Horace Walpole (1717–1797) is a classic author whose works are in the public domain.
Horace Walpole's cursed castle spawned the entire Gothic genre with its genuinely unsettling blend of supernatural dread and family conspiracy—a novel that proved terror doesn't need psychological realism to burrow under your skin. Written as a found manuscript complete with authorial disclaimers, it invented the metafictional twist centuries before modern thrillers caught up.
