Gothicked (Gothic Novel Lovers) discussion

I've launched a search for the lesser known Gothic Authors. I don't expect to find what I'm used to from the big names but expect some pleasant surprises along the way. I just finished "House of Tombs" by Caroline Farr. Anyone ever heard of her?

This is a very small book written in the mid 1960s. It was set in Maine and published in Australia. She seems to have imagined Maine as the prototypical European Gothic locale, and made sure that the family that owned the brooding island had been Royalists :) I had to smile whenever the lead character commented on someone else's action with "This is 1966!" The author seems to have picked a lot of Gothic elements, blown them up bigger than life-size, and strung them all together. Nevertheless, it was a fun read and I may track down some more of her books.

Thanks! I put this book in my TBR shelf, sounds interesting! A book I read several years ago and that I found out is not very popular is Falcon's Island. Honestly, it was not as good as, let say, Victoria Holt, but there were scenes that were pretty dark. This is the plot:

""Governess Wanted," the ad said, and pretty Christy Randolph was glad to escape her unhappy past by taking the job on the remote island off the Main coast. But no sooner had she arrived than she was plunged into a past more dark and barbaric than any she had known.

There was Matthew Parrish, the gruff, rude, but strangely handsome seaman. There were the sullen townspeople who muttered of spells and witchcraft. And there was the enigmatic Falcon family itself, haunted by madness and violent death.

Soon Christy realized that the dead had placed a terrible curse on the living, and she too was trapped in its fateful grip..."

That sounds a little like the one I just read, Sakura. Who was the author?

In mine, you have a mad Egyptologist, a much younger and of course, beautiful wife, and his two sons. One is a creepy pastor and the other is, of course, a wastrel. There is a ruined farmhouse and a flooded tunnel and mummies. I don't think Holt or Whitney would have ever dreamed of cramming that many stock Gothic elements into one stew. The villagers drink, have affairs, dance and re-fight the Revolutionary War over beers.

I kept noticing the author using sexist comments in a way that no one would dare do now. The men make a lot of comments about female appearance and the heroine sometimes chides herself for acting like a "silly female." I just think it's fun to notice how societal attitudes change over time. My next book up for review looks like it will be quite different.

Her name is Antonia Scott. But they are not the same, cause in Falcon's Island there is no Egyptologist...

Another writer I really like but which I barely find any books from her is Dorothy Eden. She is known, but not too much. So far, I have the lucky to read only 2, Winterwood and Whistle for the Crows.

I haven't read any Caroline Farr, but that novel sounds interesting. I really liked Winterwood by Eden. Some lesser known gothic romance authors I really like are Monica Heath and Jill Tattersall. The Gothicked Blog also has others along with book reviews if you run out of authors to try. :) had a really shocking twist to it that I loved!

Ooh, I'm glad to be seeing recommendations for authors I haven't heard of!

Anybody remember the Saga of the Phenwick Women? It was about a 40 book series written in the 70s and 80s. I just finished my first one and must say it was a lot different from other gothics.

I want to get my hands on some of the Phenwicks. I have a the original cover for Joanne, one of the books in the series, on my book Come to the Tower, Love, (by permission of the illustrator's family for the e-book version) which is really cool.

How was it different, if you don't mind my asking?

Well...one thing I enjoyed was some of the quaint old English names for people and places that I'd never seem before. The local tavern was called the "Tooth and Tail" and the owner was named Tobias Pump. It reminded me of just how "English" we Americans must have been way back when, at least in New England which is the setting.

In House of Tombs, I saw a lot of very outdated comments and attitudes about women. In this book, the author seemed to be trying very hard to go the other way, with the main character being an 18th century female shipping magnate. She was apparently so vital and desirable that she had either slept with or married almost every man in the story, or been desired by same.

