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Twice Blessed...with money and raffish good looks, Richard Veringer abandoned holy orders for the unholy life as an 18th centruy rakehell - a decision that brought down upon him and his family three hundred years of supernatural horror.Thrice Cursed...by a scorned witch, the sins of the father were visited upon Veringer's sons and daughters, turning them into unspeakable creatures of the night...devourers of human flesh, drinkers of blood. Driven out of England by terrified townspeople, they roamed the earth for three centuries, searching for an end to the curse and their eternal torment. Little did they dream they would find the answer to their unsanctified prayers in the glittering Hollywood of the 1920s. Only in this unreal city could help be found - and the very real terror be stopped forever
392 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1989
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198 people want to read
About the author
Florence Stevenson
25 books19 followersPseudonyms: Zandra Colt, Lucia Curzon, Ellen Fitzgerald, Pamela Frazier and Florence Stevenson
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 26, 2025
Much like my first Florence Stevenson read, The Curse of the Concullens, this is another over-the-top semi-spoof* of gothic horror novels, where all the tropes are turned up to 11, only here it’s a generational family saga that takes place over a couple centuries as opposed to a couple months. It follows the Veringers, a rich English family that, in the 1700s when the story begins, has a curse placed upon them by a witch. We meet several generations of the Veringers as over the years they move about between various (heavily haunted) castles and mansions, for they are never allowed to linger in one place for too long before the curse catches up.
This was a hell of a lot of fun, with loads of memorable characters — both human and not — and I very nearly rated it 5 stars, but I felt the story petered out a bit towards the end, when the family is living in Hollywood circa the 1920s. This section was a bit soapy and just couldn’t compare to the various creepy English castles and such from the previous chapters. Still, it’s pretty much nonstop action and adventure and horror and humor and romance for its 390-some pages, and unlike a lot of generational sagas where the reader has to constantly start afresh with each new time period, getting to know the new characters, here several of them remain throughout, thanks to the curse.
I won’t say any more as it would probably end being up spoilery, but suffice to say that Florence Stevenson is two for two with me, and I can’t believe I’d managed to miss out on her work til now.
*It’s not a spoof in the Naked Gun or Airplane sense, with nonstop wackiness, but more so due to the exaggerated, almost self aware nature of the various tropes of gothic horror, and horror in general (I kept getting Hammer horror vibes throughout, and even pictured it in that style at times).
This was a hell of a lot of fun, with loads of memorable characters — both human and not — and I very nearly rated it 5 stars, but I felt the story petered out a bit towards the end, when the family is living in Hollywood circa the 1920s. This section was a bit soapy and just couldn’t compare to the various creepy English castles and such from the previous chapters. Still, it’s pretty much nonstop action and adventure and horror and humor and romance for its 390-some pages, and unlike a lot of generational sagas where the reader has to constantly start afresh with each new time period, getting to know the new characters, here several of them remain throughout, thanks to the curse.
I won’t say any more as it would probably end being up spoilery, but suffice to say that Florence Stevenson is two for two with me, and I can’t believe I’d managed to miss out on her work til now.
*It’s not a spoof in the Naked Gun or Airplane sense, with nonstop wackiness, but more so due to the exaggerated, almost self aware nature of the various tropes of gothic horror, and horror in general (I kept getting Hammer horror vibes throughout, and even pictured it in that style at times).
June 17, 2011
I will admit, I initially bought this book thinking it would be a fun bit of pulp for a summer day reading. Was I wrong - it is far from hokey - it actually was quite a wonderful story! The timeline covers from approximately the late 1700s through the early 1900s and follows the travails of a family whose head (well, the one we start with, anyway) becomes the Duke of More after the death of his brother.
He leaves the church - with much relief, being an atheist and "rational man" - to do so and after returning home quickly finds that everyone is so ticked off at his deceased brother that they are cursing HIM left and right. He laughs it off, sets up someone to care for the estate, and heads for London, where he sees an actress in a play (which he cannot understand why the people do not prefer to that "ludicrous work that preceded it - something about a Dane named Hamlet"). I cannot tell you HOW badly things go awry when he attempts to meet her without ruining a good bit of the story and suspense - suffice it to say that he ends up making a most unfortunate oath to a very strange, small, dark woman. He gets his actress, but as she ages and loses more children to miscarriage than she manages to deliver, she becomes depressed, superstitious and gradually becomes addicted to food and religion to try to take away her fears. The beautiful, willowy actress disappears into an enormously fat, neurotic woman who can hardly get out of bed. Plus, he gets cursed again - and this one is a doozy - this one sends his children and descendents (not to mention his ghost) wandering throughout the world, seeking a place that will receive them and break the curse, for the next two hundred plus years.
It is actually a rather lovely story about the power of family to stay strong together and how that strength can gradually overcome any evil. It also, as I said, has some wonderful vampire, werewolf and witch characters that you don't want to miss.
My main complaint throughout the book was the constant association of all witches with evil and Satanism, as though this is the only type of witch there is. I was also very upset by the use of the Great Mother and Horned God in a dark oath - these are nature deities and would not be used in left-hand magic. The character in the book, with his sardonic assessment of Satanism as nothing more than people reacting against modern day dogma, is correct - the depictions of attempts to raise demons and so forth is not within the purview of everyday Satanism (which actually is just humanism with a scary name attached to get people to sit up and pay attention), and certainly not within the realms of typical witchcraft. However, I guess it wouldn't have been as "scary" to the common reader, who of course doesn't understand these distinctions and heaven forbid we try to educate them within the pages of a book, right? This doesn't really, however, detract from the overall story unless you're a nitpicker like I am and I still recommend that if you can manage to find a copy of this most excellent book, you should go ahead and snatch it up.
He leaves the church - with much relief, being an atheist and "rational man" - to do so and after returning home quickly finds that everyone is so ticked off at his deceased brother that they are cursing HIM left and right. He laughs it off, sets up someone to care for the estate, and heads for London, where he sees an actress in a play (which he cannot understand why the people do not prefer to that "ludicrous work that preceded it - something about a Dane named Hamlet"). I cannot tell you HOW badly things go awry when he attempts to meet her without ruining a good bit of the story and suspense - suffice it to say that he ends up making a most unfortunate oath to a very strange, small, dark woman. He gets his actress, but as she ages and loses more children to miscarriage than she manages to deliver, she becomes depressed, superstitious and gradually becomes addicted to food and religion to try to take away her fears. The beautiful, willowy actress disappears into an enormously fat, neurotic woman who can hardly get out of bed. Plus, he gets cursed again - and this one is a doozy - this one sends his children and descendents (not to mention his ghost) wandering throughout the world, seeking a place that will receive them and break the curse, for the next two hundred plus years.
It is actually a rather lovely story about the power of family to stay strong together and how that strength can gradually overcome any evil. It also, as I said, has some wonderful vampire, werewolf and witch characters that you don't want to miss.
My main complaint throughout the book was the constant association of all witches with evil and Satanism, as though this is the only type of witch there is. I was also very upset by the use of the Great Mother and Horned God in a dark oath - these are nature deities and would not be used in left-hand magic. The character in the book, with his sardonic assessment of Satanism as nothing more than people reacting against modern day dogma, is correct - the depictions of attempts to raise demons and so forth is not within the purview of everyday Satanism (which actually is just humanism with a scary name attached to get people to sit up and pay attention), and certainly not within the realms of typical witchcraft. However, I guess it wouldn't have been as "scary" to the common reader, who of course doesn't understand these distinctions and heaven forbid we try to educate them within the pages of a book, right? This doesn't really, however, detract from the overall story unless you're a nitpicker like I am and I still recommend that if you can manage to find a copy of this most excellent book, you should go ahead and snatch it up.
January 23, 2019
Ok I am an avid reader of Florence Stevenson, and this, her second-to-last is by far her best book. Yes, it's technically gothic romance, but it's also historical fiction, occult fiction and even more. There are so many intriguing characters put into many intriguing situations over centuries of time.
Strangely enough, Florence always seems to add some pivotal episode that usually either offends me or makes me angry. I do not recall having those reactions to this book, but I'd have to check my notes...
This one can get a bit pricey, so if you happen upon it for cheap, snatch it up!
Strangely enough, Florence always seems to add some pivotal episode that usually either offends me or makes me angry. I do not recall having those reactions to this book, but I'd have to check my notes...
This one can get a bit pricey, so if you happen upon it for cheap, snatch it up!
May 1, 2017
This is the first book I had bought. I have read it so much it is falling apart. Love it.
October 16, 2022
After Richard Veringer rescinds on a promise he made to an evil witch in 1700s England, she curses him and his descendants to lives plagued by tragedy until they can figure out how to break the curse. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. While I expected it just to be a dry gothic horror novel, it was so much more. The author created likable and distinct characters of the Veringer family as we follow them throughout the years dealing with events that involve vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and other supernatural entities. The family members try to make the best of bad situations as they grow accustomed to their fates and the author interjects a good balance of humor along with the pathos in their lives. I also liked how the family sticks together throughout the years and help support each other. Despite the book covering centuries in the life of one family, the story moves at a good pace and has some really memorable characters. I look forward to reading more books by this author.
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August 23, 2008isbn,original
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews