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Ladies in Waiting
Adrienne Lewis rents workspace for her crafts business, but when the old Victorian mansion's owner discovers sinister paintings of beautiful women, Adrienne faces an unexpected confrontation with evil
416 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 31, 2023
Walters take on gothic horror, Ladies in Waiting, is set in Central Florida and, like Masterton's Picture of Evil, also rests on evil and portraits. Our heroine and main protagonist, Adrienne, is finally getting her life together after a nasty divorce. She started a business making 'home accents' like silk flowers and such and it is booming; so much so that she needs some studio space. Ladies in Waiting starts with her driving to an old mansion where its new owners have advertised a studio for rent.
Through a rather complicated legal deal, Ned Anderson has inherited the mansion, but it is sorely in need of major renovations. He, along with two friends from art school, have moved in and partially renovated it and the rental studio will provide some badly needed cash. The history of the place is rather sinister, however. In the late 19th century, an artist, Sebastian, and his wife were found brutally murdered in the front gardens of the house; Ned is some kind of distant cousin of Sebastian, but the house has sat in legal limbo for quite some time.
Walthers really tries to evoke a gothic feel here-- the 'haunted' mansion, the melodrama, the overwrought emotions, and so forth-- and partially succeeds, although the melodrama was laid on pretty thick. Adrienne, when she first visits the house, has a strange sense of foreboding, especially in the front parlor of the place, and she also has some lurid dreams about it as well. Nonetheless, she keeps a stiff upper lip and takes the studio, and immediately bonds with the other artists. Things are going well until one day Ned finds over a dozen of Sebastian's portraits of women hidden in the parlor. They are just so life like! They even feel warm to the touch! Yet, the women all have a haunted, terrorized gleam in their eyes!
Overall, a decent read, and better than Ludlow's Mill, which is the only other novel of Walters I have read. It is also better than what the cover suggests-- some kind of tawdry female ghosts of something. Yet, the writing is overblown at times and oh my the melodrama! Still, worth reading if you stumble across it and are a fan of 80s horror and/or gothic horror. 2.5 ladies, rounding up for GR!
Through a rather complicated legal deal, Ned Anderson has inherited the mansion, but it is sorely in need of major renovations. He, along with two friends from art school, have moved in and partially renovated it and the rental studio will provide some badly needed cash. The history of the place is rather sinister, however. In the late 19th century, an artist, Sebastian, and his wife were found brutally murdered in the front gardens of the house; Ned is some kind of distant cousin of Sebastian, but the house has sat in legal limbo for quite some time.
Walthers really tries to evoke a gothic feel here-- the 'haunted' mansion, the melodrama, the overwrought emotions, and so forth-- and partially succeeds, although the melodrama was laid on pretty thick. Adrienne, when she first visits the house, has a strange sense of foreboding, especially in the front parlor of the place, and she also has some lurid dreams about it as well. Nonetheless, she keeps a stiff upper lip and takes the studio, and immediately bonds with the other artists. Things are going well until one day Ned finds over a dozen of Sebastian's portraits of women hidden in the parlor. They are just so life like! They even feel warm to the touch! Yet, the women all have a haunted, terrorized gleam in their eyes!
Overall, a decent read, and better than Ludlow's Mill, which is the only other novel of Walters I have read. It is also better than what the cover suggests-- some kind of tawdry female ghosts of something. Yet, the writing is overblown at times and oh my the melodrama! Still, worth reading if you stumble across it and are a fan of 80s horror and/or gothic horror. 2.5 ladies, rounding up for GR!
August 28, 2019
****No! She screamed silently. She thought she saw one of the women from the paintings standing in a window. No! it was grotesquely impossible.....*****
Ladies In Waiting by R.R. Walters.
I have to admit I thought this was going to be a real cheesy 80's trash novel but I was pleasantly surprised. If you remember the old Night Gallery shows, this would seem like a episode of that but a R rated version.
Adrienne decides to rent a room in a old home darting back to the 1800's . The home is being refurbished by three other people, all of them are artists and craftsmen.
Ned has the house inherited to him from a distant cousin (Sebastian). Sebastian has made a deal with a evil spirit back in 1886. He must produce women to him via portraits(paintings). With some special potions and blood mixed in the ink, these women live on, and will be the evil spirits playthings forever, or until he needs new women. These paintings will stare at you with the evil eye, (especially if you are a woman like Adrienne) because they envy her,they look sooo real, and the paint crumbles off and feels so warm...why?
Well Ned now has the duty passed on to him and has night visitations by Sebastian and his late wife who were murdered in the home because they pissed of the evil being.
Ned must produce 3 new women in paintings so he will be granted eternal life. Will he obey or stay with Adrienne? Will Adrienne succumb to the sensual women who are released from the paintings to join them?
R.R. Walters can write very well. I enjoyed his descriptions of the women and dream like sequences, including one scene of a lesbian orgy! Oh and I almost forgot the creepy, horny cat who stares at Adrienne with its stretched neck and enjoyed licking its lips.... 3 and a half stars.
Ladies In Waiting by R.R. Walters.
I have to admit I thought this was going to be a real cheesy 80's trash novel but I was pleasantly surprised. If you remember the old Night Gallery shows, this would seem like a episode of that but a R rated version.
Adrienne decides to rent a room in a old home darting back to the 1800's . The home is being refurbished by three other people, all of them are artists and craftsmen.
Ned has the house inherited to him from a distant cousin (Sebastian). Sebastian has made a deal with a evil spirit back in 1886. He must produce women to him via portraits(paintings). With some special potions and blood mixed in the ink, these women live on, and will be the evil spirits playthings forever, or until he needs new women. These paintings will stare at you with the evil eye, (especially if you are a woman like Adrienne) because they envy her,they look sooo real, and the paint crumbles off and feels so warm...why?
Well Ned now has the duty passed on to him and has night visitations by Sebastian and his late wife who were murdered in the home because they pissed of the evil being.
Ned must produce 3 new women in paintings so he will be granted eternal life. Will he obey or stay with Adrienne? Will Adrienne succumb to the sensual women who are released from the paintings to join them?
R.R. Walters can write very well. I enjoyed his descriptions of the women and dream like sequences, including one scene of a lesbian orgy! Oh and I almost forgot the creepy, horny cat who stares at Adrienne with its stretched neck and enjoyed licking its lips.... 3 and a half stars.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews