Fire of the Witches - a Queen-Size Gothic

This is only the third "Queen-Size Gothic" novel that I've read, but it is definitely the longest of the three, weighing in at 319 pages.  The author, Lyda Belknap Long, is a pseudonym used by horror and sci-fi author Frank Belknap Long (1901-1994), who also wrote comic books back in the day.  This is now the second Gothic novel of his that I have read, the first being To The Dark Tower nearly a year ago.  And there is no doubt the same author wrote both books - the style of writing and plotting is exactly the same - even though the plots may differ slightly (although both stories deal with cults), Belknap Long has a very bad habit of spending way too much time focused on the inner fears of his characters without actually moving the story along.  While I can see that he is attempting to build some level of suspense, in order to keep the reader on edge, it does not work very well when it is basically the same repetitive fear discussed ad nauseam, without actually advancing the plot.

 

Fire of the Witches, which is rather unique title, I must admit, has very little to do with witches; rather, the reader finally learns nearly half-way through that there is a Satanic cult operating in the vicinity of the house that features in the story, and the cult is involved in some very grotesque rituals.  But I am getting ahead of myself.  The book tells the story of Janice, who gives up her life in New York City to join her brother-in-law, Kenneth, in moving her sister, Marna, out to an old, abandoned mansion outside the small town of Lynnbrook.  You see, Marna has been ill (of course, that illness is never actually defined anywhere in the story; rather, readers are simply to accept that Marna is paranoid to the point of near-delusion, and her recovery depends solely on moving to a dark, isolated house surrounded by woods on all sides), and at her doctor's direction, Janice and Kenneth are moving to a quiet area to give her peace.  Janice and Kenneth arrive ahead of poor Marna, with plans to get the house cleaned up and ready for Marna's arrival.  But, as one might expect in a Gothic novel like this, nothing goes according to plan.

 

While Belknap-Long's previous book that I read dealt with a witch cult, this one (despite the name) deals with a Satanic cult.  Just as soon as Janice and Kenneth arrive at the mansion, they are confronted by a hideous man on the property ... then Janice is nearly attacked by another grotesque man who overpowers and outwits Kenneth before escaping ... then Kenneth is attacked by robed men wearing animal masks ... then Janice "sees" more of those masked men nearly setting fire to the house (of course, that last one turns out to be a vision, for readers learn that Janice may very well be clairvoyant, as she sees furnished rooms that are actually empty, and she sees people that are not actually there ... yet).  When Marna does finally arrive, along with her nurse and chauffeur, before they can even get into the house, they are attacked by the animal-headed cultists, with the nurse and chauffeur being dragged off into the woods, while a conveniently placed squatter by the name of McGowan manages to be there at that exact time to save Marna and bring her in the house to safety.

 

It may sound like there is a lot of action going on in this story, let me make it clear - the author spends an inordinate amount of time inside Janice's head, reminding readers over and over again of all her fears, her suspicions about the house and its surroundings, and her concerns about whether the supernatural is real or not.  In fact, nearly 300 of the 319 pages of story relate only about eight hours worth of "real" time - from the evening that Janice and Kenneth arrive until the wee hours of the next morning when the true villains are revealed and Janice is saved from certain doom.  And the revelation as to the true culprits of this story is somewhat of a cheat - there are literally no clues whatsoever to lead you to the identity of these individuals, and, in fact, much of the story is actually one huge red herring that misleads you to believe one thing is going on, when in reality, that has nothing to do with what is happening to poor Marna!

 

Something else that left me puzzled is the description on the back of the book.  The back proclaims:  "STRANGE, SINISTER LOVE ... Janice came to the old estate to save her sister's sanity.  Instead she found strange witchcraft, sinister love, and her sister dead.  And yet Janice stayed?  What kept her there? Was it the secret allure of the old mansion? The eerie mystery of her sister's death?  Or was it the darkly attractive charm of the young stranger, the gold young man she'd grown to love so much ... yet did not understand ...?"   Wait, what?  Did the person who wrote this synopsis even read the book, or did they get bored of Janice's constant rambling thoughts and gave up half-way through?  Janice's sister never dies!  And there is no young stranger, unless they are referring to the police lieutenant (MacGrath) who comes on the scene - but he does not become a love interest (despite my expecting to see that happen).  So where in the world did the publisher come up with this description for this book?  The only "love" in this book is the love Kenneth feels for Marna and his desire to see her sanity restored.  Talk about misleading the reader with false advertising!

