Taking seriously a book which starts with a giant helmet falling from the sky and killing a prince, turned out to be quite impossible. That is precisely why I kind of liked the whole thing. There's just so many ridiculous events and strangely behaving characters, that in the end it's just funny instead of scary. The plot is so fast-paced you barely have time to consider what would possibly happen next, and sometimes you can't help but roll your eyes at the words that the characters let out of their mouths. Therefore it's best to remember that this is more like the prototype of all Gothic novels that were later published. Their authors refined and adapted the main themes of Otranto and obviously did it with more success than Walpole.