Paperback Warrior - Conversations

Welcome to my newest collaboration with Nick at The Book Graveyard. On this episode, we continue our "Guide to Gothics" discussions by reviewing a 1976 paperback by William Ross titled Phantom Wedding. In this analysis, we discuss William Ross's career, his contributions to the vampire-themed Dark Shadows series, and how he stacks up in terms of other gothic paperback writers. You can stream the video version of this episode HERE or stream the audio on any podcasting platform or below:

Listen to "Conversations - The Book Graveyard" on Spreaker.

Dark Shadows #04 - The Mystery of Collinwood

William Ross, using the name Marilyn Ross, authored 33 paperbacks that serve as television tie-ins to the supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows. Although the novels feature many of the same characters as the show, Ross's universe and continuity are much different. Living in Canada, Ross didn't have access to the show or scripts, so he used his own imagination and loose production notes to create his version of Dark Shadows. While the atmosphere and aura of Collinsport exist, these novels should be viewed as separate property.

I've mostly enjoyed the three series installments I've read, but fatigue may be setting in. Ross's fourth entry, The Mystery of Collinwood, arrived via Paperback Library in 1968. The book has been republished since then in modern trade and as an audiobook. 

In this novel, Victoria Winters and her employers, Roger and Elizabeth, are greeted by a new guest who has arrived at the family's enormous mansion. The man calls himself Professor Mark Veno, and he introduces his daughter, Linda, to Victoria. Oddly, Victoria discovers that Veno is actually Roger and Elizabeth's brother Mark Collins, a sort of estranged brother who still has ownership in the family estate. He arrives every few years and makes himself at home despite the family's reluctance to accept his vaudeville lifestyle. Victoria accepts Linda's friendship, yet becomes weary of the girl's longing to marry Ernest. In prior novels, Victoria and Ernest have developed a loving relationship that is strained by Ernest's travel schedule. He is a musician in Europe and remains absent from Victoria's life the majority of the time. However, in Europe, Ernest and Linda have become fond of each other. 

Mark Collins introduces Victoria to an old seaside legend concerning the Phantom Mariner, an avenging dead sailor that returns to the mansion searching for his lost love (or something). Victoria soon finds herself afraid of this Phantom Mariner after nearly dying in various accidents around the house. That is where this book dies. It may also be where my respect for Ross as a writer declines. 

Ross authored over 350 novels and nearly 600 short stories. I've read a lot of them and have typically always enjoyed his writing. However, I've read rumblings online that Ross copied entire sections of his own books and repurposed them in other novels. I've often kept an eye out for recycling and may have found an example of this. 

In Ross's 1966 novel Phantom Manor (the title coincidentally similar to “Phantom Mariner”), there's a chapter where the main character is nearly killed in the mansion's wine cellar by a figure she can't identify. In this novel, Victoria experiences the same thing in the wine cellar – an attack by a figure she can't identify. But wait...there's more! 

This entire scene happens to Victoria in the first Dark Shadows book, an attack in the cellar. Coincidentally, that novel was published the same year that Phantom Manor was published - 1966. He's effectively used the same scene in at least three books. To add lime juice to the wound, Ross doesn't even acknowledge that Victoria was attacked in the wine cellar previously. He just sends her down there in this book as if the whole thing is completely safe. If she had been attacked by an unseen assailant in the wine cellar before, why would she go there again? It is senseless.

Ross uses all of the familiar tropes in this book that he uses in all of the Dark Shadows books thus far. You can trade out the Phantom Mariner for a dead lover (Dark Shadows #1), a dead woman who jumped from a cliff (Dark Shadows #2), or another dead lover (Dark Shadows #3). You can trade the Phantom Mariner for a rumored ghost haunting in Secret of Mallet Castle, a suspicious, deadly husband in Dark of the Moon, or the hooded, weird neighbor in Dark Legend. All of these books feature the vulnerable beauty being attacked through 180 pages by a mythical villain haunting the house and family. 