 

The cover art is provided by the ever-talented Hector Garrido, who always manages to paint some of the most beautiful women on these covers (I just wish his art was as well presented on the covers he painted for the Nancy Drew books back in the late '80s).  What is funny about the cover is the house in the background - not at all how the house is described in the book.  In fact, any fan of Alfred Hitchcock will readily be able to identify that house from one of his greatest films - Psycho!  There can be no mistaking Garrido took his inspiration from the house in the 1960 film - from the porch, the stairs leading up to the house, even the planters on the stair corners.  I'm guessing there is no way to copyright or trademark an image of a house like that, but since this was published just 11 years after the film, I can't imagine too many people would miss recognizing the house on the cover.

 

It took me a bit to get through this book - since it was nearly twice the length of Belknap Long's other book I read, the stream of consciousness writing got tiresome very quickly.  Both books dealt with cults - the first a witch cult, this one a Satanic cult - and both books feature some gruesome deaths and some misdirection as to the cult members and the true culprits.  This leaves me to wonder if the author simply cashed in on a single story idea and merely retread it throughout a number of books by changing setting and character names.  I suppose we will find out the next time I read one of his Gothic novels.

 

RATING:  6  waxen witch dolls out of 10 for stepping outside some of the normal tropes to avoid romantic entanglements and direct the danger to someone other than the protagonist.

Let the Crags Comb Out Her Dainty Hair - a Queen-Size Gothic

Okay, so last month, I came across the title to this book and thought, "This has to be the strangest title I have ever seen for a gothic novel!"  The cover art was beautiful, although not the typical young woman running away from a castle in the background, but rather, a collage of images that I figured must somehow depict the story within. I did not think much of it after that, but color me surprised when I went to my local used book store this month and happened across a copy of this very book!  Needless to say, I had to have it - with a title like that, I was dying to know what the story was.  I know the back synopsis hinted at a woman with the power to see the future in her dreams, so I was anticipating some great supernatural gothic terror.  Sadly, that was not the case.

Let the Crags Comb Out Her Dainty Hair did not in any way meet up to the expectations I had for it.  Published in 1975 by Popular Library under its "Queen-Size Gothic" series, this book was written by Jacqueline Marten, who, it turns out, is an actual person and not just another pseudonym.  She apparently began writing for pulp magazine back in the 1940s, but later tried her hand at novels; this book is the first of only twenty that she had published over a twenty-year period.  From what I could find online, her favorite genre was historical romance, of which this novel was clearly an example.  With a title like this, I was truly expecting a dark, strange story to equal the name; but what I found instead was a fairly typical romance story set in the early 1800s with a very, VERY small spattering of gothic elements that seem to have been thrown in as an afterthought.

The first fifty pages of the book are spent giving readers the backstory of Kynthia Brook, the daughter of an Englishman and Greek woman who spent her childhood and teen years in Greece, her mother's homeland.  The author gives readers a hint of the fact that Kynthia has the ability to dream of future events, but more time is spent on her relationship with her best friend, Berenike, and the four boys she considered like brothers - Aris, Paulos, Georgi, and Joseph.  When Kynthia's mother succumbs to an illness and dies, her father (at her mother's dying request) takes her to England, where they purchase a small cottage on the cliffs near Kent, in the hopes she will marry an Englishman that will treat her like a lady rather than like property, as so many Greek men do.  But Kynthia is special - not only does she have the dream talent, but she is also well-educated, thanks to her father is a teacher.  Thus, Kynthia has a mind and will of her own, and she is not one given to faint or blush at the sight of a man.

