Victoria Winters - the 2nd Paperback Library Gothic Novel based on ABC-TV's suspense drama (Dark Shadows)

I am having a thrilling time re-reading these Dark Shadows novels from the late '60s (which continued into the early '70s, well past the end of the television show).  It has been so many years since I originally read them, it is like I am reading them again for the first time.  And the author, W.E.D. Ross (writing under his most popular pseudonym, Marilyn Ross) does a pretty decent job with the characterization, capturing some of the nuances the actors instilled in the characters on TV.  I especially like the fact that these early books, like the early episodes of the TV show, focused on Victoria Winters, as she was by far my favorite character from the show.  Thankfully, Ross manages to instill her a bit more strength and awareness than she was given by the writers on the daytime soap.  It breathes a little more life into her, and definitely makes me love the character all the more!

 

Victoria Winters is the second book in the series, and the story picks up some months after the events in the first book (which depicted Victoria's arrival, her meeting the Collins' clan, her romance with Ernest Collins, and the terrifying events that led to Ernest leaving for an indefinite period of time).  Now, as summer has arrived, Carolyn and David are gone on a vacation, leaving Victoria behind to act as a personal assistant to Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.  The Collins' attorney, Will Grant, is still around (still trying to woo Victoria), and we meet his sister, Nora, with whom Victoria has developed a close friendship.  Burke Devlin makes a few quick appearances in this novel, and Matthew Morgan is his usual grumpy self.  Roger Collins continues to be the ultimate spoiled playboy.  The new characters who are introduced in this book are Paul Caine, a visiting artist who takes an instant liking to Victoria, as well as Henry Francis and his two daughters - the gorgeous Rachel Francis (who becomes entangled with Roger) and the invalid Dorothy (who is recovering from major brain surgery and is confined to a wheelchair in a near catatonic state).  It turns out Henry was an old classmate of Elizabeth's back in the day, so she welcomes the man and his daughters into her home unlike she would anyone else.  And now, with all the characters in place, the mystery unfolds...

 

 One might recall in the first book, it turned out Ernest's first wife did not really die as everyone believed, but was being kept secreted away in the dark halls of Collins House, as she had gone mad. It was revealed that she had murdered a woman Ernest had later fallen in love with - Stella Hastings, and she would have killed Victoria as well, if fate had not intervened.  Well, it seems that story was not quite over, as Victoria begins to see the face and ghostly apparition of a woman who she eventually finds out is none other than Stella Hastings!  Did the woman not die, as everyone thought?  Or was her spirit haunting the house where she had been killed?  As Victoria tries to figure this mystery out, she must also fend off a would-be killer, someone who is following in the footsteps of the silk-scarf strangler who Henry Francis tells her killed several woman back in Pennsylvania.  Did the killer follow the Francis family to Collinsport, stalking Henry's daughter?  Is Victoria simply another in a long-line of victims?  Or is there something much more sinister going on in the Collins' great house?  

 

We spend a bit more time outside of Collinwood (or Collins House, as Ross repeatedly refers to it) in this book.  Victoria and Nora head into Collinsport on several occasions, frequenting the Blue Whale, as well as Will Grant's office and the general store and post office.  Victoria and Nora also spend some time on the beach - after all, it is summer.  These interludes are nice reminders that there is an entire world within the Dark Shadows mythos, and the characters are not limited to the great house. It is also nice to see that Burke Devlin continues to make his brief appearances.  This book has a first printing date of March 1967, and by that point in the television show, viewers were treated to the final revelations regarding the mystery surrounding Mr. Devlin and his animosity towards Roger Collins.  Fans were also in the middle of the story where BIll Malloy is murdered and the phoenix, Laura Collins (David's mother and Roger's ex-wife!) shows up to claim her son.  While there are passing references in the books to Roger's ex-wife, there are no details given, and from what I can recall, the books never actually address who she is or her supernatural essence.

 

Ross once again gives strong hints at the supernatural, with the ghostly appearances of Stella Hastings, but as with your standard Gothic tale from this period, the haunting is explained away with real-world circumstances (in this instance, a look-alike who is mistaken for Stella).  Each of the continuing characters (Elizabeth, Roger, Will) are still exhibiting odd quirks and mood shifts that hint at secrets being withheld from poor Victoria, leading one to understand that Ross was likely hedging his bets, keeping their actions mysterious, yet not direct, so that if anything major was revealed on the television show, he could incorporate it into his stories.  I do like that he keeps Victoria true to form, in that she is not a Nancy Drew-type mystery solver, but rather, someone who seems to fall into these situations and is forced to go along for the ride until they resolve themselves.  I laughed at one line in the book, where Victoria was overwhelmed, and she realizes "[s]he had reached the stage where things when on around her and she simply sat in a kind of daze and allowed them to happen" (p. 100).  Many fans would say that is a pretty accurate description of how Victoria was always written on the TV show.  Thankfully, Ross does give her a bit more fortitude, so that even as she is forced into these situations, she has the mental acuity to reason things out.

 

As with the first book, this novel featured two different covers.  The first, which appeared on the early printings, was a painted cover (above), showing Victoria, in her overcoat, running away from Collins House.  This scene is taken from early promotional photos for the show, which shows Alexandra Moltke in that same position (also above).  For later printings, Paperback Library reprinted the book using a still photo from the television show, once again with Alexandra Moltke as Victoria and Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins.  As Barnabas did not make his first appearance on the show until April 18, 1967, a month after this book was initially released, and considering his character does not appear in the story at all, I find is somewhat misleading that the later printings used such a photo.  No doubt, Paperback was simply cashing in on Barnabas' popularity (since, by the time these books were reprinted, Barnabas had gained his success on the show, and the books were featuring Barnabas as their principal character).  Still, there were plenty of images of Victoria with other characters that do appear in the stories, which the publisher could have used.  Unless, of course, it was a mandate from Dan Curtis Productions, in which case, they would not have had much of a choice in the matter.

 

 This second book definitely takes the story of Victoria Winters further away from the direction she was written in the television show, and as such, it makes for some great reading.  These are new and unique stories, a "parallel time" of sorts, and it is a shame Ross was forced to write Victoria Winters out when she left the show.  This forum would have been the perfect place to reveal Victoria's true parentage, the one mystery that never got solved on any version of the television show (although, for the 1990's remake, that question was answered in Innovation Comics' Dark Shadows' comic book series, which picked up where the TV show ended and ultimately revealed Victoria really was Elizabeth's daughter...)

 

Only 30 books left to read in the ongoing saga of the Collins family!

 

RATING:  10 tiny silver earrings shaped like a leaf out of 10 for great Gothic suspense and ghoulish ghostly scares, with some well-written misdirects to keep the twist ending (somewhat) a surprise!

Dark Shadows - the 1st Paperback Library Gothic Novel based on ABC-TV's suspense drama

It has been so many years since I first read these Dark Shadows series of novels based on the television soap opera from the 1960s and '70s, that I decided it was time to go back and re-read them.  While I remember them being different from the show itself, I did not recall just how different.  The series was published by Paperback Library, with this first book being released in December 1966, nearly six months after the premier of the television show in June 1966.  The series continued for 32 books, not including the novelization of the House of Dark Shadows film, as well as the Barnabas Collins in a Funny Vein, Dark Shadows Cookbook, Book of Vampires and Werewolves and Jonathan Frid Photo Album.  The last five books in the series were published after the TV show went off the air.  While my favorite character, Victoria Winters, features heavily in the early books, when she was written out of the show, the book series followed suit (and, sadly, neither the television show, nor the book series, resolved the mystery surrounding Victoria's true parentage!).