Third, it was written by a man who went by the name of Katheryn Kimbrough. He had a strangely coy way of referring to sex (called it "certain indoor sports" or "bedroom classics") and had what seemed to be a strange fascination for rape. He kept hinting at the rape of a young male character that would have happened in the first book, and then ends the book with the rape of 9 women all in the same house on the same night by 4 robbers.

Doesn't sound like Holt or Whitney does it?

I'm going to look this one up - brooding, as in Heathcliffe brooding? - Sounds dark. love that :)

Brooding in the sense of isolated and atmosphere of menace. Farr did pretty good with that.

After my last two books, I was happy to read one by an author that I know I like. Susan Howatch has three series, one a British family saga probably kind of like the old "Dynasty" series on TV, the other a novelization of the modern history of the Church of England, and her earliest work was a series of Gothics. She's a fantastic writer. "The Devil on Lammas Night" was the first Gothic of hers that I've read. The Devil in the story is, in fact, the devil. There were several references to 1960s culture that were fun to read.

I should have a couple more books to describe here soon.

Ok, here's another one. "The Dark of Memory" by Paula Minton (1967). The heroine has lost her parents under mysterious circumstances. She gets a mysterious phone call that her father may still be alive. She follows all the caller's instructions to go on a search for him and meets danger, of course.

This is a book that I loved when I read it as a young teenager. Now I'm not sure why I liked it so much, but found it fun to read the author's descriptions of the wonders of technology c. 1964. The wonders of jet air travel! A "gleaming Studebaker" as a getaway car! The heroine is also touchingly idealistic.

Here's an author that I'll bet no one has heard of - Phyllis Brett Young. The book I read is called "Undine" written in 1964. It plays off the theme in "Rebecca" with a young bride overshadowed by the ghost of the former wife. In "Rebecca," there was a character (Mrs. Danvers) who was actively trying to either drive the young wife crazy or drive her away. The "Danvers" character in "Undine" is the brother of the former wife and he gets it in his head that the new wife really is his sister. Assorted creepiness follows.

I felt like the bride in "Rebecca" actually was a sympathetic character, even if she didn't have a name. The heroine in "Undine" seems to have nothing to do but to dislike everything and everyone around her and to obsess about the former wife. The story could have worked as an exploration of paranoia even without the creepy brother. I'm glad to have found another lesser known author but would probably have to rate "Undine" as "ugh." Anyone else familiar with this author?

I like to find books that differ from the norm in some way, and "White Violets" by Edward Crandall fit that bill. It is probably the oldest gothic I've read (1953) apart from du Maurier, and written by a man. Young secretarial school grad takes post as live-in companion to Rhode Island society lady who has been patiently waiting for her husband to return from 40 years in prison. Society lady is surrounded by various creepy characters who would profit from her death. The previous secretary also died under mysterious circumstances. Young secretary just doesn't know who to trust! Just in case anyone else happens to find the book, I won't spoil the ending.

I'd probably look for another Caroline Farr, but maybe not the other authors I've mentioned here. Next review will be "The Gilded Sarcophagus."

"The Gilded Sarcophagus" by Charlotte Hunt seems to be the start of a series. It is another book I'd describe as different because the main character is a man, Dr. Holton. We also (again) have an eccentric Egyptologist and his niece, Holton's fiancee. The old gentleman has become enthralled with a Satanic cult that tries to help him contact his wife while wheedling him out of a sample of uranium found wrapped up with a mummy. I know, it sounds way over the top, but it was probably the best lesser known Gothic I've read so far.

It's been fun to see how, the closer the books get to the 1970s, the harder the authors seem to be trying to make the female characters more than dithering damsels in distress. The author has Dr Holton speak about women with a good bit of compassion and insight. In the interest of equality, I suppose, she has both Dr Holton and fiancee spend a good bit of time locked in dreary cellars.

