Horace Walpole (1717–1797) was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whig politician. He is best known for his novel 'The Castle of Otranto' (1764), which is often regarded as the first gothic novel. Walpole's pioneering work, combining elements of medieval romance with a supernatural and eerie atmosphere, established many of the conventions that have typified the goth...