 

Dark Shadows is the aptly titled first book in the series and provides readers with a very different version of Victoria Winters' arrival in Collinsport, Maine and her introduction to the Collins family.  The backstory remains the same - Victoria was raised in a foundling home, money was sent for years from Bangor from a mysterious, unnamed benefactor, and Victoria is offered a position at Collinwood (referred to as Collins House in the book) as governess for the young David Collins.  There is even a scene where Victoria meets Maggie Evans briefly, although in the book, Maggie is not quite as negative about the Collins family. Here, the story deviates, as Victoria takes a taxi up to Collinwood, but on the way, the taxi has a flat tire (in the show, Victoria is unable to get a taxi, because she is told the only taxi in town has a flat).  Along comes the Collins' family attorney, Will Grant, who helps get the tire fixed, and Victoria is soon brought to Collinwood, where the first person she encounters is an entirely new character, never mentioned in the television show!

 

Ernest Collins is Elizabeth and Roger's cousin (there is no definite explanation of how they are related; however, since he bears the name Collins, it can only be assumed his father and Roger and Elizabeth's father are brothers - unless the "cousin" is merely a casual reference, and they are actually more distantly related), and he surprises Victoria when he grabs her unexpectedly, only, as it turns out, to save her from stepping onto the rotting wood covering an old well.  Ernest is a concert violinist who has returned to live at the Collins' house after suffering some devastating losses - the death of his first wife, as well as the death of a young woman with whom he was becoming close in Collinsport.  Victoria has sympathy for him, but she soon learns Ernest has some dark secrets, and it's quite possible the death of the young woman was not an accident!  Is he mad, having had an emotional break after his wife died, or is there something else going on?

 

While Victoria tries to sort out her feelings for and thoughts about Ernest Collins, she must also deal with the secrets of the rest of the family.  She is warned that David is a "monster" and very difficult to handle, but she soon learns that his problem stems from his anger at being taken away from his mother.  When she broaches the issue with Roger and Elizabeth, she is told it is not her concern and to stay out of it.  As far as Roger is concerned, Victoria experiences his alcohol-induced womanizing first hand and must forcefully assert herself to him in order to avoid his advances.  With regard to Elizabeth, the woman is stern and secretive, clearly hiding something she had hidden in the basement of the great house (which,, I'm guessing, was taken from the whole mystery in the television show surrounding the disappearance of Paul Stoddard that left Elizabeth a recluse for eighteen years), and she is so quick to write off the mysterious happenings in the house, even going so far as to blame young David, even when Victoria knows the boy is innocent!  It seems Carolyn is the only "normal" person in the family, but even she has her moments, leaving Victoria to wonder.

 

The story throws in a number of nearly supernatural moments, when Victoria hears horrific scratching noises, sees moving shadows, and is frightened by a horrific mask in her room.  It all culminates in a dark, stormy night when the terrifying secret that has been haunting the house makes its presence known, and Victoria faces a life-and-death situation as everything (well, related to this story, anyhow) comes to light and a specter of the past comes back to seek revenge!  The author, W.E.D. Ross writing under the pseudonym of Marilyn Ross, does a fantastic job of building the suspense throughout the story, but as with most of his Gothic tales, the climax always happens a little too quickly, wrapping up usually in a few pages in the final chapter.  William Edward Daniel Ross (1912-1995) was known for the plethora of Gothic novels he wrote under various pseudonyms - Marilyn Ross, Clarissa Ross, Dana Ross, Leslie Ames, and others.  The Dark Shadows series was the longest series of Gothics that he wrote.

 

The book is thoroughly enjoyable in spite of (or maybe because of?) its deviation from the plotlines in the television show; yet, there are some glaring errors in the book that really stand out.  For instance, Elizabeth's daughter, Carolyn, is referred to as "Caroline" (p. 11), with even Carolyn referring to her name with that spelling (p. 34).  In addition, Victoria is told to stay away from the east wing, as it is closed off and in disrepair (p. 73); but, in the TV show, it as the west wing that was closed off and alleged to be haunted.  What I found even more surprising, however, is when Carolyn convinces Victoria to join her at The Blue Whale, Joe Haskell sits down at the table with them, placing three beers on the table - which they all drink (p. 88)!  Carolyn is only seventeen, and Victoria not much older - so Joe was basically serving alcohol to underage girls (as the drinking age in Maine at that time was 21 years old).  Some things did stay true to the show (at least, at that time), such as Elizabeth's reference to Jeremiah Collins as her great-grandfather (p. 23), which matches what she says in the second episode of the television show.  There is also a reference to Isaac Collins as being the one who founded Collinsport (p. 26), although the book indicates he arrived prior to the Mayflower, which is inaccurate - the Mayflower landed in 1620, and Isaac Collins did not arrive until 1690.

 

The book has two covers.  The first is a painted scene featuring Victoria Winters holding tight to her overcoat, with the wind blowing, while behind her is the stately house of Collinwood, the moon shining overheard.  The bare tree branches around Victoria give the scene a sense of loneliness and foreboding.  Later printings of the book featured a photo still from the television show, oddly enough showing Victoria (as portrayed by Alexendra Moltke) standing next to Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid), who is not even in the book - in fact, at the time the book was first published, his character did not even exist!  Most likely, Paperback Library was simply trying to cash in on Barnabas' popularity in the later years, so covers were re-issued with his image on them to increase sales.

 

A good start to an alternate timeline for the series (and let's face it, the television show did plenty of altering its timelines - with trips to the past and the future, and even trips to parallel time!).

 

RATING:  10 bent steering rods out of 10 for offering fans of the television show some different takes on the same characters they had come to love! 

Berryhill - an Old Fashioned Blood-Curdling Gothic

This book definitely borderlines more on the horror side of things than it does the Gothic side.  Published back in 1979 by Manor Books, just two years before the publisher ceased its activities (the same publisher who put out the "King Size Gothic" line, ripping off Popular Library's line of "Queen Size Gothics"), the book promotes itself as "Editor's Gothic Choice," and claims to be "An Old Fashioned Blood Curdling Gothic."  This is one of the very few Gothics that I have read that actually crosses over into the supernatural and delves into witchcraft and ghosts.  It is also one of the few that puts forth very detailed descriptions of some gory and horrific deaths.  The author was Barbara Curry Bennett (1938-2024), and this appears to be her one and only Gothic novel.  Bennett lived in Tennessee, so it should come as no surprise that her story is set deep in the woods of the southern state.