Finally! A modern book that I can recommend at Gothicked! "The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton" by Elizabeth Speller, published this year, is billed as a WWI-era detective story but, to me, it reads more like a gothic. You have various tragic characters united by the disappearance of a 5 year old girl from the manor house in a village that lost all its young men in the war. You have secret passages, convincingly done, secrets from the past, a maze, madness, and more. I snapped it up as an ebook when I saw that it is recommended for "atmosphere" and I was not disappointed. I also felt that her characters were sufficiently complex, including the ones from "below the salt." Now I just wish she'd hurry up and write more! :)

Meme23 wrote: "I like to find books that differ from the norm in some way, and "White Violets" by Edward Crandall fit that bill. It is probably the oldest gothic I've read (1953) apart from du Maurier, and writt..."

This one sounded good, but I can't find it at a decent price in the UK.

I've been reading your posts with interest, and I've realised that I'm not tough enough for real Gothic novels because I hate scary creepiness! I suspect I thought "Gothic" equated to romantic suspense, but I realised my mistake as I rejected book after book after reading the synopsis on the basis that it sounded too scary for me. But I still thin that your posts are very good.

Sakura Yue wrote: "Thanks! I put this book in my TBR shelf, sounds interesting! A book I read several years ago and that I found out is not very popular is Falcon's Island. Honestly, it was not as good as, let say, V..."

I think I read this when I was a teenager! That was back in the early 70s and we were all watching Dark Shadows on TV after school. I wouldn't be surprised if DS was her inspiration. It took place on a lonely coastal city in New England (probably Maine) and was filled with vampires and witches and a restless village that depended on the weirdos in the Big House.

Sakura Yue wrote: "Her name is Antonia Scott. But they are not the same, cause in Falcon's Island there is no Egyptologist...

Another writer I really like but which I barely find any books from her is Dorothy Eden. ..."

I like Dorothy Eden, too. She didn't do much in the way of Gothics, though. Most of her books are historical, but not necessarily Gothic. My absolute favorite was Waiting for Willa. Other favorites are The Millionaires Daughter and the Vines of Yarrabee. There was another, about the Boxer Rebellion in China, but I can't remember the title. Time of the Dragon, maybe?

Meme23 wrote: "Ok, here's another one. "The Dark of Memory" by Paula Minton (1967). The heroine has lost her parents under mysterious circumstances. She gets a mysterious phone call that her father may still b..."

Ooh, this sounds good. May have to look for it.

Hj wrote: "Meme23 wrote: "I like to find books that differ from the norm in some way, and "White Violets" by Edward Crandall fit that bill. It is probably the oldest gothic I've read (1953) apart from du Mau..."

Gothic does sort of mean romantic suspense. But it is a rather broad category. Dracula and Frankenstein are considered Gothics as well. I just finished reading the first gothic novel ever written, The Castle of Otranto. From today's perspective,it is almost silly, yet it contains all the stock features of a gothic novel. supernatural beings, innocent female in danger, evil stepfather(father in law, in this case), rescue of the damsel, etc.

Remember, the blurb on the back is supposed to make it sound scary and creepy. I've found that most of them are not as creepy as they sound.

One I've always liked is Black Rainbow by Barbara Michaels. And Ammie Come Home, by the same author. Ammie is a ghost story and really had me on the edge of my seat when I read it as a teenager. I just recently re-read it, and while I enjoyed the mystery, it wasn't nearly as scary as it had been then. Perspective of years I guess.

Thanks for all the book recommendations! A lot of these sound really good!

There's one I remember reading as a teenager that I really liked and would like to read again, but I can't remember either the title or the author. It was a paperback I picked up at PB exchange. The heroine was a 20ish girl, schoolteacher or something like that, who was going on vacation. On the plane she sits next to another girl about the same age and coloring and they get to talking. Somewhere in the flight, the heroine tries on the ring the other girl is wearing because she had admired it, I think. It was very distinctive and unusual. Well, the plane crashes. The heroine survives, but the other dies, I think and both of them were burned or something so as to make their faces unrecognizeable. The heroine wakes up to find herself in a rickety old mansion in Denver with bandages on her face and whole houseful of creepy family that think she is the first girl. Of course theirs the boyfriend/fiance that is a little menacing, the old rich father with weird stipulations in his will (she's his only child of course), and a variety of other menacing/odd cousins, aunts, etc. Of course everyone wants Dad's money when he dies, which of course, is imminent. I wish I could remember what it was called. I'd like to give it another go.

