What is the subtitle of Horace Walpole's 'The Castle of Otranto'?

The subtitle of Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto is “A Gothic Story.”

Walpole first published the novel anonymously in 1764, presenting it as an English translation of an Italian manuscript supposedly printed in 1529. This fictional origin helped create an atmosphere of historical distance and mystery. In the second edition, published in 1765, Walpole disclosed that he was the author and added the subtitle A Gothic Story.

The book is widely regarded as the first Gothic novel. Its plot combines a medieval castle, a threatened aristocratic family, secret passages, supernatural signs, and an enormous helmet that falls from the sky. Walpole drew inspiration from medieval history and from his Gothic Revival home, Strawberry Hill House, near London.

The subtitle matters because it helped establish “Gothic” as a literary category. A common mistake is choosing A Ghost Story: the novel contains ghosts and supernatural events, but that is not its subtitle. Nor is A Romance or A Tale of Terror the canonical wording.