The question I ask myself is, why continue to read these books? Why read Ross? I honestly don't have an answer other than I just enjoy finding myself in a large rural mansion for a few hours. The winding stairways, the endless halls, and the multitude of mysterious rooms and basements are pure escapism. I realize Ross is a hack and made a living rewriting the same book. Many of these gothic suspense and romance writers did the same thing. But, there's just something about that mansion, isn't there?

The Mystery of Collinwood may be the worst of the Dark Shadows books so far. The plot is recycled nonsense with the obligatory costume ball, mysterious guests, and Victoria's bafflement at who could be attacking her. To add insult to injury, Roger and Elizabeth still question Victoria's sanity even after all of these attacks have proven to be a legitimate killer in the house. One would think they would just take her word for it. 

One or two more books to get through before the vampire arrives. I'll be tired and worn out by the time he pops the fangs and gets to business.

Get The Mystery of Collinwood HERE

Dark Shadows #03 - Strangers at Collins House

Paperback Library published the Dark Shadows paperback novels that tied to the television show. The series was authored by goth king William Ross beginning with the 1966 eponymous debut Dark Shadows. I've been torn on the series thus far, enjoying the second novel Victoria Winters more than the plodding starter. I decided to keep the porch light on and continued with the third installment, Strangers at Collins House, published in 1967.

The through story thus far concerns young Victoria Winters, a governess working at an enormous seaside mansion in Maine titled Collins House. Her employers are Elizabeth and Roger Collins, siblings that occupy the house and share an empire of wealth created by the fishing and canning business – although in this novel it is suggested that the Collins family made their fortune from the 19th century slave trade business. Victoria grew up an orphan and is desperate to learn who her real parents were. 

The “strangers” of Collins House in this novel is a reclusive man named Henry Collins, Elizabeth's elderly uncle. He brings along a suspicious caregiver named Benjamin and Benjamin's son, the chauffer named Jack. Before their arrival Elizabeth reveals to Victoria that Henry actually has his own room at Collins House but it is a secret quarters hidden behind a closet. Inside the room Victoria sees that it is decorated as if it is a New York apartment from the early 1900s.

When Henry arrives the chaos begins for Victoria. She begins seeing a female apparition that calls her name from afar. Additionally, Henry behaves in a strange manner and pines for a lover he once had – a lover that was found dead in a parking lot during the height of her singing career on Broadway. Soon the murder attempts begin as always. Victoria stumbles in the dark wine cellar, is nearly killed by a runaway motorist, and is intimidated and threatened by a sinister nighttime roadblock. Par for the course. 

Strangers at Collins House was an okay mystery that delves into Victoria's possible relationship with Henry and her unlikely connection to the dead singer. Admittedly, I was holding out hope that by the book's end Victoria's self discovery would be fulfilled. Maybe it was? In the meantime the book has enough atmosphere and shady characters to keep the pages flying. I enjoyed the book and now it's two books to one that Dark Shadows is an entertaining series. Get the book HERE.

Dark Shadows #02 - Victoria Winters

I’ve been making my way through the literary work of William Ross, evident with seven of the author’s novels reviewed right here on the blog. Ross used a myriad of pseudonyms throughout his career to become the most popular and prolific scribe of gothic paperbacks through the 1960s and 1970s. His body of work also contains 33 paperbacks that serve as television tie-ins to the supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows. I read and reviewed the first installment, Dark Shadows, and wanted to revisit the series in hopes of a better experience. I plunged into the foggy seaside village of Collinsport for the series second installment, Victoria Winters (1967).

As I mentioned in my Dark Shadows review, these stories have their own continuity and feature ideas and characters that don’t appear in the television show. For example, Collins House features Roger Collins, a middle-aged man who doesn’t appear in the television show. In the first novel, young Victoria Winters takes a job at Collins House as a governess to Elizabeth’s nephew David. In Victoria Winters, Victoria has a few weeks off from work due to David and his cousin being away from Collins House on holiday. This sets up the book’s premise for Victoria to be tormented again by ghosts and human foes.

Elizabeth agrees to allow a businessman named Henry and his two daughters a temporary residence at Collins House. Henry’s daughter Dorothy is recuperating from a brain surgery and will need her older sister Rachel and the quiet salty air of Maine’s coast to rehabilitate.

Victoria soon begins seeing a mysterious woman in Collins House that resembles a dead woman named Stella Hastings. How can she be alive after plunging from a cliff to her death? To complicate things more, Vicki sees a figure lurking around Roger Collins’ boat. There’s also a mysterious man named Paul Caine who professes to be an artist, yet knows nothing about art. Like most of Ross’s novels, and the novel before this one, Victoria is attacked numerous times and the list of suspects ranges from the groundskeeper to Henry himself. When attacks aren’t happening, the author sprinkles in Victoria’s nightmares to pad out the pages (a common trait with Ross).

Victoria Winters is actually a pretty good crime-fiction mystery. If you take away the fact that this is a Dark Shadows novel, and strictly read it as a stand-alone mystery, then I think you’ll be more appreciative of the slow formula. There is a great deal of dialogue, like Dark Shadows, but the development is quick, and the overall mystery is compelling. The suspect list is a diverse one and I must admit that the abandoned wing of Collins House is creepy even without vampires and werewolves stalking the corridors. If you enjoy Ross’s gothics, or just like a confined mystery, then Victoria Winters is a fine choice. Recommended. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Dark Shadows #01 - Dark Shadows

Paperback Library published 33 Dark Shadows novels from 1966 through 1972. These gothic paperbacks were based on the American soap opera that ran on ABC television from 1966 until 1971. The paperbacks were authored by popular gothic author William Edward Daniel Ross under his pseudonym Marilyn Ross. Thankfully, these novels make up a stand-alone series that can be read independently of the television show. They re-create the show, evident with this first paperback, the eponymous Dark Shadows, capturing most of what occurs in the Dark Shadows debut episode. But, the paperback series changes some of the characters and even adds new ones that aren't featured on the television version. Thus, it creates its own universe and continuity. If you want to avoid sappy daytime television reruns, then this paperback series is exactly what you need. Plus, it is completely affordable as audio books on CD or on your favorite streaming service like Hoopla or Audible. 

In Ross's series debut, young Victoria Winters arrives in the fictional Maine seaside village of Collinsport. Readers learn that she was orphaned as a baby and she never learned who her parents were. Money was mysteriously supplied to her throughout her upbringing in the form of a mailed check. Now, she is ready for her next job as a governess to a young boy at Collins House, an enormous mansion that houses over 40 rooms. 

Meeting the family, she discovers that Elizabeth Collins Stoddard hasn't left the house in nearly 20 years. Her brother, Roger Collins, is a single guy that possesses a rather dull outlook on life in between his routine cocktails. There's also Carolyn, a rambunctious, spunky young adult that finds relief from the boredom at a local bar. But, the most interesting character is that of Ernest Collins, a symphony violinist that experienced the death of two loves. The first was his wife Elaine, who supposedly died in a car accident. The second was a lover that threw herself from Widow's Hill, a place far above the rocky shore where women apparently jump to their deaths. 

Throughout the narrative, Victoria is tormented by an unseen stalker that plays tricks on her. At night she can hear heavy breathing and footsteps outside of her room. She finds a creepy mask hanging from her ceiling and is attacked in the dark cellar. The scariest moment for Victoria is when her car suddenly loses control and crashes. Of course, Elizabeth and others refuse to believe that anyone is stalking Victoria. But, the mystery points to Ernest as a possible suspect.

Unfortunately, this debut Dark Shadows paperback is a dull, uninspiring read. Ross utilizes long, drawn out dialogue to pad the book's length, leaving readers lulled into a bored mood with the pointless conversations. The attempts to scare or harm Victoria are few and far between, leaving very little activities to keep readers enthralled. Further, the atmosphere is described as sunny and warm, which left me disconnected from the television visuals of the old seaside mansion draped in fog. If I didn't read the title or the “Victoria Winters” name, I never could have guessed this was a Dark Shadows book. In addition, both Elizabeth, Ernest, and his lovers are not included in the television show.

Perhaps the series will improve with more of a supernatural element. Barnabas Collins, despite appearing on the cover of at least one printing of this specific paperback, doesn't appear in the series until the fifth installment. In the meantime, steer well clear of this dud.