 

Berryhill takes its title from the house in the story, which is set at the bottom of a hill where berries once grew in abundance.  Unfortunately, the ground upon which the house was built has a horrific background, as it was the site of a terrifying massacre of some outcast Indians, the last of whom put a curse on the land - a curse that managed to endure from year to year and generation to generation.  The author takes readers from the time of the early settlers in America in the opening prologue to the current time (well, current when the book was written!) in the epilogue, telling a terrifying tale that lasts over a century.  It opens with a young boy coming across a group of Indians while he is playing in the woods - a group he mistakenly believes are a threat to his family.  He is unaware that the Indians are merely a rag-tag group of misfits, kicked of other tribes for one reason or another and banded together to live a peaceful existence away from everyone.  But the young boy's family, and the other settlers that are with them, come back with blood-thirst in their veins, and they viciously wipe out all of the Indians, from the youngest child to the oldest woman - an old woman who puts a curse on "all white men who dare to walk on this land where the blood of the innocent is shed!" (p. 8),  Half a century later, a man by the name of Aaron DeGault comes across this clearing and decides it is the perfect spot to build a home for his wife and newborn son.  Unfortunately, the curse begins, as Aaron and his wife are tragically killed in a wagon accident, leaving their six-year old son to be raised far away by distant relatives...

 

Until Jason DeGault grew up, married Abigail, and returned to his family's homestead to start a family.  They had two sons, but the War Between the States claimed Abigail's husband and oldest son, and her youngest son, Paul, was missing in action.  That left Abigail to run the farm and care for her sickly daughter-in-law and her grandchild, Alicia.  The horrors of the Indian curse continue when a vile Union soldier shows up, forces his way into the house, brutally rapes and kills Clarice, throwing the infant child across the room in the process.  Abigail finds an inner strength to fight back and takes an ax to the soldier's head, killing him instantly.  She has just enough time to bury the man in the basement before the nearest neighbor, Harry Hunnicutt shows up.  From here, the story moves forward with the Default family, the years pass, and Paul returns home with a wife, step-daughter, and son, moving in with his mother and niece.  The only problem is, Alicia has been raised alone by Abigail, and she is not happy about these people intruding upon what she feels to be her home.  She pushes her new Aunt Sarah down the stairs, killing her without remorse.  You see, little Alicia has discovered the secret in the basement ... and for her, that dead soldier has suddenly become her closest friend and confidant ... someone who is more than willing to help her rid the house of these unwanted interlopers!

 

After Sarah's death, the girls are sent to a boarding school, from which they do not return until they are teenagers.  Alicia's malevolent nature continues, as she not only scares her grandmother to death using the skull of the dead soldier in the basement, but she also seduces her uncle and leads him to commit suicide.  One by one, Alicia removes the obstacles out of her way so that Berryhill can her hers, and hers alone.  All that remains are her cousins, Julie and Michael.  And never you fear, as she has plans for them as well.  Dark, malicious plans that stem from the very evil of the house itself - evil that only Abigail's slaves, Belle and Sally, have the sense to see.  The curse remains within the halls of Berryhill, and that curse has taken complete control of the soldier's spirit and the once-innocent baby that was so casually thrown across the room by his violent rage.  The two form a symbiotic relationship to carry out that Indian woman's curse, and it seems no member of the DeGault family is safe.

 

Flash-forward some more years, and Julie returns to Berryhill with her husband, Phillip Hunnicutt.  It does not take long, though, for Alicia to frighten Julie to her death, which, in turn, leads to Phillip's depression and his ultimate death.  Which leaves only young Michael, who is far removed from the horrors of that house, taken by his grandparents on his mother's side to be raised away from the memories that could scar him forever.   Michael - who has no real memories of the terrors and tragedies that have overtaken his family for generations.  Michael - who is all grown up and ready to return to Berryhill as a married man, to take over control of the farm and start a new family, bringing joy to a house with a history of darkness and sadness.  Michael - who Alicia is none-too-happy to see, and who she is determined to force out of her house.  It all comes down to these last two DeGaults, and the suspense rises to its highest level yet, as readers wait to see whether good will win over evil, or if the dark curse that has held Berryhill and its inhabitants in its sway for so long will have the ultimate victory.

 

Of course, Bennett gives readers a teaser at the end, with a four-page epilogue, set in the present, in which a new generation of DeGaults arrive in a Porsche, set to take over this land that no one in the family even knew existed until a member of the family died, and a long-hidden deed reveals ownership of the land.  Thus, a new family is ready to take over the farm - is the curse gone, or has it simply lain dormant, ready to spring to life again when these latest white men dare to walk the land where innocent blood was shed?

 

Bennett has no qualms introducing the supernatural into the story, and the spirit of the Union soldier gradually taking more and more control of Alicia's decisions (at one point even interacting with her sexually!) is startling to read.  She is a girl-turned-woman without a conscience, and her systematic destruction of her own family is hard to watch. The house is simply filled with evil, and one has to wonder if Abigail had never buried the soldier in the basement, would all of those horrific deaths still occurred?  Was that one incident - the killing and burying of the soldier - the catalyst that released the curse upon the DeGault family?  Or was it merely the means to an end for that dying Indian's curse?  Either way, the story is extremely sad, and there is no happy ending for anyone in this book!

 

No identification of the artist for the cover art, so I have no way of knowing who painted the cover.  It is as creepy as the story itself, with the foreboding house superimposed over a slowly melting candle, while the young woman in the forefront is running away, her long gown flowing in the wind as she runs.  It is sort of an eerie foreshadowing of the story inside - as the candle slowly burns down, so do the lives of those who live inside Berryhill.  It is also a symbol of those rituals that take place in the basement, as Alicia, and eventually the old witch woman who comes to live with her, perform rites over the grave of the long-dead soldier by candlelight - a picture of the evil being released in the house and on the family that lives within it.  This book, by far, as the darkest one I've read to date.

 

RATING:  8 long strands of glimmering pearls out of 10 for an aptly described "blood-curdling" Gothic tale of terror! 

The Secret of the Devil's Cave - a Magnum Gothic original

This is now the second Gothic novel I've read that was written by Jennifer Hale (otherwise known as Frank E. Smith (1919-1984), the previous one being Ravensridge, published in 1971, just two years prior to this one.  The plots of both books are entirely different, but the stories are both exceptionally suspenseful and filled with mystery and drama.  I am still, to this day, awed at the ability of these male authors, back in the day, writing so well books aimed at a female audience, capturing so nicely the strength of their female protagonists without making them helpless (but giving them just enough danger to need a man to assist in their journey through the Gothic tropes).  While this book was also written in a first-person perspective (which I am not a fan of at all!), just like the previous book, I will still able to thoroughly enjoy and get caught up in the story. 

 

The Secret of Devil's Cave is a book I would have picked up on the title alone, as it invokes memories of all those children's series book titles from back in the day (The Mystery of ... / The Clue in ... / The Secret at ... / etc.).  The story centers around young Beth Nolan, whose father has died and left her property in the Ozarks of Missouri, on which is located not only a rather large mansion, but also some cave that goes by the name "Devil's Cave."  Beth is shocked, as her father never mentioned this property, and although Beth knows they moved from Missouri when she was three years old, she was unaware he had no sold all of the property the family owned at that time.  It seems her father had some secrets to keep, one of which is a mysterious photograph of a gravestone that is not engraved.  Who would bury someone, place a headstone at the grave, and then not inscribe it?  Having no other choice, Beth temporarily closes the antique shop she and her father ran and travels to Devil's Cave to claim her inheritance.

