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Post by dem bones on May 5, 2009 18:41:01 GMT
Gothic heroines on the runSome fascinating cover-images in that Pandora site: terrified woman on the run with back-drop of Gothic mansion. I wonder how feminists would account for this in a genre written (mostly) by women for (mostly) other women? Colin (banging nail into feminist coffin). - Colin, Vault Mk. I Ok, so the Seeds Of Evil and Blackwood Cult covers are Lancers, but one look at the Paperback Library listing/ gallery and you can't help but notice that, regardless of whether it bore any relevance to the book, cover art depicting young women in long, flowing dresses elegantly legging it from Mr. Sinister against a backdrop of spooky moonlit castle or mansion, etc. was once mandatory for Gothic Romance covers. Anyway, if you've a favourite/ least favourite example of the goth heroine chased cover scan it up if you feel so inclined.
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Post by andydecker on May 6, 2009 6:46:32 GMT
Here are some german covers. The Gothic used to be quite popular, but these imprints died a long time ago.  This is a later series from 1982, which didn´t last long, avaibale only at the newsstand. The imprint was called "Gaslight - Tales of Love and Mystery". This is a Ross, original title "Cellars of the Dead". Seems Ross had a good agent, as a lot of his books got translated.  This and the following are from the Gothic imprint of Heyne Publishing, one of the paperback giants at the time. Today they belong to Random House, back then it was a family business. This was one of the only in bookstores imprint, and a typical example (at the time) of giving an imprint an identity with the cover. It lasted a long time, and there are some buried gems in this. The imprint was called "Romantic-Thriller", and it was targeted especially at woman. All were published in the seventies. Above is "Dark Cliffs" in the original, the german title copy reads tranlated: "Tower of Doom - (She knew the secrect - so the deathtrap was ready for her)  Coffman also fared well with a lot of translations. Original: The Master of Blue Mire German: Diamonds of Death - (The expensive jewels brought her only sorrow and doom)  Original: Encounter Darkness German: Island of Dark Souls - (She senses the secret of the house - and also the danger for everyone who wants to solve it) |
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Post by dem bones on May 6, 2009 7:08:52 GMT
Thanks Andy, these are delightful examples of the form with Marilyn Ross coming out on top again - that Gaslight artwork is particularly attractive. Has there ever been a more compelling argument for the practicalities of the mini skirt (as handy getaway vehicle when pursued by evil barons)? I'm sure i've a Virginia Coffman title somewhere so will try and dig that up for a quick scan later.
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Post by dem bones on Oct 13, 2010 16:42:54 GMT
"Charles Wesley Copeland had a unique sense of style that is unmistakably and completely his own. One of his trademarks is an impossibly beautiful woman. His favorite pose for her was looking back sideways out of the corners of her eyes at someone coming up beside her or behind her." Excellent overview of Copeland's life and career and gorgeous galleries of his paperback covers (Ace, Popular Library, Paperback Library, Pinnacle, Pyramid, etc) and magazine work ( Swank, Bachelor, loads more). Good girl and bad girl art, classic girl-running-away Gothics, romance, crime, sleaze and a couple of Nick Carters. Lynn Munroe Lynn Munroe Books thanks to Justin for the link! |
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Post by dem bones on Sept 20, 2011 20:56:02 GMT
tearing myself away from the Orrie Hitt feature in the new Fanatic for a moment, fans of the genre could do a lot worse than to head over to the impressive After Dark In The Playing Fields blog, where Sara of the very gorgeous My Love Haunted Heart is interviewed at some length on her passion for vintage Gothic Romance. |
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sara
Crab On The Rampage
Posts: 69
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Post by sara on Sept 23, 2011 7:45:15 GMT
Thanks for stopping by demonik, and I’m pleased you enjoyed my own meagre attempt at creating the perfect gothic romance plotline! I must say, when it comes to romance and horror, I do have a certain fondness for those ever-so-slightly-dodgy brother / sister relationships – especially doomed & beautiful twins!
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Post by andydecker on Sept 23, 2011 8:26:12 GMT
Thanks for the link,dem. It was quite interesting, and I love Sara´s blog. There are some hidden gems in that genre, which are long forgotten.
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sara
Crab On The Rampage
Posts: 69
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Post by sara on Sept 26, 2011 13:17:15 GMT
Cheers Andy and thanks for posting those German gothics above, they’re lovely. I found one the other day by Jane Aiken Hodge (sister to Joan Aiken) and I had to buy it, even though I don’t speak a word of German! Feedback I get from Jane Aiken Hodge fans over here is that her books are quite difficult to come by in the UK. A passionate believer in the right of people to end their own lives, she took her own life by means of an overdose in 2009 aged 91. I think the original English title of this was Shadow of a Lady, and it’s a historical romance set during the Napoleonic wars. Not sure how gothic it is but the cover looks the part... |
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Post by andydecker on Sept 26, 2011 16:18:24 GMT
I think the original English title of this was Shadow of a Lady, and it’s a historical romance set during the Napoleonic wars. Not sure how gothic it is but the cover looks the part... Hi Sara! Yes, it is indeed Shadow of a Lady, I checked in a database. There are nine translations of this writer listed, but the database is not very accurate on series novels. Those Heyne Romantic Thriller had quite the kitchen sink approach. There were a lot of books which were not really a Gothic. There are early Barbara Michaels side by side with Victoria Holt or Sandra Shulman. But I quite like the packaging. Today this kind of marketing is mostly gone, but at the time our publishers adhered strictly to the idea that it sold better if it had the same look, especially things like crime-novels, western, sf or Gothics. The Gothic also were prominent in the Heftroman-format which are published weekly. At the begining they did a lot of translations which were cut down to fit the format. Later they signed german writers on, who wrote hundreds of these novels. Two of those lines are still published today, being mostly reprints and some new material. I will do a few scans and put them in this thread. |
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sara
Crab On The Rampage
Posts: 69
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Post by sara on Sept 28, 2011 13:17:10 GMT
The Heyne series looks quite good, judging from the list of authors at the back of the one I’ve got. I also like its ‘pocket size’ and the tactile quality of the paper used for the cover, definitely a travel- friendly book! I think the term ‘romantic thriller’ works better than gothic romance for a lot of these titles too.
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