From there, most of the remainder of the story focuses on Kynthia's struggle to determine which man she loves - the playful, rebellious Brant Halley (the only son of Sir Halley's second wife) and the more formal, traditional Dennis Halley (he second son of Sir Halley's first wife).  She finds herself attracted to both men for various reasons, and although Brant is more similar in nature to Kynthia, Dennis has an off-putting personality that drives Kynthia crazy.  Both men profess their love for her, but only one of them actually proposes.  And then Halley Hall is set ablaze, killing Brant and Dennis' older brother, William, and leaving their father grievously injured.  Of course, that burnt, shell of a building also happens to be the dark castle Kynthia saw in her dreams when she was still in Greece (one of the very few elements of the story that might be considered to be "gothic").  At this point, the story begins to spiral downward - the engagement is off, Dennis heads off to war while Brant leaves with his mother for other parts of England, and Mr. Brooks' health takes a sudden turn for the worse.  And when it seems like everything in Kynthia's life is crashing to the ground, a surprise appearance by Dennis (who was wounded badly in the war) leads to a new marriage proposal.

And FINALLY, as we reach the end of the story, in just the last few chapters, we get some semblance of a gothic tale.  Kynthia finds married life is not what she thought, as she becomes more or less a prisoner in her own new home.  Her father is dead, and her new husband is determined to control her at all costs, never letting her go anywhere alone.  The reappearance of Brant offers her a chance at freedom, and Kynthia ultimately learns the truth about the Halley family and the secrets they have been hiding, which nearly cost her her life!  Readers get a passing mention of a "ghost" in the halls of the burned building, and Kynthia does hear strange singing coming from the supposedly abandoned house - but again, none of this takes place until the very end of the book.  Frankly, the end of the story feels more like an afterthought, as if the author suddenly remembers this was supposed to be a gothic novel, so she threw in some quickly inspired elements to fit the genre.

The writing itself was not bad, and the characters are strong; however, the story itself is not what I would call "gothic" at all, and I think promoting this as a "Queen Size Gothic" was a misnomer.  I have to wonder how many readers back in the day were just as disappointed when they picked up the book, only to discover a historical romance completely lacking in all of the standard gothic tropes.  I will say, though, that the author did stay true to the time period.  Dennis goes off to fight in the Battle of Waterloo, which took place in June 1815; and Kynthia's love of Jane Austen books is scattered throughout the story, with her enthusiasm at getting the new books as they came out in in 1813, 1814, and 1815.  The fact that Kynthia was an avid reader, and that she fought against the norm of her day, where women were not educated in scholarly studies, but rather in household duties, was a plus for her character in my book.  Her refusal to simply cow-tow to the men around her, and her courage to stand up to them did make for a more interesting read than this could have been.  So, despite the lack of gothic elements, the story did have a few saving graces.

Overall, however, this is definitely my least favorite gothic book to date.  I would say it rates even lower than that first Janet Louise Roberts book I read (and that's saying something!).  Would not recommend it, unless you are a fan of historical romance, in which case, this would be right up your alley!

RATING:  4 secret messages hidden in a book out of 10 for a strong female lead and for coming up with the most unique title to ever grace the cover of a gothic tale!

A Scent of Violets - a Queen-Size Gothic

After reading The Scent of Lilacs by Carolyn Wilson, I happened across this book, which also features the scent of a flower in its title.  Obviously, my curiosity got the best of me, so I had to find a good copy of it (which I eventually did on eBay).  This particular book is "A Queen-Size Gothic," which was a line of gothic paperbacks that Popular Library started in the early '70s to compete with the plethora of gothic books on the store shelves.  These queen-size gothics were advertised as "a new idea" that offered "the very best in novels of romantic suspense, by the top writers, greater in length and drama, richer in reading pleasure," as stated on the back of the book.  In fact, the publisher went on to promote them as "READING FIT FOR A QUEEN."  That is certainly some very rich hype to live up to - leading me to wonder, could they do it?

