walpole. And now I've read it too!
1764 was the year, and Horace Walpole was the MAN. He claimed he found some manuscript and got it published it. Oh yeah, he also remodeled his house so it was super spooky and crazy castle like. Only later did he reveal that the whole story was inspired by a dream he had, and that he had written the whole thing.
It kind of reads like an acid trip. Punctuation and style were vastly different in the 1760s. A lot of the dialogue took me a long time to read, just because I started getting confused about who was saying what.
SPOILER WARNING BELOW!!!!! I AM SUMMING UP THE PLOT!!!!! clumsily and without much intelligence. I never do understand the plot very well when I am reading in an British accent.
However, it is a ghost story of awesome proportions. Plagued by a sinister prophecy, Manfred, owner of the castle of Otranto, is obsessed with his son's marriage to the young and beautiful Isabella. His daughter, Matilda, and his wife, Hippolita, also live at Otranto. On the wedding day, screams come from the Servant's quarter. A Giant helmet had started to float and killed the son, due to bloody dismemberment. In shock and anguish, Manfred means to divorce his wife and marry Isabella, who is of noble blood, himself.
Isabella flees, and brings the dashing (and secretly noble, but thinks he is a farmhand) Theodore into the story. He ends up saving her twice, so she thinks he digs her. BUT, once Theodore and Matilda meet (Theodore is behind bars for pissing off the crazy Manfred), it is love at first prison break. Upon Theodore's freedom, he finds out he is a noble. Duh duh duh duh. Some more random pieces of armour float around, and it turns out it is not really Manfred's castle. It was stolen by his great grandfather after the Crusades. Manfred is ruined!!!!!! RUINED!!!!!
In a case of mistaken identity, Manfred stabs Matilda, his only living child, in the heart. But she stays alive long enough to be transported around, get into bed, say goodbye to Theodore, forgive her father and tell her mommy that she loves her.
Then Theodore ends up marrying Isabella, assumingly. I'm reading into the ending a little bit there.
SPOILER OVER!!!!!!!!
Awesome.
ET out for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment