The over-exposure on this hurts the eye and distracts from your intended photo. The architecture in the back looks interesting, but you naturally want to look away from the bright light.
The sepia tone works great for this shot... just too bad for the two spotlights though :-(
If not shooting for the challenge I would assume you'd bracket the shot and then combine them in PS?
A great meeting of the challenge, too bad those spotlights are aiming at you, it's very distracting from the rest of the picture, draws too much away from the castle itself. And the clarity is slightly lacking, if it was just a tad sharper I would have scored much higher.
I'm in love! This is a beautiful shot! I love that you combined the ancient and gothic with the modern seen in the castle with the electric lights and cars. It definitely looks haunted while also looking royal and well kept.