 

Hale (a/k/a Smith) sets the mood of the story right from the get-go, with Beth driving through some extremely dense fog, lost within the Ozarks as she tries to make her way to the cave.  When she finally comes across a small gas station / general store, she is met with some hesitation when she asks directions to her destination. From the owner of the store, Beth learns the cave is said to be haunted, with people hearing voices calling out in the cave.  She also learns that two girls have died in the cave - one by accident (supposedly), but the other murdered.  And the alleged murderer was never convicted and still lives on the property that neighbors her own!  On top of all that, Beth also learns the Bratcher family lives on her property, having been there ever since her own family left, and everyone thought the family owned the land.  The store owner warns her the family will not be happy when she stakes her claim.  And, boy, he wasn't wrong!

 

Earl Bratcher and his wife are definitely none-too-pleased at Beth's sudden appearance.  Earl insists he has a signed contract with Beth's father, allowing him to manage the property and tourist attraction, yet he persistently makes excuses why he cannot show it to her.  The Bratchers' two sons - Walt and Mark - run hot and cold: Walt is sarcastic and clearly does not welcome Beth's presence, while Mark is a bit more reserved and takes Beth under his wing to try and protect her a bit from his family's harsh attitudes.  The Bratchers' daughter, Leda, is a bit of a wild child, one who happens to be in love with Charles Woodward - the very man accused of killing the young girl in the cave!  Then there is poor Flossie, Walt's wife.  She is not quite all there (being the product of inbreeding, as Earl so bluntly puts it), but Beth feels sympathy for her and tries to become her friend ... until she learns that some years back, Flossie killed her brother's dog and dumped it down the "bottomless" well inside the cave, all because her husband liked the dog better than her ... and she won't let her husband like anything, or anyone better than her ... including Beth!

 

There is definitely plenty of suspense and mystery in this book - who really killed those girls in the cave?  Why did the Bratchers close the cave, and what happened to the guest who disappeared while exploring the cave some weeks ago?  Is there really a hidden treasure somewhere within the cave?  Why does the father of a local artist have a painting of Beth in his house?  What is the secret behind the photo of that tombstone, and how will the answer to that question change Beth's life forever?  What surprising revelations are being held within the old trunk in the basement of the great house?  And just why does that old woman who claims to be a witch think that Beth is a dead woman come back to life?  What knowledge does she have about Beth, the Devil's Cave, and the Bratcher family that will reveal a past so dark and filled with lies and secrets that no one will come out unscathed?

 

This book proved to be a fantastic read, a page-turner that I literally could not put down until I had finished it.  The cover artist is not identified, and while I do like it, I have to admit it has some oddities to it.  Beth's hair flying up like that makes it seem like there's an air draft coming from beneath her (makes me think of that famous image of Marilyn Monroe trying to keep her dress down as the air blows up from below), and those lamp posts are all leaning inward, pointing toward the mansion behind Beth - not sure why the artist chose that kind of perspective, but it seems just a bit off.  However, the barren trees, the coloring of that sky behind the house, and Beth's expression definitely create a sense of terror that fits the story within.

 

That's two for two with the Jenifer Hale Gothics I have read, so it gives me strong reason to find the rest of her (his) Gothics and read them as well!

 

RATING:  10 glass coffins on display out of 10 for a superb Gothic mystery with just the right touches of supernatural suspense and hellish horror!

To the Dark Tower - a Magnum Gothic original

This is another one of those Gothic novels that I picked up because of the cover - in this case, it has a very slight resemblance to the Rudy Nappi cover of the Nancy Drew book, The Sign of the Twisted Candles.  Both books have a single candle prominently displayed on the cover, with the head of a woman next to the candle, and when I saw this book at the used bookstore, my mind immediately went to the Nancy Drew book, so I bought it.  It has been sitting on my shelf for several years, so I figured it was about time I read it.  The back cover blurb cries out "Witch Cult!" and goes on to give a brief synopsis of the story awaiting the reader inside.  Knowing how most Gothic novels of the '60s and '70s often hinted at supernatural tales (but by the end reveal it to be merely a pretense used by a vile villain to achieve his or her goals), I anticipated the same here.  Boy, was I wrong!

 

To the Dark Tower is a somewhat lengthy novel for a Gothic that is not labeled as "Queen-Size" or "Empress Size."  At 187 pages in length, it provides the author with plenty of space to flesh out his story and characters - and yes, I said "his" story.  Lyda Belknap Long is actually a pseudonym for American writer Frank Belknap Long (1901-1994), whose writing includes horror, fantasy, science fiction, and Gothic novels, as well as comic books and non-fiction.  "Lyda" is the name of Long's wife, and so he used her name for his Gothic novels (which is funny, because this particular book has a dedication at the front that reads, "To the untiring help and teachings of my husband, Frank Belknap Long."  I was surprised to learn Long wrote scripts for DC Comics, including stories with Congo Bill and the original Green Lantern, as well as scripts for Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel stories (later known as Shazam!).  When I learned that Long was also a close friend of H.P. Lovecraft, the nature of this story made a lot more sense.

 

When the back cover says "Witch Cult!," it really means it.  The opening Prelude, which is an impressive 18-pages long, does not even introduce readers to the main character.  Instead, we follow a young man named Willie who witnesses a ceremony deep in the Kentucky woods, watching in horror as a young woman is sacrificed to some unseen good.  When he tries to escape, hoping to find salvation in the nearby house of Dr. Wilfred Allen, he is stopped when a robed stranger steps out and leaves an object on the front door of the doctor's house - an object that the doctor finds and with great anxiety throws it into the woods.  Willie finds the object, which is a doll in the likeness of the doctor's female friend, Joan; but the doll has needles sticking into it, and before Willie can do anything about it, he is chased, ultimately meeting his untimely end.

 

Long then jumps to our main character, Joan Lambert, who is driving her car along the desolate backwoods Kentucky road, trying anxiously not to allow her fear to overwhelm her.  An archeologist, Joan has just returned from Spain, where she found some ancient cave writings that revealed a witch cult that existed centuries ago - and her exploration of those caves released an unholy, unseen terror that has followed her across the ocean to Kentucky!  She hopes Dr. Allen can help her get these terrors under control, but the sudden appearance of a man in a monk robe standing in the middle of the road causes her to swerve up an embankment.  What follows is a rather lengthy story of dark horror that wavers between the real and the imaginary.  Are Joan's fears grounded in reality, or are they all really just in her head?  Dr. Allen has invited a group of specialists to his secluded home in the hopes of helping Joan.  But when Willie's body turns up, and a young couple on their honeymoon wind up dead in their car at the bottom of a gully, it is clear there is more going on here than imaginary fears.

 

I do give Long credit for making the cult very real.  The deaths of Willie and the young couple (as well as another couple who stop to help them) are rather brutal and unexpected, making the book all that much darker.  What has me confused, however, is the title and the cover to the book.  To the Dark Tower would seem to hint that there is some tower of a great mansion involved in the story somehow - even the cover has painted a dark mansion in the background, behind Joan's floating head.  Yet, nowhere in the story is there any tower (not even mentioned in passing!), nor is there any house that would resemble the one on the cover.  In fact, there is also no candle used anywhere in the story!  The tale is set in the modern time, with motor vehicles, electricity, and such, so there is no need for any candles.  So, this begs the question - what prompted the title and the cover art?  I'm aware that many publisher used (and re-used!) cover art for their Gothic novels that had no real relation to the story inside; they simply wanted covers that would attract those who were hooked on the Gothic craze that had taken over store bookshelves everywhere.  But the title?  It has no connection whatsoever to the story, so one is left to wonder why...

