The Sinister House of Secret Love #01

DC Comics flirted with the gothic romance/suspense genre with a couple of titles in 1971. The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love, originally published in September/October 1971, ran four issues before abandoning the gothic romance feel for more of a horror anthology flavor under the new title Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion. DC's other venture into the genre was The Sinister House of Secret Love, which also launched September/October 1971. Again, it ran four issues before abandoning the gothic romance tropes with its new title Secrets of Sinister House. I wanted to give The Sinister House of Secret Love (what a name!) a try, so I read the first issue.

This debut is titled “The Curse of the Macintyres”. It was written by Mary Skrenes, a veteran scripter that also contributed to The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love, House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Young Love, and Detective Comics. The artwork is by the famed Don Heck, a talent that touched hundreds of comic titles during his illustrious career. 

In the opening pages, Rachel's father is dying. On his deathbed, he tells Rachel he has a formula that will make her rich, but he stresses that she hide his journal, go live with her cousin Blair, and to beware of the Macintyres Curse. Included in the first chapter is the initial meeting between Rachel and Blair at her father's funeral service, Blair's explanation that his wife died, and that he has a young son named Jamie. He asks that Rachel be the boy's tutor and she accepts.

Days later, as Rachel is traveling to Blare's dilapidated mansion, she receives ominous warnings from the train conductor and the coachman. Inside the mansion, Rachel meets Blare's dwarf cousin, Jamie, and the family maid. She's warned to never go to the third floor, which is a bold invitation in any gothic romance paperback. Eventually, Rachel learns that Blare may have a split personality and his sister may be a giant lunatic living upstairs.

The book's narrative features several attacks on Rachel, her romantic involvement with Blare, and the inevitable origins of the family's curse stemming from genetic deformity. I enjoyed the homage to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the gothic romance overtones that saturate nearly every page – new job, stranger in a strange land, atmosphere, supernatural rumors, the giant mansion, and of course, the vulnerable beauty striving to escape her newfound prison.