The Spectral Bride

The Spectral Bride by Margaret Campbell
published by Signet Books
Copyright 1975

Terror or Romance,
Legend or Love?

Was lovely Adelaide Fenton a simple country girl, or was
she the pale shadow of another maiden who had met
violent death many years before? Was handsome James
Daintry, the last Earl of the Seagroves, a fanciful
young man, or the final victim of a legendary specter
which had taken its toll in madness and sorrow?
Was it the power of love which drew them together, or
were they caught in a darker pattern - cursed for a crime
they did not commit, reliving a tale they scarcely knew?

Adelaide's family warned her not to look beyond her
station. James's advisors tried to keep him from their
secret trysts. But fate beckoned them on, down a
pathway from which no once could turn them, on a journey
which must lead them to happiness or death ...

Okay, so is this cover supposed to lead us to believe that these "trysts" between Adelaide and James take place in a cemetery? And not just any normal run-of-the-mill cemetery either but a long forgotten, tall-grass, crumbling tombstone, condemned "where's the roof" abandoned church, kind of cemetery?

I mean, stealing a few hours with a forbidden lover could be great, but not if you spend those few hours checking each other's hair for ticks. I feel certain if they don't have ticks they are at least assaulted by chiggers.

I just don't think that shaw is going to give Adelaide the protection she needs in that environment but I'm not sure what would. Maybe one of those suits that people who keep bees have. Or at the very least she needs to be carrying a fly-swatter. Maybe it could be hanging elegantly from her wrist tied with a little satin ribbon.

The Devil's Dreamer

The Devil's Dreamer by Alice Brennan
published by: Magnum Books
Copyright 1971

Can You
Die In A Dream?

This was impossible - this room, this place. Where
was she, and how had she come to be here?
Carsa caught her breath on a sob of relief, for it
was morning, and daylight was filtering through
the drawn shades.

Then she saw that the light, which was very bright
and had a strange bluish cast, came from only
one spot. It seemed to come for a woman who
stood in a large circle. Long hair, pale and silky,
flowed over her sholders and blue eyes burned
bright with golden light. There was something
horrifyingly familiar about the face, and Carsa
struggled with a memory that was just out of reach.
Then the woman spoke.

"This is a dream. Everything that happens to you,
everyone you meet, is part of the dream. When
you awaken, it will be an awakening to death..."

Seeing that the last book I cover was also a Devil book I really should have tried and put together a "Devil" week, but it is too late for that. This cover has its problems but I must say that it really like the quality of illustration of our woman. It is really quite nice. The Devil child? Not so much.

Sadly we have no illustration credit here but as I have begun this blog, even these uncredited artists are starting to become familiar to me. Who know, eventually I may become confident enough to start making guesses as to their identities.

The Devil and Mrs. Devine

The Devil and Mrs. Devine by Josephine Leslie
Cover Art by Lou Marchetti
published by: Pocket Books
Copyright 1974

THE
DEVIL
AND
MRS.
DEVINE

ETERNAL YOUTH ... ETERNAL TORMENTS

Barely out of her teens, winsome Danielle
Davine was already an orphan and a widow.
No man on earth, it seemed, could be to her
what her loving father and handsome young
husband had been. Was she doomed, then, to
wither into joyless old age? "No!" whispered
a strange, uncanny voice, a voice that seemed
to come from nowhere, promising Danielle
perpetual beauty - in exchange for her im-
mortal soul ...

In this tale of romance that spans two centu-
ries, the author of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
tells of one woman's quest for the peace and
salvation that only the greatest love, human
and divine, can bring.

Danielle Devine is not the first twenty year old to dread the thought of withering into "joyless old age". In fact I remember crying about turning 23. But did I listen to a strange uncanny voice offering me perpetual beauty in exchange for my soul? No, of course not. But I can thing of nothing more romantic.