 

I did like the fact the story was set in Kentucky, my home state.  I wish Long had narrowed down a location within the state, even if it was simply to have the characters drive through a specific area or mention a nearby town.  Instead, Long keeps it vague, simply keeping it in a small town with plenty of wooded area.  Even his references to Joan's time spent in Spain does not narrow down the location to any particular area of that country.   There are, however, a few names in the book that caught my eye.  When Joan meets the specialists at Dr. Allen's house, the men's names (which I'm guessing were arbitrarily chosen by the author) brought a smile to my face.  The first is John Claymore (p. 132), whose last name is also the name of a city used by Mildred Wirt Benson in her Madge Sterling series, her Penny Parker series, and a few other of her books.  The second is Joseph Moulton (p. 133), whose last name was the middle name of the creator of Wonder Woman (William Moulton Marston).  The third is Helen Traven (p. 133), whose last name is shared by novelist B. Traven, which was a pen name of an unidentified activist who authored a number of books between the 1920s and 1960s.  It is doubtful Long pulled those names from those particular places, but it is a fun coincidence.

 

The story is very heavy on exposition and very light on dialogue, which is one aspect that I did not enjoy.  The majority of the book focused on Joan's fears of the unseen terror that seemed to lurk just out of sight, always following her, always leading her to wonder if death might not be a better option than living the rest of her life with this fear overpowering her.  Long stays inside Joan's mind, with her obsessive fear completely taking her over, and after a while, you (as the reader) wish the author would ground the book in some level of reality with conversations and interaction with other people.  However, finding out after I finished reading the book that Long was friends with Lovecraft, it gave me a new point-of-view with the story, and I think I can appreciate his writing style a little more.

 

This is far from your typical Gothic novel of that era.  If you are expecting a story of a young, innocent woman being whisked away to a foreboding mansion with two men vying for her affection with dark secrets surrounding them at all every turn - this is not one of those stories.  But, if you want something a bit different, a bit darker, and a bit morbid, then this one is for you.

 

RATING:  8 peculiarly shaped musical instruments out of 10 for giving readers a completely different side of the Gothic tale. 

 

Misty - 2024 Special

I was actually surprised when I saw this comic solicited in Previews.  I have several collection of the old Misty weekly comic from back in the '70s and '80s, as well as one of the original Annuals that was published in Britain; however, I was not aware that anyone was publishing new stories. Obviously, I ordered it, and when it arrived this month, I was not really sure what to expect.  What did surprise me is that three of the four stories were written by Gail Simone, a comic book writer, I have followed for years.  Her work on Birds of Prey for DC Comics is probably one of the best runs out there (outside of Chuck Dixon, of course), and I loved her run on Wonder Woman.  Thus, seeing her name headlining the creators for this special gave me high hopes - and she did NOT disappoint!

Misty 2024 Special features a beautifully painted cover by Tula Lotay (the pen name for English artist Lisa Wood).  The cover clearly pays homage to the classic images of the character Misty, who graced the covers and inside covers of the ongoing weekly comic, while at the same time giving readers a slight hint as to the first story once you dig inside.  I'm not familiar with Ms. Wood (a/k/a Ms. Lotay), nor do I recognize any of the artists for the four stories (Carola Borelli/Ellie Wright; Aly Fell; Marianna Ignazzi; and Letty Wilson), so I am assuming they are likely all European artists.  The work on the first three stories, all written by Simone, is magnificent (the second one being my favorite); the art on the fourth and final tale is a bit outside my normal likes, but I suppose it does fit the story.

The first tale, "Eleven Lonely Deaths," finds Misty herself walking the short of Syndon Lake, when she meets a photographer who is also a true crime podcaster.  He shares with Misty (and the readers) the tragic history of the lake and the eleven young girls who were murdered there.  A man was eventually arrested and charged with the crimes, but Misty surprises the photographer with news that the wrong man was convicted - and from there, the story takes a couple of surprising twists and turns ... and, well, I don't want to surprise the ending for you, but let's just say the irony is certainly fitting!

The second story, "The Pub at the End of the Road," is probably my favorite of the four tales.  Misty hosts the tale, but she only has a minor background role in the story itself.  A young woman named Willow, the daughter of a rather shady pub owner, is the star of this macabre tale.  While she may look and act like a Disney princess (even caring for the small critters that scurry around the back of the pub), she doesn't see herself as one, thanks to the cruelty of a father that uses her merely to increase his bank account.  Of course, there's the charming young man named David (who bears an uncanny resemblance to a young David Cassidy from back in the day!) who wants to save her from this life.  But, as with any good horror tale, things spiral out of control and ... well, by the end of this story, everyone really does get exactly what they deserve!

The third tale, "Happy Birthday, Mrs. Parker!," plays on the expectations of the reader. In this one, Misty takes on the role of a nurse at a small country hospital, where the nurses gather to celebrate the birthday of one very special nurse named Carina.  The patients refer to her as an angel because of her disposition and her willingness to work all hours of the day and night to help them.  But there's one nurse, Mika, who doesn't like her - in fact, she gets rather nasty to Misty as well!  Well, the story, of course, takes a dark turn when it is revealed the hospital has an unusually high death rate - and the tables get turned on one of the nurses who has been killing the patients!  Oh, and pay attention to the sign on the kitchen wall in the background, as it might give you a hint of what's to come...

The final story is definitely my least favorite of the four tales.  A young girl knows something strange has happened next door, as the neighbors have suddenly disappeared without cause.  When she goes to investigate, she discovers the house has been left with good on the counter and mail piling up at the door.  As she explores further, she comes across a mirror that is cracked ... a mirror that offers her an unusual escape ... or is it actually a trap?  And when she does finally find her way out of the mirror, is it her that comes back - or merely a mirror copy?  The art in this story just does not do it for me.  The story I can take - I like the idea of mirror/mirror worlds with alternate realities or other dimensions.  But I have a hard time appreciating the stylistic art of this tale - it takes away from my enjoyment of reading.

Overall, a pretty good issue, and it is capped off with a beautiful rendition of Misty by artist Shirley Bellwood on the back cover.  Hopefully this issue sells well so that maybe we will see some more specials in the coming years (or maybe even a regular series!).

RATING:  9 bottles of evening strange perfume out of 10 for some fantastic new tales of irony, horror, and Misty-loving fun!

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!

Nightmare Hall - an Aleister Burke Gothic novel

Here's a gothic paperback I stumbled across while scrolling through items listed for sale by a seller from whom I was already purchasing another book.  The title immediately caught my attention, as did the cover - however, I readily admit, I was also hooked by the tagline that read: "First in a new occult-gothic series!"  Anyone who knows me knows what I sucker I am for a "series" of books.  So, I purchased it, figuring this would be the start of yet another new series (like I really needed any new ones!), and I could begin hunting for the rest of the books in the series.  Of course, at the time of purchase, I knew nothing about the book, the series, or even the author.  This is the first - and right now, only - book I have by Annie Laurie McMurdie - and having now read the book and done some research on the series and its author, I find that just like the genre itself, things are not always what they seem!

