#Marilyn Ross

[collinsportmaine]

[thedepartmentofdiscoveries]

[yoursghouly]

Cover Art For Marilyn Ross’s “Shorecliff” by George Ziel

(Black and White Version)

[malsmanor]

The gruesome legend of Phantom Manor "When the 'ghost' appears in the sinister monk's corridor, someone will die!" From the moment she came to live at Phantom Manor, a rotting pile of stone she had suddenly inherited, Jan Davis became the terrified victim of a series of "accidents".

If you ever searched for ‘Phantom Manor’ on Amazon (I surely did :V) this book probably popped up at least once, alongside other suspicious novels by the same author:

Marilyn Ross, one of the MANY pen names of extremely prolific Canadian author William Edward Daniel Ross, is mostly known for the Dark Shadows novels on which the ABC daytime serial (and by reflection, the Tim Burton movie) was based upon. I never heard the show or books being mentioned when it comes to the creative development of Phantom Manor as an attraction but I don’t think it would be that much of a stretch to say that a bit of an inspiration might have been taken from the author’s books, especially when it comes to naming things.

Not only the Disneyland Paris attraction shares its name with one of the books but so does the family that lives in it (the official ‘reason’ for the Ravenswoods name being that it was intended as a tribute to Thurl Ravenscroft, voice actor and one of the singing busts ) and the ‘Phantom Wedding’ was the title of a special Halloween projection mapping show that took place in 2004.

I recently purchased the ‘Phantom Manor’ audiobook out of curiosity and will definitely listen to it during Halloween ;)

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Phantom Manor - art by Victor Kalin (1966)

[doraemonmon]

Marilyn Ross gothic novel

[bodicetipplers]

Heads up! The Bodice Tipplers podcast now has it’s own dedicated feed. 

You can find them on iTunes at: https://tinyurl.com/yy3573g6

Subscribe today! The first episode in the new feed is about "Barnabas Collins," the 1968 Dark Shadows novel by Marilyn Ross!

[cousinbarnabas]

Serious talk: In March, @bodicetipplers is going to tackle one of the Marilyn Ross Dark Shadows novels. Which one should it be?

[collinsportmaine]

ERNEST COLLINS

The Marilyn Ross “Dark Shadows” novels offer a different glimpse of the Collins Family. The first 5 books don’t include Barnabas and focus on gothic romance rather than the supernatural.

One interesting difference is the introduction of Ernest Collins, a cousin of Elizabeth and Roger. He is a concert violinist with a tragic past. His wife died in a car crash a few years before the first novel is set. And just a year earlier, a young woman he was seeing fell from Widow’s Hill to her death. Although Ernest was cleared of any involvement, suspicion still lingered.

But Ernest becomes a prime candidate for a romance with Victoria Winters, who think she’s seen-heard a ghost every few page.

It would have been interesting to see another contemporary Collins added to the TV show’s cast - and give some variety to the shenanigans. I tried to think of a 1960s era actor who would fit the bill... I came up with Sean Garrison who would have been around 30 years old when the show premiered. He did a few films, but is mostly known for work on TV. He also has a slight resemblance to Louis Edmund (Roger).

[sights9]

What if I just…

[ruinedhead]

Fog Island Horror

Fog Island Horror Marilyn Ross | Popular Library | 1978 | 221 pages

Never remotely reaching the promised “horror’ in its title, this entry in the loose series of Fog Island novels has all the elements of a gothic potboiler—scheming relatives, an unsolved murder case, secrets buried in a closed-off cellar, mysterious monster sightings—but languishes in a mostly undeveloped state until a fatal…

[doraemonmon]

Phantom Wedding

[homeforhalloween]

[bodicetipplers]

Here’s a sneak peak at the upcoming episode about the Dark Shadows spinoff novel by Marilyn Ross, “Barnabas Collins.”

[collinsportmaine]

ERNEST COLLINS

The Marilyn Ross “Dark Shadows” novels offer a different glimpse of the Collins Family. The first 5 in fact don’t include Barnabas. Instead of the supernatural, they focus on gothic romance.

One interesting difference is the introduction of the character Ernest Collins, a cousin of Elizabeth and Roger. He’s a concert violinist with a tragic past. His wife died in a car crash a few years before the first novel is set. And just a year earlier, a young woman he was attached to fell from Widow’s Hill to her death. Although Ernest was cleared of any involvement, suspicion still lingers.

But he becomes the prime candidate for a romance with Victoria Winters, who think she’s seen-heard a ghost every few page.

It would have been interesting to see another contemporary Collins added to the show’s cast - adding some variety to the shenanigans. I tried to think of a 1960s era actor who would fit the bill... I came up with Sean Garrison who would have been around 30 years old when the show premiered. He did a few films, but is mostly known for work on TV. He also has a slight resemblance to Louis Edmund (Roger).