Josephine Leslie seems to have a real obsession with the whole ghost thing. A ghost helping you write a novel is a little less evil than trying to buy your soul but to each their own. This cover is signed by the initials RES but I have had no luck in tracking down any information the possible artist.

The Darkest Room

The Darkest Room by Grace Corren
published by Magnum Books
Copyright 1969

Touch of The Dead

Toby had been Anne Gunther's first and
only love - but Toby was three years dead,
killed in a tragic car crash (as opposed to a comic one?)
for which Anne still felt responsible. But was Toby
dead? Or was he still with her, unwilling to
let her know peace as long as she still
lived the life of which he had been
deprived? (sounds kind of like a jerk)
Anne tried to escape to Edith
Allen's country house, but no matter where
she went, how far she traveled, she could
not escape from herself. She saw Toby in
every stranger, in every darkened room,
until she thought that she must be losing
her mind. The old house that was to have
been a refuge soon became a prison -
and then fantasy turned to reality as some-
one in the Allen house tried to kill her! (okay, so was
she even invited) Was that someone motivated by living
hatred for this girl who was a stranger in
their midst - or was it the ghost of Toby,
who could not rest until Anne joined
him in eternity?

We finally have a woman smart enough to run from a house wearing a sensible matching pant and top active wear set and she doesn't think to wear shoes, or a bra for that matter! Did she leave these items in the darkest room and was unable to find them? Is Toby really such a jerk as to resent her being alive? And, if so, what was Toby's appeal to begin with? I think Anne must just go for the bad boys.

Drifthaven

Drifthaven by Dan Ross writing as Clarissa Ross
published by Avon Books
Copyright 1974

A Chilling
Performance
By An Actor's
Ghost

When Jean finally regained consciousness in the
hospital, her brother-in-law Ian was at her bedside.
He explained that she'd been lying there unconscious
for five years as a result of the car crash that had
taken her husband Darrel's life.

Darrel had been a successful actor, but a
temperamental one and a hard drinker. Their
marriage had always been a stormy one. Right after
she left the hospital, Jean realized that her problems
with Darrel were far from over. Her husband's
ghost began to make frequent appearances. Jean was
soon aware that Darrel intended to kill her. But a
spirit surely couldn't do her real physical harm ...
or could it?

How many of you are guessing that it is actually going to be her brother-in-law Ian. He wants all the money her dead husband left to her. He probably had control of it while she was in a comma and, after five years, doesn't want to loose it.

But it seems to me that after five years in a comma you are bound to wake up with some sort of supernatural powers. I don't see any way around it. Maybe she can read your thoughts. Maybe she knows what is going to happen minutes before it does. Maybe she can send you flying across the room with only an evil stare. It's hard to say, but one thing for sure is nobody better mess with Jean. And not just because she has a tough-girl, Camel smokin', steal your boyfriend and then beat you up kind of name either.

Woman in Black

Woman in Black by Monica Heath

published by Signet Books
Copyright 1974

Mansion of Terror-

Julie had come West expecting a loving reunion
with her father, wealthy John McKay. But McKay mansion
turned a foreboding face to Julie, for her father was
dead, and her step-family viewed with hostile suspicion the
newcomer out to claim the family fortune. And when
suddenly the shrouded figure of the woman in black began
to haunt her, warning her to leave the mansion,
Julie did not know who to trust.

But in spite of herself, Julie found herself drawn to
Greg Gallagher, the handsome, brooding man whose name
was linked with so many unsolved mysteries of
the town. Julie knew it was madness to harbor such ardent
feelings about the man who might have murdered
her father, but she found herself caught in a tightening
web of terror. Could she dare express her love, and
trust her fate to this strange but irresistible man who might
lead her to her doom...?

Assignment: Can Julie pick'em, or can she pick'em? Okay, I've never read this but it just screams Scooby Doo. And, so that you'll are never find yourself fooled by some old caretaker in a rubber mask, please watch at least 4 hours of Scooby Doo, Where Are You? and take notes.