Nightmare Hall is said to be "An Aleister Burke Gothic," which would obviously lead one to believe that Mr. Burke would be the main character in the story; however, Burke is actually nothing more than a supporting cast member.  Lisa Moore, a young woman from New England whose parents are dead and who has been offered a new life in California by an aunt she has never met, is the actual main character.  In fact, the story is written in first-person point-of-view from Lisa's POV.  Aleister Burke turns out to be a mysterious man who seems to show up and disappear at the moments when he is needed, and Lisa (as well as the reader) do not really find out anything about the man until more than half-way through the book.  Is he good?  Is he evil?  Is he even real, or is he some supernatural force?  Well, supernatural definitely plays a part in this story, as Lisa quickly discovers when she arrives at Morena Hall, the home of her Aunt Margo - a former actress whose husband died years ago, sending her into complete seclusion.  Upon arriving, Lisa learns that her aunt is trying to make contact with her dead husband's spirit.  She scoffs at the idea, but in her own minds she questions the reality of it, since she, herself, has abilities most people would never believe.  You see, Lisa is a psi - meaning, she has mental capabilities, such as clairvoyance, telepathy, and even precognition.  So, can she really discount the possibility of the spirit world?

 

The book is divided into three parts.  The first part, titled "Tomas," focuses on the ghost of Aunt Margo's husband.  Lisa unexpectedly comes face-to-face with what she believes to be the ghost of her aunt's dead husband, and even has dinner with him, as he mistakenly believes she is a younger version of her aunt (the book indicates numerous times how much Lisa resembles her aunt in her younger days).  But as they are together, Lisa sees a darker side to this "Tomas" - a crueler, almost vicious side of him that mentions the name 'Beherit' several times.  Lisa does not understand, but she knows she cannot fall under this man's spell, and so she breaks free and returns to her room.  The next morning, she wonders if it was all a dream or did it really happen - a question that makes her doubt herself more when she returns to the closed-off part of the house where she saw him and finds all of the furnishing she previously saw are gone!  The author does a great job of keeping Lisa, as well as the reader, off-kilter, and one cannot easily discern whether the events were real or a product of Lisa's imagination.

The second part, titled "Beherit," provides readers with some information regarding this demon, who is only one of many that allegedly possessed some women many years ago.  Is the demon really back?  Is he pretending to be Tomas; or has Tomas really returned, only still possessed by the demon Aunt Margo says he was possessed by when he was alive?  It is in this second part we start to see more of Burke and learn a bit about who he is and what he is really up to.  We also begin to gain more insight into what is really going on at Morena Hall, although things continue to happen that blur the lines between reality and the spirit world.  Are the darker forces at work really from beyond, or are they simply the dark side of humanity?  

The third and final part of the story is titled "Andrew," which threw me off, as up until this point, there was no character in this book by that name.  But don't worry, as all is definitely explained in these concluding chapters (well, almost all).  Lisa, and the reader, learn what is really going on at Moreno Hall, who is behind it, and why.  More importantly, a trap is set to capture the criminals - but it backfires, and poor Lisa is taken in the clutches of a madman, one who very well could be possessed by a demon!  There's quite an exciting seance that takes place, and while most of the events are rationally explained, there are some things that occur that never do get explained.  Perhaps, though, not everything needs an explanation...

The story is very well written, with engaging characters that draw you into the story.  Burke's mysterious nature is eventually revealed, and we do get to learn fully who he is and why he does what he does.  He definitely hides some surprises for the readers to learn!  Garry Logan is an interesting character as well - a detective sergeant with the Beverly Hills police department.  He is an unlikely love interest for Lisa, and his gruff nature and not-quite handsome appearance leaves one questioning what Lisa sees in him; but I give props to the author for stepping outside the norm of the typical strong, good-looking heroes for a love interest.  And the final revelations regarding the ghost of Tomas, the nurse helping Aunt Margo, and the supernatural forces at work are definitely worth the build up - they make for a great payoff to the story and provide a very satisfying conclusion.  Which is good, considering the conclusion to this book is also the conclusion to the series!

It seems that while Lancer Books clearly intended this to be a series of gothic novels featuring Aleister Burke aiding various "women-in-need," this one book is the only one that was ever published.  A second book was advertised on the back cover as coming soon - Castle Perdido - but it never saw print, and I'm not aware of whether a manuscript actually exists or not.  Which is truly a shame, as this was a great story, and the Aleister Burke character is intriguing enough, I think, to have carried off a series.  And this first book was published in 1973, right at the heyday of the gothic paperback craze, so I'm not really sure why the series was axed.  Perhaps it was the author who decided not to write any more.

And speaking of that author.  Yes, Annie Laurie McMurdie turns out to be another pseudonym (the more gothics I read, the more I realize few authors allowed their real names to be attached to these gothic books).  McMurdie was actually a male author (surprise, surprise - not!) by the name of Bruce Cassiday.  Cassiday (1920 - 2005) who worked with a number of pulp magazines back in the day.  He wrote under a number of pseudonyms (Carson Bingham, Robert Faraday, C.K. Fong, Con Seffanson, and others) and wrote books in several genres.  He wrote time traveling stories for young adult readers, Flash Gordon stories for sci-fi fans, and even two Kung Fu novels.  In the gothic realm, he wrote The Diabolist under the pen name Mary Anne Drew, as well as Queen of the Looking Glass, a psychic gothic novel, under the pen name Annie Laurie McAllister (funny how similar that name is to the author of this book - wonder why he didn't just use the same pen name for both, particularly since both books have psychic protagonists?).

This book is a definite must-read for fans of the gothic genre, particularly for those that love a good mix of psychic, supernatural, and gothic suspense.  I'm definitely going to hunt down Cassiday's other two gothic novels.

RATING:  10 cups of drugged tea out of 10 for a truly great work of gothic fiction with the added psychic twist!

Ravenkill - a novel in the Gothic tradition

A young woman travels to a small, coastal town in New England to take a job with a family she has never met - in a dark, foreboding mansion set high atop the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic - to a place she's never been, with people she has never seen - but who will soon fill all the days and nights of her tomorrows.  Boy, that sure sounds like the opening scene to Dan Curtis' first episode of Dark Shadows that aired on June 27, 1966.  Interestingly enough, though, that description is for a book that was published in 1965, a year prior to Dark Shadows hitting the small screen!  Coincidence, or something much darker?  Well, we are talking about gothic novels, and let's face it - there are only so many variations to the same plot that can be written!  So, while Dan Curtis had young Victoria Winters heading off to Collinsport to become the new governess at the Collins' homestead high atop Widow's Hill, author Paulette Warren gave readers a different cast of characters for that same plot.

Ravenkill is the story of Jennifer Wonderly, a 25-year old librarian from the Midwest who receives a strange invitation to go to Maine and help sort out a wealthy recluse's personal library of books in his gloomy Maine mansion known as "Ravenkill."  The man in question, John Belaman, happens to have lived briefly in Jennifer's hometown, years before she was born, and he knew Jennifer's mother.  But he never met her, and he could not have been aware that Jennifer's mother recently died.  So how did he know where to find her?  How did he know she was a librarian?  And how did he know his invitation would fill her with so much curiosity that she could not help but go to the cliffside house in Maine?  If she thought she would receive answers to any of those questions, she was sorely mistaken!  This is a gothic tale, after all, and it would not be complete without an air of mystery, a hint of supernatural, and a whole lot of suspense!