Another lesser known gothic author you might want to look at is Madeleine Brent. Actually a man. Didn't write very many novels, I think. I've only read two of them and both are really good. The first I read as a serial in Good Housekeeping in the 70s. It is called Merlins Keep. Starts in Tibet, with a little girl who's hiding out with an ex-British soldier she calls Sembur. There's something mysterious about her life in the mountains and her parents who apparently died in India. After Sembur dies, she somehow ends up in England where the rest of the story takes place. A little on the occult edge, but very suspenseful. I really enjoyed it.

The other is called Tregaron's daughter. Starts out in Cornwall (with a name like Tregaron, where else would it be?) and goes to Italy with some mysterious inheritance, I think. Been a long time since I read either of these, I may have to revisit them.

So I was looking up Caroline Farr to see if I could find any of her books, and the first one that popped up was one I had read in high school--Dark Citadel. Sounds a lot like the one you were describing with the island off the coast of maine, etc., except this one's heroine is name Ann Laird.

The cover on Granite Folly looks familiar, too. I may have read that one as well. I guess I'm going to have to look for her books at the library. I had forgotten all about her.

I remember the Phenwick women. At one time, I think I had virtually all of them--each named after a different woman, and something about the scent of violets warning each when she was in danger (although if I remember, later on it was roses, when the character from the first book (who later became a ghost), was reincarnated and a diffent character took on her role as "guiding ghost." I wish I still had that collection, but sadly, they got discarded as "junk" by the ex.

Would Jane Aiken Hodge be considered a lesser known gothic romance writer? Watch the Wall My Darling was one of my early favorites! Along with the only really true (IMHO) gothic romance written by Barbara Michaels, The Master of Blacktower.

Oh, yeah! Jane Aiken Hodge is a favorite of mine, too. She crossed genres a lot, but I would agree about watch the wall my darling being gothic. For Barbara Michaels I would have to add Ammie Come Home and The Black Rainbow, but I agree that most of her books are too modern and are more ghost stories than Gothics. That argument could be made for Ammie Come Home as well, I suppose. Either way, those are the ones I enjoyed the most of hers. I've been disappointed In A lot of her books.

I love all of Barbara Michaels, under any name she writes, but Master was--and is--my fave. And thank you for reminding me of Black Rainbow. I'd totally forgotten that one!

My favorite Barbara Michaels is probably Be Buried in the Rain, though Search the Shadows and Shattered Silk are close.

Now, I don't believe I've read any of those--might have to give her another try. The only ones I've read are those available in our library--I thought I'd read them all.

Last year, I found all of Madeleine Brent's books and read them - what a treat!

Julie wrote: "Last year, I found all of Madeleine Brent's books and read them - what a treat!" They look fascinating. I'll check them out, and thanks for the recommendation!

Hi,

I read this gothic book in early 90s. It was about two sisters, who were (probably) witches, the younger one hated the other sister, and are then reincarnated. There was also a charismatic man involved. I can't, for the life of me remember the name of the book or the author. Would anyone happen to have any idea? I would really like to read this book again, but I need to find it first! :-)

Any tips/pointers will be appreciated.

TIA

I wish I could name it for you, but I have a suggestion. On Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, I have a virtual vintage library that I call, Gothic Romance Remembered. I've been compiling not just the cover but the back book description as well. Perhaps reading the back cover would help you track it down. At the first least, you might find something else that looks interesting.

Annie wrote: "Another lesser known gothic author you might want to look at is Madeleine Brent. Actually a man. Didn't write very many novels, I think. I've only read two of them and both are really good. The fir..."

