title: The Castle of Ollada
author: Lathom, Francis
description: "The sound approached towards him -- the chains rattled vehemently; scarcely had he sprung from his chair, and seized his sword, ere the door flew open, and a spectre, whose arms and legs were fastened with heavy chains, with a naked body covered with wounds, from which the blood still seemed to gush, with clotted hair and eyes dripping with blood, rendered visible by a flame which burnt on the crown of its head, replete with purple gashes, stood before him."
   In "The Castle of Ollada," the first novel by Gothic master Francis Lathom, young Altador seeks to solve the mystery of the Castle of Ollada and win the love of the beautiful Matilda. Why does the Baron Garcia refuse to inhabit the ancient castle? And what is the bloody spectre that has been witnessed haunting its ruined halls?
   An immediate success when first published in 1795, "The Castle of Ollada" was the first novel by celebrated Gothic writer Francis Lathom, who wrote it at age 20. Inspired by Horace Walpole's "The Castle of Otranto" and the novels of Ann Radcliffe, "The Castle of Ollada" will captivate modern readers with its gloomy atmosphere and dark Gothic mysteries.
   This edition includes the complete unabridged text, based on the second edition of 1831, as well as a foreword and notes for modern readers. The complete text of two contemporary reviews is also included to illustrate the novel's reception when originally published.