The tale takes Jennifer to a "mansion of cripples," as the author refers to it more than once in the book.  This was the 1960s, so making such a statement would not have been as offensive as it is now.  Instead, the term is used to instill a certain level of uncertainty and fear, as Jennifer must adjust to living in the same house as a misshapen small person, a regal beauty with a damaged leg, and that woman's young daughter who is mentally disabled.  To make matters worse, Gaspar (the little person) and Agatha Pate (the beautiful housekeeper) clearly do not want here there!  Then there is the fact that her host - John Belaman, the man who invited her there - remains secluded away in the mansion somewhere and will not come out to see her.  And what is up with the weird music she hears at night as she drifts off to sleep?  Belaman is a former pianist, so is he playing late at night, or is it something more sinister?  Something to do with his sister and her husband, who fell to their deaths from the cliff behind Ravenkill some years ago...

Warren does not forget to include a hero (or, at least, a character who appears to be a hero) in the form of Garth McCroy, an artist who lives in a small shack on the beach, down at the bottom of the cliffs.  He takes an instant liking to Jennifer, and she finds herself attracted to him.  But he has secrets of his own, connections to Ravenkill and the people in that house that could spell disaster for Jennifer!  Throw in a ghostly apparition in white that visits the lonely grave of Belaman's deceased brother-in-law in the dead of night, placing fresh roses on his grave.  Is it a ghost, or is someone from Ravenkill simply trying to frighten her away?  Again, so many questions, and for Jennifer, the answers may not be what she is expecting.

The name of the author, Paulette Warren, is a pseudonym, as so many for these gothic novels are.  In this instance, the real author is Paul Warren Fairman (1916 - 1977), a rather prolific writer who published stories in any number of genres - from detective stories to science fiction tales to western adventures to gothic novels.  The gothics he wrote under the female pseudonym of "Paulette Warren" (a feminization of his first name and then using his middle name for her last).  This is the first gothic I've read from this author, and I will say I found the story engaging - and I can't really say he ripped-off Dark Shadows, since this actually came out first - making one wonder if Dan Curtis read this novel, or perhaps his wife told him about it, and it inspired the "dream" he allegedly had of a girl heading off to a mysterious house that was the beginnings of his gothic soap.

Something I did find somewhat odd about the book is that the author changes the point-of-view several times throughout the story.  Chapter One is told from Jennifer's POV, and contains five lettered sub-parts; then Chapter Two is told from Gaspar's POV, with only two lettered sub-parts.  Chapter Three reverts back to Jennifer, with Chapter Four also from Jennifer's POV, while Chapter Five turns once again to Gaspar.  This reminds me of the Hardy Boys books that have been published since the early 2000s, where the first person point-of-view alternates between the two brothers with each chapter.  I had never seen that before, but clearly there is precedent, since this book was published some 40 years before the Hardy Boys, Undercover Brothers and Hardy Boys Adventures series were ever imagined.  What this does for the story, though, is give the reader insight into Gaspar and some of the inner-workings of what is really going on at Ravenkill - although, I give Warren (Fairman) credit, as he does not spoil some the surprises at the end - those twists are only somewhat hinted at, so that their revelation comes with a bit of a shock.

Definitely worth the read, and it makes me want to read more of Paulette Warren's books.

RATING:  9 cups of coffee at the kitchen table out of 10 for a creepy, twisted gothic tale that is not afraid to go beyond what some may considerable normal boundaries to tell a tragic, horrifying story!

Eight Candles Glowing - a Ballantine gothic

Here's another gothic novel I picked up based on the cover.  This one does not have the typical woman running away from a dark mansion in the background; rather, it has a frightened woman, half-turned, looking back at a mysterious, ghostly bride coming down the stairs in the candle light.  This imagery caught my eye for a couple of reasons:  (1) it made me instantly think of Dark Shadows, the gothic television show, when Victoria Winters saw the ghost of Josette DuPres; and (2) it also reminded me of one of Paul Frame's illustrations from the Nancy Drew Ghost Stories published back in the 1980s.  Nevertheless, that gorgeous cover conveys a frightening scene that piqued my curiosity about the story itself - and once I saw on the back description that the story was set in the Florida keys, well, I knew I had to have it.

Eight Candles Glowing is written by Patricia Muse, who, as it turns out, is an actual person and not just a pseudonym.  And what's even more coincidental is the fact that Patricia Alice Muse, from what I could find in my research, was born in Indiana (just above my birth-state of Kentucky!) and moved to Florida as an adult, where she was a substitute teacher in Key West, Florida from 1962-1968 (having obtained her post-graduate studies later at the University of Central Florida).  One source indicated that Muse herself admitted she never thought about being a writer until a close childhood cousin passed away unexpectedly, and she wrote her first book after that (a gothic titled The Belle Claudine, published five years prior to this book).  The author admits she used her cousin's summer home as the setting for that book.  Thus, it should come as no surprise, then, that this book is set in the Florida keys, where Muse herself spent nearly a decade teaching.  Other than Eight Candles Glowing and The Belle Claudine, the only other book I can find attributed to Muse is one titled Sound of Rain.

 

And yes, before you say it, the title to this book does bring to mind a certain Christmas carol (eight candles glowing, seven spirits floating, six creepy houses, etc., etc.).  But this book has nothing to do with Christmas; it is set in the summer.  The protagonist, Jessamyn ("Jess") Jenkins, is a teacher who has started her summer break and has gone to Key West for some rest and relaxation. During a terrible storm, she inadvertently ends up being washed to an isolated island just off the keys, where a bearded man by the name of Reeve Carstairs lives with his son, Tal, his brother-in-law, Adam, and Adam's wife, Becky.  The island is teeming with fauna, and what appears to be a dilapidated house from the outside is actually rather comfortable and well-kept on the inside.  Reeve and Becky treat the injuries Jess sustained during the storm, and when Reeve discovers Jess is a teacher, he asks her to stay on the island for the summer to help teach Tal, who had difficulties at the school this last year.  Oddly enough, despite the isolation and despite the strange behavior of everyone on the island, Jess agrees (which she really was not given much of a choice, since Reeve took her boat back to the mainland before Jess had a chance to wake up!).

Muse does provide a rather dark and supernatural-themed tale of loss, love, and anger as Jess tries to navigate through this very dysfunctional family.  Reeve's emotions run hot and cold - one minute he appears to genuinely love his son and care about Jess, but the next he seems distant and cold towards them both.  Tal begins to warm up to Jess, but he has his own anger issues and turns on Jess without any notice.   Becky seems the most friendly, but that is not saying much, because every time she seems about to tell Jess what is really going on, she clams up and walks away.  And Adam.  Well, poor Adam pretty much just stays in the background, gets a quick mention once-in-a-while, and is never really a part of the story.  And we can't finish talking about the "characters" without talking about the house itself - in this book, the house is definitely a character.  There's that door off of the living room that stays locked; yet, Jess is sure she hears someone moving around in there and has seen a light on behind the curtained window.  There's also that disembodied voice that begs Jess to "help him," which she hears coming from somewhere up the stairs.  And there's that ever-present feeling of someone else in the room, but when she turns around or opens the door, no one is there.  Is it really all in her imagination, as Reeve and Becky suggest, or is there something more sinister going on in that house?

