“The Castle of Otranto” is like a dark dream filled with violence and terrible events, like an evil nightmare where the worst fears become real. In the midst of this horror, joyful and pleasurable events take place, like refreshing springs of light in a dark night. Pleasure and fear appear to be contradictory, but could they be linked to each other? Could you go from one feeling to the other? Could you feel both at the same time? We could also argue that pleasure might not always be a positive thing and fear isn’t necessary a negative emotion. These are the questions we will attempt to answer using « The Castle of Otranto » as a frame. Death and wounds, whether physical or psychological, are omnipresent in the novel, a supernatural and mysterious universe is powerful and active, and sexuality is also present, sometimes in its worst version: incest. Men and women are caricatures of themselves, a tyrannical evil father, a submissive weak and crying wife, young people are abused by an oppressive unfair authority; it is as if Horace Walpole had put together all the taboos of his time to create this wonderful gothic story.

Fear appears to be an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger. Most of the time, we fear the unknown, what we cannot control, events that are unexplainable. The words dread, fright, alarm, panic, and terror, are essentially all terms that express different levels of fear. Fear is the most general term and implies anxiety and loss of courage. Everyone on the face of the earth has experienced this emotion. Different elements bring fear to people’s mind. The first dramatic event that takes place in the novel is the death of Conrad, son of Manfred the Prince of Otranto, killed on his wedding day by a gigantic helmet that falls from the sky. The tragedy of his death and the supernatural event that caused it put the entire household in fear and astonishment. His mother Hippolita, his bride Isabella, and his