A Scent of Violets does have the standard gothic tropes: a young, naive woman ... a foreboding house in the middle of nowhere ... a mysterious family with dark secrets ... horrifying cries in the middle of the night ... and a supernatural legend surrounding the marsh lands between the house and the nearest village.  But the normal hint of romance between the young woman and at least one of the men in the story is completely absent from this book.  There is no romance here; instead, the author opens the story with our young heroine, Linnet Grey, wondering if she was going to lose her student teaching job at the Academy for Young Girls.  An orphan, Linnet has no family, so if she loses her job, she will have no one to turn to and nowhere to go!  Fate intervenes, though, when Linnet sneaks off to see a play starring the up and coming actress, Chantel Legris.  There is something familiar about the actress, but Linnet has no time to ponder, because she is kidnapped outside the theater and taken in the dead of night to the dark mansion known as Willerby!

I give the author credit for giving readers a fresh take on the gothic tropes.  I certainly was not expecting a kidnapping to get the story started.  And then for poor Linnet to find herself in a secluded mansion with people she does not know, yet who all seem to know her - and detest her!  Who is this person they are mistaking her for, and what did she do to make them hate her so?  When parts of the house seem familiar to her, Linnet begins to wonder if she is losing her mind - had she really lived here before and simply forgotten?  Was she really the person they claimed she was?  Or was she the daughter of a sailor, whose parents died tragically at sea, leaving her alone in the world to survive at an all-girls school with a matron who clearly thought very little of her?  And what is that fleeting light that flashes by her window at night, going out into the marshes before disappearing?  And who is behind the woeful cries coming from the closed-off tower, the door to which is kept locked?  And where is the scent of violets that she keeps smelling in the halls coming from?  Are there ghosts haunting the halls of Willerby, and will Linnet soon be joining them?

I love the fact that Linnet is somewhat timid, having been trained at her school to adhere to orders given; yet, at the same time, she has a backbone, and she is not afraid to stand up to the mysterious and handsome Marcus Bellamy, who insists she is his arrogant, detestable ward who ran away two years ago to avoid her responsibilities and to hide from the damage she has caused.  I also loved the young little made, Cissie, who ends up becoming Linnet's only friend in that lonely, old house - afraid of the housekeeper, Mrs. Price, but willing to eavesdrop at doors and warn Linnet of what she overhears!  And I was actually surprised when the author introduced another young man into the picture - Rupert Manning, a friend of Bellamy's who has come to the house to provide advice on how to handle Bellamy's ward.  He turns out to be a sniveling little coward who is more caught up in his loyalty to his friend to see what is happening right in front of his own eyes.  Which leaves Linnet to once again fend for herself.

The author is Ruth Fabian, which is one of the many pen names used by British writer Aileen Armitage Longden.  She wrote more than forty novels that were published between 1971 and 2005, many of which were historical romances and gothic in nature.  A Scent of Violets is a mixture of the two, as it is set in 1882, providing a historical setting for her gothic terror.  Despite having two possible love interests (Bellamy and Manning), the title character in the story does not find herself attracted to either of them, even though she recognizes the handsome physical traits of both.  Thus, Fabian (Longden) is able to provide readers with a tale that features a very strong female protagonist who does not need a man to rescue her or save her from the frightening situation into which she is thrust.  She creates her own plans for escape, she faces the supernatural sounds and sights on her own, and the ultimate sacrifice that gives way to her freedom is a choice she makes all on her own.  And this is what makes Linnet a very likable character that the reader is anxious to see freed from her Willerby cage.

The cover is beautifully painted, but there is no indication as to who the artist is.  The young woman on the cover is reminiscent of Lara Parker as Angelique in the original Dark Shadows television show - that cascading blond hair, that blue dress.  And that dark mansion behind her could easily stand in for Collinwood.  Would love to know who the artist is, just to see what other work he or she has done and how it compares to this piece.

RATING:  10 violet cachous candies out of 10 for an outstanding gothic novel that provides all the right elements without the unnecessary romance thrown in!