Though I have only read 1 of Madeleine Brent's books, I loved it. I have purchased another one by this author, but just haven't gotten around to reading it yet. The one I read was full of adventure and deception, one of those where you can't trust anybody.

Stacy wrote: "Annie wrote: "Another lesser known gothic author you might want to look at is Madeleine Brent. Actually a man. Didn't write very many novels, I think. I've only read two of them and both are really..."

yeah, they are all like that, he was an excellent gothic author

Thank you for the pointer, Renee. I'm going to go through it. :-)

Meeta, could the book you are looking for be The Ancestor by Robin Carol?

@Renee, your FB page is awesome! I spent hours and hours going through the books! Hats off to you for the herculean effort! :-)

Hi, @Stacy. It might be! Unfortunately, I can't seem to find a copy new/used where I live. There's not even a Kindle copy available that I could buy. :-( BTW, your gothic list on OpenLibrary is something I'm aspiring to finish. :-)

Thank you, Meeta. It's very much worth the effort if people enjoy it. I'm glad you did!

Renee wrote: "Thank you, Meeta. It's very much worth the effort if people enjoy it. I'm glad you did!"
Yes, I went and looked at it yesterday, too. A LOT of titles I've never heard of and I thought I had read everything. I will be looking for a lot of those.

Meeta wrote: "@Renee, your FB page is awesome! I spent hours and hours going through the books! Hats off to you for the herculean effort! :-)

Hi, @Stacy. It might be! Unfortunately, I can't seem to find a copy ..."

Open Library? I'm not familiar with that....

Annie wrote: Open Library? I'm not familiar with that....

Annie, check out https://openlibrary.org/. You get a whole world of books there. It's also a lending library. You can issue up to 5 books at a time and you have 15 days... The only thing you need is to install is Adobe Digital, which is a free install.

I was just wondering if anybody has read any Gothics by Velda Johnston? I noticed her name is included on the description of this group. I looked at some of her books a while ago but most looked more like mystery/suspense, which is fine because I love mysteries too! But I just wondered which ones by her you would consider Gothic? I did pick up a book she wrote a few weeks ago called The Hour Before Midnight. It actually looks a bit spooky. :-O

Hi Marilyn

The following titles are not shelved under Gothic fiction:
The Underground Stream
Flight to Yesterday
Shadow Behind the Curtain
The Crystal Cat
A Presence in an Empty Room (Horror)
House of Illusion
Harriette

I am currently reading Moura, which is deliciously Gothic. Moura is a chateau, it has ghosts, a dashing Master, murders... it has it all. It is really good, for anyone searching a good Gothic Romance.

Someone posted about Velda Johnston Gothics. YES, she was one of my favorite authors, as well as Marilyn Ross. I like more spooky type gothics and they wrote those..

Yue wrote: "I am currently reading Moura, which is deliciously Gothic. Moura is a chateau, it has ghosts, a dashing Master, murders... it has it all. It is really good, for anyone searching a go..."

Oh yes! I am reading the Moura series now! I love it! I have just finished the third book and on to the fourth soon!

Michelle wrote: "Someone posted about Velda Johnston Gothics. YES, she was one of my favorite authors, as well as Marilyn Ross. I like more spooky type gothics and they wrote those.."

That sounds good! I love the spooky ones too! :-)

Renee wrote: "Hi Marilyn

The following titles are not shelved under Gothic fiction:
The Underground Stream
Flight to Yesterday
Shadow Behind the Curtain
The Crystal Cat
A Presence in an Empty Room (Horror)
Hous..."

Thank you Renee! I am looking forward to The Hour Before Midnight! :-)

Yue wrote: "I am currently reading Moura, which is deliciously Gothic. Moura is a chateau, it has ghosts, a dashing Master, murders... it has it all. It is really good, for anyone searching a go..."

I want to read that series, but it's hard to locate.