The allusion to Hamlet's experience with the Ghost is meant not only as a "template of terror", but also serves to make the reader invoke the feeling of watching the play itself and he does so on three separate occasions. First, Walpole poses Manfred's encounter with the animated portrait of Ricardo as a connection to the Ghost's initial appearance to Hamlet. Second, when Friar Jerome informs Theodore of the dangers to be found in Otranto and he calls for him to take out his revenge, this is a direct allusion to the Ghost's demand to Hamlet to "remember ". Third, Frederic's encounter with the skeletal apparition parallels the final appearance of the Ghost in "Hamlet".