Excerpt from The Tales of Terror: A Thesis Submitted to the Columbian University in Part Satisfaction of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts, 1899The preface to this pioneer novel of Walpole's contains, among other interesting things, a statement of the author's intention to produce a work which will unite features of the mediaeval Romances of Chivalry with those of mod ern novels. In this ambitious endeavor Walpole and his followers failed most signally. The adventures of the unfortunate Matilda in Otranto certainly do not smack of modern life; while a glance into Huon of Burgundy, for instance, makes it impossible for us to regard Walpole's resolution seriously: A ponderous magic helmet dashed down at inconvenient moments is a poor substitute for the enchantment, airy as thistle-down, which floats through mediaeval lore. In the one, Oberon's fairies dance through elf-charmed woods. In the other, sheeted ghosts stalk through vaulted dungeons. The Romances are bewitched; the Tales are haunted.Again, the moral tone is different. In the Romances the hero indulges in the most shocking intrigues, generally with the wife of his friend or relative. The maiden woos the favored knight with the utmost candor, even arranging little social games of chess for the most scandalizing stakes. At all these somewhat appalling love episodes the author and all concerned look on apparently with the most placid approval. In the Tales, on the other hand, we shall see that the moral tone is on the whole high.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.