There is a rather intense scene about two-thirds of the way through the story when Tal takes Jess to a hidden cover on the far side of the island in order to go scuba diving.  While exploring a sunken ship, the two of them encounter a shark that follows them back to their small boat - and when they struggle to get aboard as fast as they can, Tal's dog jumps in the water to stave off the shark!  Well, you can imagine how well that goes for the dog.  Muse is not overly descriptive, but definitely provides enough that it breaks your heart - and before you think the incident is merely thrown in to add some horror to the tale, think again.  There is a purpose to what happens, as it is actually the beginning of Jess finally learning the truth of what is going on within the Carstairs' house.  I mean, after all, she did find a couple of graves, one of which was marked with "Reeve Carstairs," leaving her to wonder just who was the man keeping her captive (and with whom she was beginning to fall in love)?

The cover art is a frighteningly beautiful image painted by Boris Vallejo, based on the signature on the bottom right-hand corner of the cover.  Vallejo is a Peruvian-American painter who is most recognized for his science-fiction and fantasy art.  I was not aware he did cover art for gothic titles such as this until I picked up this book.  It is stunning work, and it definitely sets the tone for the book.  I will say, the further I got into the book and did not come across any scene matching the cover, I was beginning to think this was another instance where the publisher simply threw art onto a book without worrying whether it actually fit the story (as a number of gothic publishers did at the time).  However, the scene does eventually appear, and when it does, the title to the book will also make sense to the reader!

As I indicated above, the cover drew me to the book because it not only made me think of Dark Shadows, but more because it resembled an internal illustration from the Nancy Drew Ghost Stories, drawn by Paul Frame.  Both scenes depict a woman in a white dress coming down the stairs; both scenes depict a young woman turning back to look at the ghostly woman; and both scenes appear to be set in a well-to-do house.  I suppose it would make sense that more modern Nancy Drew stories would be inspired by the gothic tales, since the early Nancy Drew stories featured so many gothic elements - stormy nights, hidden staircases, damsels in distress, unscrupulous men who pretend to be good, secret rooms, and countless "jump scares."  Since Eight Candles Glowing came out more than four years prior to the Paul Frame illustration, one can wonder if Frame took a cue from Vallejo's art in creating this scene for the Nancy Drew book.  Regardless, both images of art are beautiful in their own merit.

Now, for as much as I enjoyed the story, there are a couple of things worth mentioning that made me realize even back in the '70s, editing made its fair share of gaffs (although today, there seems to be no editing at all in books hitting the shelves!).  Once instance occurs on page 59, where Jess is apologizing to Becky for putting her through so much work to help her recuperate.  Muse writes, "Becky grunted, a reproachful grunt, as if Jeff shouldn't say such things..."  Who in the world is Jeff, and where did he come from?  Obviously, that was intended to be Jess, but someone's fingers slipped on the typewriter (or printing plate) and hit the "f" instead of the "s" key!  The other snafu can be found on page 86, where it appears something happened with the typesetting, and the paragraphs were scrambled:

He stopped her.  "You know what I mean!" He pushed his chair back from the table and moved his

"Becky will do that later!" it was a command she

plate aside.

"It's a long story, Tal," she said, gathering u their dishes and starting for the door.

stopped in surprise.

As you can see, the lines somehow got jumbled ... line three should have actually followed after that first line; and line five should have followed after line two.  Reading them as they got printed, however, can be very confusing to say the least!  I suppose as quickly as the publishers were pushing out those gothic books back in the day, it was inevitable that errors such as this would slip through the cracks.

Nevertheless, the story was a good one, the protagonist was a young woman worth rooting for, and the mystery was dark enough with the right amount of supernatural hints to it to keep it interesting and intriguing.  Plus, it was set in Florida, so it was an all-around win-win!

RATING:  9 rustling palm fronds out of 10 for a gothic tale of island suspense and locked-room mystery.

Daisy Blackwood, Pilot for Hire - Vol. 5 - The Buccaneer's Bounty

I can't believe it's been over a year since I read book four in the Daisy Blackwood series of graphic novels.  It certainly does not seem like that long.  I have thoroughly enjoyed these stories - Ryan Howe writes some fun, fast-moving, action-packed stories and his art, while a bit on the cartoony-side, definitely work with the stories.  In a way, I suppose I'm glad I put off reading this one for as long as I did, because it seems this is the last book in the series.  This was published back in 2021, three years ago now, and I haven't seen any indication of any new stories on Howe's website.  Which is a real shame, as this character is just too good to put on a shelf and let collect dust.  Daisy Blackwood needs more adventures!

The Buccaneer's Bounty opens not with the title character; rather, Howe starts this story with a sky pirate who inadvertently discovers the secret to the "treasure of the three captains."  A locket he discovers could be the key to locating that treasure, and it just so happens his girlfriend is a medium who can contact the dead - a medium who used to be a student of the professor, and who happens to have stolen the Skull of K'Tuck, a supernatural artifact the professor is hoping to have Daisy Blackwell recover.  And thus, finally, on page 22, we see our favorite pilot-for-hire enter the picture, as she has been summoned by the professor to locate the skull.  And locate it she does, but with the most unexpected results!  It seems the medium has unwittingly freed the spirit of Luisa Costa, a pirate who has been dead for several hundred years, give or take.  And now that spirit is dead-set (pun intended!) on regaining a mortal body, and it's up to Daisy and her crew to put a stop to it.

 

From here, the action picks up speed, and Howe crafts another dangerous and exciting adventure, as Daisy must obtain one of the items that Costa needs to restore her spirit into human form - an anastasis stone, also referred to as a "resurrection" stone - and in order to get one, she must face off against her grandfather - which is a well-written, fun scene, since Daisy and her grandfather basically hate each other!  What struck me about this scene is that just as Daisy is about to win the auction for the stone, her grandfather receives a mysterious message and simply gets up and leaves!  It would seem to me this is a hint of some future story Howe has planned ... yet, since there don't seem to be any more stories, I'm left wondering exactly what that message was and why the mystery surrounding it?

A kidnapped friend, a race against time, and a fight against a giant sea monster round out this story, making it another fun and exciting read.  And while Daisy does ultimately rescue her friend and recover not only the skull, but also the stone, for the professor, the story ends with a cliffhanger of sorts.  Perhaps Howe will one day return to this series and pick up where he left off.  I did notice, however, that on his website, it appears he has some other series, such as We've Got Spirit, Bad Karma, and Captain Flynt.  I suppose I need to check those out to get my fill of Howe's writing and artistic talents.

If you enjoy comics, if you enjoy adventure stories, and if you enjoy daring female pilots, then you will absolutely LOVE the Daisy Blackwood series.  I highly recommend it!

RATING:  10 sultry evening dresses out of 10 for closing the book on Daisy Blackwood with a truly exciting tale of pirates and treasures!