The Tormented

I spoke briefly about author Dorothy Daniels on Paperback Warrior Podcast Episode #78 (2021) on the Norman Daniels featured presentation. Norman Daniels was a prolific writer that churned out hundreds of pulp stories, helped create a number of pulp characters, and went on to a stellar paperback original career loaded with series titles and stand-alone books across many genres. 

Norman married Dorothy in 1931 when he was 26. Dorothy had been writing romance short stories that incorporated medical and nurse fiction. Her agent suggested she transcend into the red-hot market of gothic novels. She wrote her first one, Shadow Glen, which was published in 1965. She would go on to write a slew of novels including titles like Dark Island, The Stone House, Ghost Song, House on Circus Hill, Diablo Manor, House of Many Doors, you get the idea. From 1965 through 1975 she had collected sales figures of over 10 million copies and more than 150 titles in print. She also wrote a three book series based on the TV show Strange Paradise. 

I recently collaborated with Nick Anderson of The Book Graveyard for our monthly Guide to Gothic series. We chose to review her 1969 gothic paperback The Tormented, originally published by Paperback Library with a Jerome Podwill cover. It was reprinted by the publisher with different artwork in 1971, then issued by Warner Brothers in 1974 with a favorable Victor Prezzio cover.  

In 1892, young Sharon Aldrich left her parents' sprawling Louisiana plantation, The Pillars, to obtain education at Miss Claybourne's Finishing School. In her absence, Sharon's mother and father both die and the plantation is sold off, displacing Sharon from her childhood home. Now, at age 20, Sharon has submitted resumes to become a governess, a type of live-in teacher for kids. Her resume was approved in the form of a job offer from Craig, a husband and father seeking a governess for his daughter Cassie. Upon Sharon's arrival at the train station, she is shocked to learn that her future employer owns and resides in her former childhood home, The Pillars.

Upon arrival, Sharon immediately meets abrasion from Craig's hateful wife Emily and Emily's spiteful sister Sarah. When Sharon is introduced to Cassie, she learns from the little girl that all the prior governesses fled from the home due to a ghost stalking the house. When Sharon enters the attic in search of old books, she hears a ghostly voice whisper her name. Could this ghost be her dead mother?

The author takes readers on a mystery as Sharon and the family experience this haunting. Sharon's observations of the family's dynamic leaves her with many questions – why doesn't Emily love Craig and Cassie, who is the mysterious woman fatally ravaged by wild dogs, and what agenda does Craig's unruly brother Bart possess?

The Tormented is slightly above average as a disposable gothic-suspense paperback. Its qualities are the atmosphere, strong protagonist, and the addition of the supernatural, something that is typically teased at within the genre, but rarely comes to fruition. Daniels alters that formula with the ebb and flow of ghostly activity, an experience that leaves readers perplexed on what is actually happening to this family. While it isn't particularly spooky, I was invested enough to enjoy the 200-paged paperback escape. I think you may like it, and I have faith enough to offer a tepid recommendation. If anything, Prezzio and Podwill's cover art is worth the price of admission.

Get the book HERE.